Tag Archives: friends

spain savvy sarah

13 Thursday Jul 2017

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Back in April I posted this photo from the Sevilla feria on Instagram and then found out this little Sevillanas dancing cutie belonged to Sarah Gemba @spainsavvy (that’s also her daughter and mother-in-law). Thing is, although I’d “known” Sarah via social media for awhile, we’d never met in person, and since that day in April we’ve been attempting to meet up for a chat. You’d think it wouldn’t be that difficult, right? Wrong. So I was delighted to FINALLY meet Sarah over a quick brekky today (forgot to take a pic!).

After moving to Spain over a dozen years ago, and working in various travel/tourism companies since then, Sarah now runs her own travel design business called Spain Savvy. So needless to say we have a lot in common, as well as quite a few mutual friends. Looking forward to getting together again, next time for a bit longer… should be able to manage something by September?  😉

elaine

17 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla

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Remember when I met Tim @clinchpics earlier this month? Well, turns out his friend Elaine also runs workshops at the same fabulous place –  Finca Buenvino – in the beautiful Aracena mountains. So while she was in Sevilla this week we met up a couple of times. First was taking in the whole Corpus Christi thang, as usual before the actual procession starts. We walked the route, then went for brekkie, and afterwards watched some of the procession before heading home.

Later that same evening Elaine joined me on a tapas tour, with two other couples, and it was great fun. She has such great energy and is smart, sassy and well-travelled. We really had a great time together. The good news is that Elaine has fallen in love with Sevilla and is working on a plan to live here at least a few months a year… so we may end up being neighbours!

love you, london

05 Monday Jun 2017

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After hearing such heart-breaking news over the weekend I was reminded of this day last August. I had spent a lovely afternoon at Borough Market with my lovely friend John @CityJohn. I’d been having a hard time with panic attacks during that visit and that day I had to take an Uber to the market (I’ve always found crossing bridges on foot difficult). But on the way back I promised John I would bravely walk over London Bridge all by myself and send him a photo to prove it. Which I did.

On my last visit to London in April my friend (and flatmate) Peter @SVQconcierge came with me and one day we walked over Westminster bridge together. Not sure I could’ve managed it otherwise. The long line of wreaths along the west side of the bridge were poignant beyond words.

I also took Peter to Arabica, a wonderful restaurant just outside Borough Market. When I’d last been there, having lunch on my own at the bar, I ended up chatting with the most cheerful barman ever, a charming guy called Emanuele. So imagine my surprise when I walked in 9 months later with Peter and he recognized me! He remembered me taking his photo and posting it on my Instagram (Arabica later re-posted it on theirs). And it was Emanuele’s face that came to mind when I read about the amazing staff at Arabica locking its doors and keeping everyone safe inside.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this. Just a bunch of feelings and memories all getting mixed up. So I just want to say that I love you London, and I hope to see you again before too long, and walk over ALL your bridges. xx

william

03 Saturday Jun 2017

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

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Juan, me & William

It’s been quite a week for meeting up with people, either for the first time or after a long time. William @madguide1 fits into the second category. We first knew each other via social media as he is a Spain expert for the very famous Rick Steves global tours. Then one fine day we had time to meet up while he was in Sevilla… that was a few years ago. Then I saw on Instagram that William was back in town this week with a tour group, he promised me that FOR SURE when he was back in September that he’d make time to meet up.

Later that same day I was having lunch with my dear friend Juan Tarquini @jmtalexeew, at his fabulous Vineria San Telmo, when a guy sits down at the table next to us. Suddenly I hear… SHAWN??? Heh, it was William. He was there to meet two other mutual friends, María and José who, along with their partner Victor, run the excellent Taller Andaluz de Cocina cooking school. I mean, what are the odds? I love when stuff like this happens.  🙂

William, José & María

clinchpics

01 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in friends, gastronomy, instagram, photos, sevilla, tapas, twitter, twitter friends, wine

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Yet another online friend I’ve “virtually” known for years. Although Tim @clinchpics has passed through Sevilla many times en route to his photography workshops at Finca Buenvino in the beautiful Aracena mountains, this time he decided to stop off for a couple of days and take in the sights. And so, after meeting up for a quick manzanilla at Las Teresas, we headed over to La Sal for lunch. And WHAT a lunch it was…

[click on image to enlarge]

La Sal specializes in all things tuna (the original family-run restaurant is in Zahara de los Atunes) and as we are in the almadraba season – the annual sustainable tuna catch off the coast of Cádiz – it seemed like the perfect time to revisit the Sevilla location. Seriously, it was one of the most spectacular meals I’ve had in quite awhile, starting off with marinated sardines on toast, followed by tuna loin cured in pork fat (wow) and a delicious bite of “something tuna” which ingredients now escape me. After that some tuna in tempura with bonito flakes (delish) and a “bento box” of six delightful tuna bites. Finally we opted for the tuna morillo (collar) baked in salt and served with Japanese style noodles. You can watch Antonio serving it here…

Antonio serves morillo de atún a la sal with stir fried noodles and veg… La Sal #Sevilla #almadraba

A post shared by Shawn Hennessey (@sevillatapas) on

The wine and conversation flowed and it felt like I’d known Tim forever. And as so often happens we stopped for a post-lunch Penúltima (or three) at La Azotea (aka The Office). Then it was time for me to get home, and so I left Tim with a tapas bar Plan of Action for the evening, feeling happy to have met a new friend and kindred spirit.

nancy & david

30 Tuesday May 2017

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

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About a million years ago I met Nancy Li on a travel forum called SlowTrav (now defunct) but we ended up having several mutual virtual friends, and I finally met her when she and her husband David came to Sevilla in 2014. Meanwhile we stay in touch on Facebook. Nancy is a crazy cat woman wannabe (she loves them but is allergic) and in fact it was Nancy who first told about wet-combing cats. Guess what? It rocks.

