12 Monday Sep 2016
Posted in sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, work
Tags
flamenco, flamenco & tapas, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, work
Last week I got BACK TO WORK and couldn’t be happier. It was great having a whole month off the tapas tours. I was still working on other things, and was actually able to focus on those things. I was also able to relax. Though I also get to relax at work… this pic is from last night’s fab Flamenco & Tapas Tour. Olé!
08 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in health & happiness, sevilla, we love tapas, work
I can’t believe it’s been TWO YEARS since I last went to the dentist (when I got my first crown and some other work done). But an old filling next to the crown had fallen out and so back I went. I’ve mentioned before how much I love my dentist, which is probably not something most people can say, so I no longer feel the dread of impending pain and financial ruin that used to come over me before dentist visits.
This time there were two visits and on the second one Peter came with me to have his teeth looked at. Even worse than me, he hadn’t been to the dentist in over ten years (!!!), and like me, he’d lost a filling. He also had a serious cleaning done, which has made a huge difference. Now that he is working part time for We Love Tapas he has been put on the “company dental plan”. 😉
07 Wednesday Sep 2016
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, we love tapas, work
Tags
Meet Emily! The newest member of my fabulous We Love Tapas team. I’ve known about Emily for quite some time as she is good friends with a few other good friends of mine. Awhile back she was recommended as a possible guide for WLT, but at the time there were no openings. Lately a new position has become available and, although I have received several CVs, I wasn’t “feeling” the applicants, if you know what I mean. Then my friend Juan reminded me about Emily and I knew from our first meeting that she would be a perfect match. It also fits with the way the original WLT team came together, very organically, with one connection leading to another. Just like this time. We are all very pleased to have Emily with us.
19 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, we love tapas, work
Tags
Chef Óscar here at Casa Morales has no idea what the barmen have written on the specials board. Do you? The past couple of days I’ve been checking in at my usual “tapas tour bars”, saying hi to everyone, you know, just staying connected. And today this happened. Cracked me up…
Love my life here, love everyone I work with, and I especially love that we are actually friends (and in some cases “family”). Best job in the world. 🙂
23 Saturday Jul 2016
Posted in sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas tours, we love tapas, wine, work
Tags
employment, spain, tapas, tapas tours, tours, we love tapas, work
Become a part of the We Love Tapas Team!
These past couple of “weeks off” have been both relaxing and very productive. Lots of time for new ideas and research with some exciting new stuff coming up soon. As a result, We Love Tapas is now looking for enthusiastic local guides with food and wine experience for our team in Sevilla. After full training, guides will give both lunchtime and evening tours (number per week depending on the season), each lasting 2.5 to 4 hours, and will be expected to attend monthly staff meetings and periodic (delicious) training sessions.
Requirements:
You will also need to have access to internet at home, and a smartphone, so that you can be kept up to date about your tour bookings, changes and other information.
For more information contact us at:
welovetapas@gmail.com
12 Tuesday Jul 2016
So yeah, the BIG NEWS is that I’ve decided to take a couple of weeks off, and possibly longer. Well okay, not exactly OFF in the sense of not working, or going away somewhere, just not doing my tapas tours for awhile so that I can focus on getting caught up on my other work (massive backlog of blog posts and photo editing) as well as work on some new ideas for We Love Tapas. Re: the latter, there are a couple of things coming up this autumn that I think will be very exciting, but I do need some time to get those going properly. Yeah, I know my Trip Advisor rating will probably suffer as a result, with all the posers racking up fake reviews on a daily basis but, to borrow the pithy words of the Divine Marina O’Loughlin… “I don’t hate it because it enables reviews of and tickets for cruel animal attractions, or for its climate of blackmail-enabling entitlement. I hate it because it’s shit.” Suggest you read this article.
Of course it’s great that while I am “away” I can steer my clients towards We Love Tapas, because the team is going to be working all summer long. Meanwhile, my summer getaway plans are still going ahead, with Galicia Getaway booked for the end of August, though I may swap San Sebastián for London, not sure. Or do them both?? Really no idea at this point. All I know is that for the next week or so I am on “hols at home”, which is mostly about doing a lot of research and writing. But it feels great, and I’m also focusing on healthy light eating at home. Feel very privileged that I can work like this, doing things I love, in the way I want to do them. Anyhow, watch this space…
18 Saturday Jun 2016
When I bought Sterling – less than a year ago – I also splashed out on a new HP wireless keyboard and mouse. Well, the keyboard started sticking not long after, though it still actually worked, so I just put up with it. Then the mouse stopped scrolling, which I tried to live with but it was just too frustrating. So for awhile I had two mice on the desk… one that scrolled (but was also “sticky” so not good for general use) and the HP one. Then yesterday I thought – what the hell am I doing? – and went out and bought this baby. Which already feels better than the HP one ever did. But I mean honestly, I know I use my keyboard a lot, but I also have a light touch, so what’s with products that seemingly self-destruct after a short time? At least for now it’s actually a pleasure to be typing (and scrolling) again.
14 Tuesday Jun 2016
Posted in getaways, tapas, we love tapas, wine, work
Tags
Back in November I organised a Sherry Education afternoon with my fab We Love Tapas team. It was not only a lot of fun but everyone also learned a lot. Then a series of events led to me setting up a very interesting day of bodega visits this week, along with Pilar @enosherry. And then I thought… hey! Delia from WLT had still to visit a sherry bodega, even though she was born in Cádiz, so I invited her to come with us. Because you can never truly understand sherry until you have visited a bodega. And it was an amazing day. I’ll be updating my sherry bodegas page on Azahar Spain soon, so stay tuned.
31 Tuesday May 2016
Posted in andalucia, azahartravels, food & drink, getaways, sherry, spain, trips, wine, work
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[click on image to enlarge]
A few images from this year’s Vinoble. It was a fabulous and frenetic sherry-packed three days, meeting up with old friends, making new ones, and trying an amazing selection of sherry and sherry-style wines from all over the world. It was my first time visiting Vinoble as a certified Sherry Educator and I felt I was better able to appreciate the wines than when I was invited to the previous edition in 2014. Looking forward to 2018!
30 Monday May 2016
