Category Archives: work

easyjet az

06 Wednesday Apr 2011

Posted by in blogging, computers, culture, fiestas, friends, internet, iphone, sevilla, social media, spam, twitter, work

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Yesterday evening I was thrilled when I got an email from Annie Manson saying that while flying from Geneva to Málaga she’d seen me mentioned and quoted in the EasyJet’s April Inflight magazine, and congratulating me on such a great PR coup. At first I was totally flummoxed as I had no idea why I would be in there, then when I saw the article (about the Feria in Sevilla) written by Derek Workman, I remembered meeting Derek for tapas a while back and spending a pleasant leisurely lunchtime chatting about Sevilla stuff. He was in town doing research for this article as EasyJet was about to launch a new London-Sevilla route in April. So that was quite exciting! If you want to read the article (which starts on page 50) you’ll have to register, which is a bit of a pain but only takes a minute.

Anyhow, after a few emails back and forth to Annie I got into bed with my iPhone to read a few last tweets and emails before sleeping and saw that one of my favourite tapas bars was mentioned in an article by Shaney Hudson, an Australian travel writer now living in Holland who was here on a research visit last autumn. Then I saw that my tapas tours got a personal recommendation from Shaney in her Essential Guide to Sevilla (!!!). How cool is that?

All of which has me thinking this morning about all the amazing connections I’ve made, and continue to make, via my blogs, Twitter and – okay I admit it – even Facebook.  I’ve made friends and biz contacts, and have also found work, as a result of not only sitting in front of my laptop (or with iPhone in hand) several hours a day, but also by going out to meet many of these people when they are in town. Which of course I love as one of my favourite things to do is show people “my Sevilla” and especially take them out for tapas. So anyone who still thinks social media is silly is, well, silly.  😉

 

 

more sevilla english

03 Sunday Apr 2011

Posted by in social media, twitter, websites, work

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Two years ago I set up this Sevilla English site to try and scare up a bit of business in the classes and translations department, which never really took off. Then today I decided to take it a step further and get Nog involved, switching his Twitter account name (which he rarely used) from the_noggin to SevillaEnglish, and I also set up a Facebook Fan Page for which we are both administrators but that he can mostly maintain.

I reckon that getting active in social media and connecting with local people and businesses may end up helping him get enough work so that he won’t have to pack up and go back to Wales. So let’s hope he sticks with this and gets things happening!

a day in the country

27 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by in culture, food & drink, friends, photos, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, wine, work

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[click to enlarge]

One of the reasons I occasionally wish I had a car (and a valid driving licence) is to take day trips to the many little villages near Sevilla. So I was delighted the other day when my Twitter buddy Eduardo got in touch to ask if I wanted to go with him and his girlfriend Mercedes to an olive oil & wine tasting in El Viso del Alcor. The tasting was held at the magnificent Basilippo hacienda in the countryside amongst their olive groves, and the snacks we enjoyed during the event were catered by Más Que Tapas. I was keen to go not only to learn more about olive oil (and, as it turned out, caviar!) but also to meet Aurore and Eduardo, who run Más Que Tapas, as they have often asked me to come out and see their place.

After a presentation on the different types of olives oils (we sampled three) inside the museum, we went out to the gardens to sample five different wines, paired with delicious snacks prepared with the olive oils we had just tasted.  But first we were in for a special treat – some local caviar and sparkling wine. We had a great time and I got to meet some new people, as well as a small pregnant cat which I ended up feeding chunks of bread dipped in my carrillada gravy. By the time the tasting finished we were informed that Más Que Tapas was offering a special “after hours” lunch menu (it was way past lunch time) and so we made our way over for something a bit more substantial.

[only click to enlarge if you’re not hungry]

In the end we didn’t go for the fixed menu and just (just!) ordered three dishes to share. Above you can see owners Eduardo & Aurore in the top corner, and at the bottom that’s Aurore again with Eduardo & Mercedes. In between some fabulous food: risotto with mushrooms, cashews & raisins, a burger of goat cheese, a slice of apple and foie, and some grilled scallops and chorizo on puff pastry with carrot purée. As if that weren’t enough we were given a couple of hot desserts to sample and I found myself wondering how on earth I was going to manage to eat anything on my tapas tour that evening…

It was a fabulous day in the country with lovely people. We got back to Sevilla around 6.30 and so later I wasn’t too concerned to discover that my clients were delayed getting into town from Lisbon which meant the tapas tour was rescheduled for today. In fact, I have to leave in a few minutes – see ya!

pippin II

24 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by in gadgets, geekiness, home, work

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At long last the day has arrived … picked up my new iPhone4 today from Vodafone and am syncing him on iTunes now. So far so good.

Yeah, I guess I could have – should have? – waited for the iPhone5. But my old iPhone3G has really been acting up lately and I got a good offer on this one, both on price and monthly contract fee, so what the heck. And who knows when the iPhone5 will actually be released – and then when it will make its way to Sevilla?? With the (bad) luck I’ve been having trying to find an iPhone4 in town it just made sense to go with the phone that was actually there in the store.

Thus ends the whole Movistar nightmare, as I also switched my internet and landline connection over to Vodafone, and my tv service is now by Digital+ satellite. So I now have a faster internet connection and the same television channels as before, but for about 25 euros less a month. I also expect to save about 20 euros a month on the iPhone monthly rate. So it turns out that I’m actually quite lucky that Movistar screwed up so badly as I am much better off now with this new set up.

My new Vodafone router also came with a wall mount, which I just thought was the coolest thing ever – why don’t they all? So I was able to mount it on the wall next to the phone and electrical plugins – love how much tidier it is. And of course now I don’t have my tv service sucking the bandwidth out of my router and, if anything goes wrong with the internet connection, I can not only still watch tv, but the Vodafone system comes with a mini-modem that I can use free-of-charge during down-time emergencies, or else as an external modem (for a fee) when I am travelling.

Okay, iTunes syncing is done! Time to go play with my new Pippin.

a tough job…

11 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in food & drink, restaurants, sevilla, work

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Last Monday I was invited to the opening of Maccheroni & Co – the sister restaurant of L’Oca Giuliva, which is my favourite Italian place and just across the street from where I used to live. I’ll never forget how owner and friend Frabrizia (Bizzy) kept me well-stocked in gourmet pizzas while I was on chemo. One of the few foods I could keep down on bad days.

I haven’t been around my old neighbourhood much since I moved, mostly due to the sprained ankle, and so I was keen to see what Bizzy & Franco had done with their new location. Well, I had a great time at the opening, though it was pretty packed out and obviously not the time to check out the food, so Bizzy told me to come back for a meal, which I did today. Just a nice light lunch – Nog and I shared a salad and then a pasta dish – but it was very satisfying, as well as on the house! And tomorrow I’ll write it up with photos on Sevilla Tapas. Bizzy also said I have to have lunch with her next week at their third location in Triana. Well, you know, somebody has to do it…