plating 101

14 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by in sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, triana

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This is seriously my favourite plating of a tapa in Sevilla, and I mean that sincerely. Simply for the not giving even one fuck attitude. It is what it is (a delicious marinated deep-fried quail), totally no frills and about as far away from pretentious as you can get. No sauce swooshes, no micro herbs tweezered on top (and they don’t charge for the bread). This is Casa Ruperto, a classic bar in Triana that has been serving up the best damn fried quail since the 60s, quickly and efficiently and with a smile. Basically an antidote to wanky gastrobars, to be taken whenever it feels necessary. You can also visit it on my Tasting Triana Tour.

rats!

13 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by in sevilla

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And I don’t mean the cute gold ones that were put up all over town last year. Apparently there is an actual “plaga de ratas” in Sevilla this year, with hundreds of reports called into the city authorities over the summer. Someone even told me they saw one race across the rafters in a tapas bar! I was also told that this year there have been more cockroaches around than usual, which may explain why they have shut down the underground “vaccuum cleaner” rubbish system in the centre (and why I found not just one but TWO in my house last month).

Anyhow, the other day this little guy crossed my path and then proceeded to “follow” me along the riverbank for awhile (though I’m sure it was mere coincidence and we just happened to be going the same way). Grainy quality pic as I didn’t want to get TOO close… yet another reason for that new iPhone 11 Pro with its super zoom lens.  😉

these guys…

12 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by in iphone, photography, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

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The other night I was at Casa Morales on a Sevilla Tapas Tour and I spotted these guys at a table near us. I told my clients that I would love to sneak a photo of them, they were just such a lovely and charismatic group. And then one of them came over and asked if I would take their photo, so I said I would if I could also take one for me. Score! Though you can see that I really do need that new iPhone 11 Pro with its fab wide angle lens (I was against the wall here and couldn’t back up any further).   🙂

brand new cat tower

11 Wednesday Sep 2019

Posted by in casa azahar, cats, home

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It was time. The previous cat tower, which I bought in March 2018, had been ripped to shreds. Mostly by Luna (Morcilla prefers to scratch my office chair, and Loki the back of the sofa). So when I saw this one already put together at El Corte Inglés yesterday I asked if they could deliver it as is.. and here it is!

I was actually a bit shocked when I checked back and saw the old tower was only a year and a half old. I mean, look at the state of it. You’d think they’d sell replacement posts, since those are really what get ruined. Well, let’s see how long this one lasts. So far all the cats are loving it and even Loki can fit into the cubby hole at the bottom (the last one was too small for him).

want!

10 Tuesday Sep 2019

Posted by in gadgets, iphone

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The iPhone 11 is coming out this week and I am weak with desire. Check out that camera! I’ll take the silver Pro please, 256 GBs.  🙂

  • Triple 12MP Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto cameras
  • Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view
  • Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture
  • Telephoto: ƒ/2.0 aperture
  • 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 10x
  • Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control
  • Portrait Lighting with six effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High-Key Mono)
  • Dual optical image stabilization (Wide and Telephoto)
  • Five‑element lens (Ultra Wide); six-element lens (Wide and Telephoto)
  • Brighter True Tone flash with Slow Sync
  • Panorama (up to 63MP)
  • 100% Focus Pixels (Wide)
  • Night mode
  • Auto Adjustments
  • Next‑generation Smart HDR for photos
  • Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
  • Advanced red‑eye correction
  • Photo geotagging
  • Auto image stabilization
  • Burst mode
  • Image formats captured: HEIF and JPEG