Category Archives: welcome

last of the oranges…

14 Friday Feb 2025

Posted by in seasons, sevilla, spain, spring, welcome

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They’ve been very slow with harvesting the oranges this year. By now they really should be gone but I’m still seeing trees full of overripe fruit with plenty of fallen and squashed oranges on the street. None of these are edible, not because they’re bitter but because of city pollution. They are normally collected and used for animal feed (sorry animals), soaps and perfumes, and also bio fuel. Cynical me (who me?) thinks the city council is leaving them on the trees longer because tourists like to see them but they really need to go. With extra warm temps and lots of sun this past week it won’t be long before the blossoms are out.

bodegas salado

14 Tuesday Jan 2025

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I first visited Bodegas Salado… 15 years ago? Not really sure, it was with a group of bloggers and I can’t find any record of it. Anyhow, I went back this week with the Gastro Guías for our first outing of 2025. A lot has changed there recently. First of all my long time pal Fran León has been in charge of sales & communications for the past year and a half and during this time the Salado family has done a massive reno job on the place, with a look to encouraging more Eno-Tourism. Fran very generously offered us a visit and tasting on the house assisted by another friend of ours, Carlos Montero, who does some freelance work with the bodega.

Thankfully we didn’t visit the vineyards (not really possible on crutches) and Carlos was so sweet, carrying a little chair around to the different buildings so I could sit down. Even though it was quite a chilly day it was sunny and we finished up with a tasting and a few tapitas sitting out in the sun. Looking forward to writing a proper article on Sevilla wines soon for Bitesize Sevilla.

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papelería ferrer

11 Wednesday Dec 2024

Posted by in architecture, art, history, retail therapy, sevilla, shopping, welcome

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p ferrer

The oldest independent shop in Sevilla (founded in 1856) this gorgeous stationers is a wondrous Aladdin’s cave full of any possible thing you can imagine in paper form. I just popped in for a pedestrian order of a refill for my old agenda and was taken back to not-so-long-ago times when there were several such shops in the city, selling all manner of things. From books to toys, houseware and hardware items, fabrics, art prints and posters, jewellery, fans and shawls, hats and gloves, specialty foods and wines… each small shop brimming with charm and personality and often one-of-a-kind items. Sadly all but gone now as chains take over and push the independents out. Sigh…

papeleria ferrer

chair workouts

28 Friday Jun 2024

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chair workouts

I’ve mentioned this woman and her YouTube channel before, since I first started off looking for exercise options that didn’t require me getting on the floor (I mean, I could get down there but I wouldn’t get back up again!). I’ve tried a few others but Lauren’s videos are not only safe and sensible, she’s also not “overly enthusiastic” if you know what I mean. And now that I’ve decided to take most of the summer off, well what better time to get back into (almost) daily exercise routines.

What I like best are the options. I can choose a simple 15 minute yoga stretch or short pilates core session, or go for a 35 minute cardio with weights session which, trust me, is a full-on work out. She also offers standing options, which I can also do (except for lunges) and the best thing is that I can this at home, when it suits me.

Ideally I’d be doing this every day but you know… life. I’m trying really hard not to beat myself up if I miss a day because the whole point is to enjoy this, and also my extra free time this summer. It’s still early days, so I’m hoping I’ll get into the swing of this.