Tag Archives: birthday

best. present. ever.

09 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in birthdays, gadgets, geekiness

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An iPhone X!!! This was Peter’s fab combo Christmas-Birthday present, though he couldn’t surprise me with it as he (wisely) said he wouldn’t dare pick one out on his own, you know, in case he got the wrong one. Ha. Anyhow, we went out birthday shopping on Sunday and, at both shops we went to, they only had the 64 GB model. At the time I thought this would be fine, so that’s the one I got, but now I’m having second thoughts and wondering if I should upgrade to the 256 GB model (annoyingly they don’t offer a 128 GB one).

My present iPhone 6S has 64 GBs, and in over two years I’ve never reached more than about 40, though I do have to keep deleting photos after they’ve been uploaded to my computer. So it made sense that I probably wouldn’t ever get close to ever using 256 GBs. But later I started thinking about the main reason I wanted a new iPhone, which was to get a better camera. Also that I would probably be using a higher resolution and be taking more videos, which do take up a lot of space. So now I’m wondering if (before I open the box) I should go with 256 GBs, just in case. Any advice?

birthday 2018

08 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in birthdays, food & drink, friends

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Yesterday I woke up to the sound of RAIN falling on my laundry on the roof (damn) but after that the skies cleared and it turned into a fabulous birthday. Peter had come up with a plan for the day and it was a good one. We started off in the best way possible – a plate of jamón Ibérico and some lovely sherry at Las Teresas. Then it was off to do some birthday shopping (more on that later!). And then it was time for lunch.

I couldn’t decide where I wanted to go and so Peter came up with the idea of going back to Porta Rossa, which used to be my go-to spot for birthdays (back in the day, before I became queen of tapas). I hadn’t been there for years and it was like revisiting an old friend. It was difficult not to just order “all the usual favourites” and try something new, but Piru the owner made some great suggestions, including giving us two half orders of pasta when I couldn’t decide between two of them.

The dishes were: artichoke crepes with mascarpone and parmesan sauce, spinach and cheese gnocchi and ravioli in butter sauce, grilled beef tenderloin in black peppercorn vodka sauce. All absolutely delicious. I never order desserts, and even if I did wouldn’t have been able to eat anything else after this fabulous lunch, but Piru brought me this one perfect profiterole with a birthday candle, which was lovely.

The plan for after lunch was to go for a penúltima at nearby La Azotea in Calle Zaragoza and then take a ride on the C5 bus (really, it’s such fun). But I was so FULL and suddenly tired (the now constant abdominal pain is wearing me down) that I suggested taking a break and relaxing at home for awhile. I reckoned that after a short rest I’d be ready to go out again. Wrong! So we ended up spending a quiet evening hanging out, watching a film, and had an early night. But it was all very nice – thanks for a great day, Peter!

michelin star birthday lunch

09 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in birthdays, restaurants, sevilla

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abantalAfter years of “meaning to go” to Abantal, Sevilla’s only Michelin star restaurant, I decided that my 60th birthday was a good excuse for a decadent splash out meal. I’ve known chef Julio for many years, and even worked with him on the Turismo Sevilla tapas app, so I was looking forward to finally trying out his place.

We did the tasting menu  – descriptions are below, and you can click on the photo above to enlarge the image…

  • razor clam with cauliflower cream on fried wonton
  • garlic soup with egg yolk and seta foam
  • quisquilla (prawn) carpaccio with seaweed and artichoke pilpil
  • red tuna galette, orange escabeche, cucumber granita and mint foam
  • seasonal mushrooms, sopa morisca purée, truffled egg yolk, onion bizcocho
  • confit cod with spinach and garbanzo purées
  • presa Ibérica with truffled pumpkin cream, grapefruit, lime
  • passionfruit creme with mint granita and chocolate
  • orange wine zabayon, torta de aceite, mandarin, cinnamon

This was my second Michelin experience. The first was pretty much a disaster at the JC García Restaurant in Málaga, also a 1-star like Abantal. This time the experience was actually quite pleasant, with excellent service. But the food was somehow lacking. Nothing was terrible (as at JCG) but nothing was exceptional either. Still, it was a lovely afternoon and a very nice birthday present – thank you Peter!

adiós christmas!

06 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by in birthdays, christmas, friends, holidays, home, sevilla, spain

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adios-christmasSo no more fairy lights in the orange trees… well, until next December anyhow. The Three Kings came last night and today (Epiphany / Twelfth Night) marks the end of the holiday season. But it is also BIRTHDAY EVE! And boy am I ever excited. 🙂

Tomorrow there will be cava (of course) and a special lunch has been planned (more on that later), then who knows? Very likely a nice late afternoon walk and perhaps meeting up with friends for a drink in the evening. It’ll be quite low-key and lovely. And I will be 60. Wow!

 

birthday month

02 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in birthdays, getaways, travel, trips

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birthday-monthI have been thinking about where to go for a big 60th BIRTHDAY TRIP, since I reckoned that making it to my 7th decade on January 7th was indeed something to celebrate. But my first choice (San Sebastián) fell though because my friend Gabriella is going to be away all month, and one of the main highlights of going to SS would be to hang out with G. And then I thought about Lisbon, but direct flights are difficult to find, so I may hold out on that one until I can go by car. Also, both places are iffy weather-wise in January, especially as I was planning to spend a week wherever I went, and a week in the rain anywhere would not be pleasant.