Anyhow, Nancy and David are back in town this week, along with Nancy’s old school chum Phillip, and they were happy to come out with me to do some Tapas Research (ie have lunch) at a new bar I hadn’t been to yet. Happily the meal was very nice, as was the company. It was nice to reconnect. HOWEVER, something Nancy told me was quite disturbing, which is that the woman she is renting her holiday apartment from informed her that The Dude is actually a lady (???). I have yet to investigate this matter further, but will definitely be checking out The Dude a bit more carefully next time we meet up.

martha & joe

29 Monday May 2017

Posted by in friends, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, twitter, twitter friends

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I first met Martha @marthakimes when she joined one of my tapas tours as a solo traveller back in November 2014. She then came back on her own last November, which included a memorable evening out with Ania @ania_marchlik at La Azotea (I think that was the night I sold Ania my old iPhone…) and since then Martha decided that Sevilla is where she would like to live when she retires. To wit, this latest trip Martha dragged invited her husband Joe with her, hoping to get him to fall in love with her adopted city.

It’s quite impressive that Sevilla has won such an honour in Martha’s heart, since she has travelled pretty much everywhere, and has seen many amazing and beautiful places. And yet, this is where she wants to be. You can see how committed she is by the tattoo she had done between her last two visits.

NO8D0 … Sevilla’s official motto

Anyhow, Martha, Joe, Peter and I got together a few times during this visit, and we did our best to convince Joe that this is also where he wants to live when he retires. I hope we succeeded, because it would be great having M & J as neighbours.

roma

26 Friday May 2017

Posted by in andalucia, fiestas, food & drink, friends, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I went to Córdoba this week to see Roma @artsylife again, after finding out that she was back in Andalucía but wasn’t going to make it to Sevilla this time. This happily coincided with feria, and we spent a great day out together with Peter @SVQconcierge.

I first met Roma when she came on a tapas tour in September 2014, and saw her again when she returned for a second visit to Sevilla in October 2015. During that trip she also became an honourary We Love Tapas team member when she volunteered to be our victim guest on a practice run of the Oldest Taverns Tour. Good times. Come back soon, Roma! xx

Peter & Roma

Aside from going to the Feria we also did a fair bit of tapearing…

breakfast of champions at Bar Santos

an elegant pre-feria lunch at La Regadera

late night snacks at Taberna El Gallo

the Cordobés holy trinity at Taberna El Gallo:
salmorejo, flamenquín, berenjenas fritas

tim

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by in friends, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, twitter, twitter friends

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I met Tim @Biltawulf last year when he and his friend Ed came on a tapas tour with me. Then earlier this year Tim got in touch again – he was planning another trip to Sevilla, this time to celebrate his 40th birthday with four friends from London. I was looking for something different for him, and in the end took them out on Saturday afternoon for a Tasting Triana Tour. But as Tim arrived a day earlier than his friends, we met up on Friday afternoon too and he helped me with some Tapas Research. This turned into an impromptu tapeo, starting with cold beers in the sun before heading to Sahumo (which had a new tapas menu I was keen to try out), with a short detour to La Cata Ciega across the street, as we got there before Sahumo was open.

The next day was the tapas tour and then, after Tim’s friends left early Sunday afternoon, we met up again for yet another impromptu tapeo, this time taking in Casa Morales, Abacería Antigua de San Lorenzo and Eslava, finishing with a birthday cake and cava. Then it was time for Tim to catch his flight home. Looking forward to getting together again, either here or in London. Good ol’ Twitter does it again.

As you can see, the tapas tour was a serious affair. Birthday treats at Eslava.

feria de jerez 2017

18 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in flamenco, friends, getaways, sherry, spain, trips

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The plan had been to pop over to Jerez for the day, take in the feria during the afternoon, and then return to Sevilla in the evening. Then my friend Tomoko @TomokoTours told me about the Tío Pepe Challenge finals happening that evening and I scored an invitation for me and Peter. In theory we could have still come home on the last train while buying the tickets online I thought I’d just check to see if there were any hotels available at a reasonable rate – and there was!

An hour later, with a hastily packed bag and after last-minute “leaving cats overnight prep”, we were in a taxi to the train station. First stop (after checking into our hotel) was meeting up with Tomoko for a pre-feria lunch. Experience has taught me that it’s best not to try and eat at any ferias, so we had a bite at Tabanco Las Bandarillas before catching a bus up to the fair grounds. I was all ready to spend a happy hour or so taking photos of all the beautiful horses but… there weren’t any. I mean, there were the commercial horse carriages that you can hire for a ride around the grounds, but I didn’t see any individual riders other than a small group of them as we were leaving. I first noticed this dearth of horses a couple of years ago, and was told it was due to the heat wave that was going on at the time, and that the horse owners didn’t want to risk the health of their magnificent beasts. But this time, and also last year, were practically horseless, without the excuse of a heat wave. Has anyone else noticed this?