ikea delivers!

14 Monday Aug 2023

Posted by in retail therapy, sevilla, shopping

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ikea delivers

Who knew? I mean, of course I knew you could get things delivered, both if you shopped online or in person, but I didn’t know IKEA would deliver small items to your home FOR JUST 3 EUROS. Anyhow, I have used these cotton throws as chair and sofa covers for years but they can only be found at IKEA and, since I haven’t been to IKEA since 2017 (and have no plans to go again if I can help it), it was no surprise to realise that the throws I got six years ago were in a pretty sad state thanks to the you-know-whats.

So I had a look online just to see if they still stocked them (they do) and decided to see what they would charge to deliver and I was (pleasantly) shocked. I don’t know how long this has been going on but the last time I bought anything there it was a minimum 30 euro delivery charge. And so I have a couple of these guys arriving this week and I can finally put the old shredded ones to rest. This could be dangerous.

deepl

11 Friday Aug 2023

Posted by in AI, internet

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deepl

My friend Fiona @seville_writer told me about this AI online translator couple of months ago, saying it was much better than Google Translate (what isn’t?), but the name didn’t register and I forgot about it until I saw this pop up on my Twitter feed in a Forbes article saying that DeepL was on their Cloud 100 list this year. So I checked back with Fiona and, yep, the very one. And so far it does seem superior to Google with the language coming out sounding much more natural or, as DeepL puts it, “human sounding”.

Will this mark the end of menu translation howlers all across Spain? I kind of hope not, but if you haven’t tried DeepL then give it a go. There’s a phone app and also browser add-ons.

deepl 2

they’re back!

10 Thursday Aug 2023

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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ana simon sara (1)

What a surprise this was! Yesterday afternoon I was all cosy in my comfy chair reading National Dish when I get a message from Ana (aka Mrs O) saying they were heading to Lisbon from Sotogrande and decided last minute to stop off in Sevilla for dinner and spend the night. Four hours later Ana, Simon, little O and I were perched on bar stools at Cinco Jotas enjoying manzanilla and jamón and waiting for Casa Morales to open (I called ahead to Morales so when we arrived my usual table was reserved for us).

ana simon sara (2)

Their last visit was in November when they came for a weekend with Ana’s family and a family friend, and I was thinking how great it was to see them again so soon. THEN I found out that they are now living full time in Sotogrande and they’ve even started a new business down there called Collect Corner (check it out if you live in the area) and so we’re practically neighbours now. Anyhow, a lovely surprise and a lovely evening catching up with lovely friends in one of my favourite places. Really made my day!