And so I have come up with a new plan, which is to celebrate my birthday all month long (!!!) with a different overnight getaway each week. Four destinations that immediately came to mind – Cádiz, Ronda, Córdoba, Granada – are all places I haven’t visited for a couple of years (or more) and so I thought this would be a nice way to “catch up”. Also, since I’ll be travelling by train or bus, I can pretty much book last minute, and avoid rainy days.

So… first stop Ronda!  🙂

sunday song – birthday (10th casa az blogiversary!)

01 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in welcome

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Ten years ago I wrote my first ever blog post without any idea that this would actually end up being my online home. I’ve been through so much here, have met friends, shared good times, bad times, BORING times ;). And of course this blog led to starting the Sevilla Tapas blog, and a new biz for my new post-cancer life.

I still manage to get a daily blog post up (something I started doing during chemo to give me some focus) even though some days it’s just a cat pic or something incredibly trivial. Other days I write a whole long piece about something important that’s happened. But that’s life! And this is my online scrapbook for day-to-day stuff going on in my life. Anyhow, really glad you’re still here with me after all this time.

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birthday trip

09 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by in andalucia, birthdays, food & drink, friends, getaways, spain, trips

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birthday tripThis was totally a birthday to remember. A couple of weeks ago my dear friend Eduardo said he wanted to take me on a mystery birthday trip (yay!). Then I found out my new pal Carl would be in town and so he came along with us. Having spent my “unbirthday” with Carl the day before I wasn’t feeling too chipper, and the weather wasn’t helping (all grey and drizzly), but I ADORE day trips so I was quite happy to seet off to parts unknown.

jabugoFirst stop was Jabugo, THE home of jamón Ibérico de bellota. Once there I was hoping I’d actually be visiting the dehesa and see the piggies in person (bucket list item), but the closest I got was that sculpture up there. Still, we had a wonderful and very informative visit to the 5 Jotas bodega, finishing up with a glass of fino and a fab snack of jamón. On the way back to the car we stopped at a little shop to pick up some jamón to take home and then it was off to our next mystery stop.

meson arrierosWe arrived at Linares de la Sierra (population 300) via a narrow winding road with spectacular views, which were occasionally and dramatically cut off by sudden fog. Once there we made our way to Mesón Arrieros for lunch. To call this place a hidden gem is an understatement. You are NEVER just going to happen upon this place, you will always make a specific effort to do so. And it will always be worth the effort. We were welcomed by biz (and life) partners, chef Luismi and front of house wiz Adela. Once seated Adela suggested we start with a manzanilla en rama from Barbadillo… she couldn’t have been more spot on. What a refreshing and delicious way to start a meal. We agreed to just let Adela bring us WHATEVER… and it was amazing. Starting with probably my favourite dish of the day, marinated pork liver dressed with onions and cilantro oil. This was followed by presa Ibérica carpaccio, with foie… grilled boletus mushrooms with scrambled eggs, garlic oil and cilantro… melted goat cheese on country bread, topped with a drizzle of local honey and a sprinkling of same herbs the goats eat… a comforting tomato soup with cumin, mint, oregano and a dollop of fig jam… presa Ibérico burger with peach jam… and a birthday cheesecake! After all this it was time for a walk.

linares de la sierraLuckily the misty drizzle had subsided by then, and we wandered over to the Plaza de le Fuente (fountain square) where the village women still go to wash clothes in the public fountain. Around the fountain you can see washboard edging in stone. We even saw a pair of jeans that had been left, and some soap suds floating on the surface. A village pup wisely chose to use a different nearby fountain to drink from. After that we made our climb back up, passing through the Plaza de Toros. Which is really just a normal square all year round, but during the local Feria sand is put down and barriers are put up. The stone burladeros (where you can hide from a charging bull) are there year round though. Edu and Carl posed behind one and ended up looking like a human version of whack-a-mole. We got back to the car just as the sun was setting and made our way home. But of course there had to be a penúltima (or two)…

penultimasLa Penúltima. That “next to last one” that can go on for as long as you can manage. In this case we ended up back in Sevilla at one of my favourite spots, La Azotea in barrio Santa Cruz. I love all the Azotea locations, but this one has been dubbed The Office because it’s open all day and I often have meetings there. But this time it was *just* for a penúltima. We started off with a bottle of lovely cava, with a snack of crispy tempura prawns with kimchi sauce. Then we were asked if we were in a hurry as Juan and Jeanine (the owners, and also my friends) wanted to invite us to a second bottle of cava! Well, how could we refuse? At this point Carl did his impersonation of a dodgy jamón seller and we knew it was time to head home. So my two gentlemen friends escorted me back to my neighbourhood, where we oh-so-wisely decided to have yet another penúltima at La Bodega Alfalfa, specifically so Carl could try their version of marinated pork liver with cilantro. It all gets a bit fuzzy after that. After saying our farewells the boys went off in search of further trouble, and I came home to my cosy bed and my cats.

Thank you Edu and Carl for a fabulous birthday!

ps… click on the collages to embiggen