Tag Archives: friends

mary

04 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

mary

A few weeks ago I got an email from Mary, who was going to be doing a road trip through Spain and was interested in a tour with me, even though she saw that I have a two-person minimum (since now all my tours are private and so I can’t add others to existing groups). And THEN she wrote…

Special pleading as follows: I’m 78 and have been to Spain three times before. This will be my last. I’ve always wanted to see Flamenco in a Peña-type setting but have not felt comfortable on my own. I’ve seen more touristy ones but not great. I speak Spanish. I am very interested in food though I avoid the label “foodie.” I am a retired lawyer and in the process of retiring as the guiding teacher of a Zen Center. I hasten to add that I eat and drink most anything.

And well… how could I say no to such excellent pleading? So I said we could probably work something out and I checked out peñas for her. Meanwhile she wrote back saying that instead of a tour she would like to invite me out for lunch while she was here. Which happened today! Somehow we avoided the usual “how did you get from _______ to _______ ?” question, which both of us have answered more times than we can remember. Anyhow, we had a fabulous lunch and I have set Mary up with a list of places to go and, of course, great places to eat. We will try to meet up again before she leaves but as this weekend is actually quite a busy one for me (figures, all the other weekends this month are quiet) it may end up being just lots of WhatsApp chats. Still, what a lovely encounter.

anna & kids

28 Monday Feb 2022

Posted by in food & drink, friends

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

anna kids (1)

It was exactly two years ago that I was out with these guys, when Anna @annalibera was down from Galicia to visit her kids and we went out to Alimentari. Because who better to go to an Italian restaurant with than an Italian? And today we repeated the experience, but at Alimentari’s new location in my barrio. So strange to think that two weeks after that last lunch together we were all locked down and our whole world changed. So it was lovely finally getting together again, sitting out on the side walk terrace under the orange blossom, and enjoying pizzas galore in good company. 💙

anna kids (2)Linus, Anna & Lea

they’re baaaack!

03 Thursday Feb 2022

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

xavier ninaXavier, Nina, Virginia & Wade

When old friends return and bring their old friends with them, and then you end up having the best of times being together again, and also for the first time 💛

As I mentioned the other day, Xavier and Nina are back and this time with their friends Ginny and Wade, and we met up for a fun afternoon tapeo. And as I also mentioned, I have been invited to join them for lunch at NOOR in Córdoba on Friday. SO EXCITED.

noor

31 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

noor

So remember when I did that interview for Bon Viveur Magazine and, when they asked me which restaurant in Spain I especially wanted to visit, I said NOOR! I mean, there are actually so many but Noor has been on my radar for ages and the main interest for me is that the menu is based on Andalusian food history and culture, which then chef Paco Morales puts his own personal twist on… and two michelin stars later he is still going strong.

And so… imagine my surprise when the other day my pal Xavier (who is returning to Sevilla this week with his wife Nina and their friends Wade and Virginia) sent me an email inviting me to join them at Noor on Friday. I mean OMG. I’ve been organising their Andalusian adventure for them, and this included a day trip from Sevilla to Córdoba to eat at Noor. I never dreamed I’d be going there with them! But Xavier said he had read the article and that prompted him to invite me. How amazing is that? Stay tuned…

celebrating dan

21 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by in friends, life stuff, love

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, ,

dan

[photo by Deb]

Today I “attended” my first virtual funeral. The lovely Dan Jamón died just before Christmas and then I found out about this service that was going to be streamed live and his wife Deb invited me. I really didn’t know what to expect, but planned to be there with a glass of sherry in hand to be a part of this celebration of Dan’s live. And it really was beautiful. Friends talking about Dan, their memories and anecdotes, with lots of music thrown in (I didn’t know Dan was also a musician!) and old photos and videos shown on a big screen. I knew it wasn’t going to be your typical funeral service when the minister started off by quoting Prince…

Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called life
Electric word life, it means forever
And that’s a mighty long time

From there on I heard all those lovely stories about Dan (who is mostly known as Norm, whaat?) and although tears had been gently falling down my cheeks this whole time I totally lost it when suddenly they played Angel by Jimi Hendrix while we all sat and listened. No photos or videos, just this song. A song that had meant so much to me when I was, like, 16? What a trigger. I sobbed and sobbed, wishing I’d got to know this wonderful man more, a guy who was actually “too young” to have known this song, or at least to the point of having it played at his funeral. Who was this guy?

As Deb, Dan’s wife and the love of his life, had promised… it was pretty emotional. And I felt so grateful to be included in this beautiful service. It’s left me in a tangle of emotions, and I look forward to welcoming Deb back one day so we can raise a glass to Dan in their favourite city in the world.