03 Thursday May 2018
Posted in andalucia, fiestas, friends, throw back thursday
The Feria de Jerez starts this weekend and this is a super happy memory from the Feria in 2013, when I met up with my lovely friend José Pizarro @jose_pizarro. Happy days. #TBT #throwbackthursday
02 Wednesday May 2018
Posted in blogging, casa azahar, home
Actually, my blogiversary was yesterday, but I completely forgot about it. Anyhoo… wow, 12 whole years of boring people silly! 😛
When I put up my first ever blog post all those years ago I had no idea that it would lead to meeting so many wonderful people. It also got me through the worst of times during the cancer ops and treatment and, more positively, led to starting the Sevilla Tapas blog, which then became my new biz once I got back to work.
Publishing a daily post was a habit I started during chemo to give me some focus, and I’ve kept it up ever since. Some days something interesting does happen, but mostly it’s just a scrapbook of my day to day life. So no, I won’t feel hurt if you unsubscribe. 😉
But for those of you who stick around, it really is great having you here and I hope to share many more anniversaries with you.
26 Thursday Apr 2018
Posted in friends
TBT – today I found out that my dear friend Craig (aka zoomer) is going through a difficult time. And I found this photo taken of us here in Sevilla ten years ago, when he last visited. Wishing you the best amigo mio – let me know if I can help. I can still feel those wonderful bear hugs. #throwbackthursday
24 Tuesday Apr 2018
Posted in friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, twitter, wine
Pepe, Cinta & José María
Love when stuff like this happens. After a lovely “tapas research” lunch with my friend and We Love Tapas colleague Cinta @LaCocheraAbuelo (in this case the company was much better than the food) we stopped by Bodeguita Romero because I wanted to talk to Alejandro about a couple of special bookings coming up. And we walked straight into a group of guys from Montilla-Moriles (fortified wine region in Córdoba), as well as my pal Pepe, owner of La Fresquita.
I was introduced to José María from Bodegas Toro Albalá @toroalbala and told him that I was supposed to go to the big Montilla-Moriles tasting event in Córdoba last week, and meet up with my friends Erik & Laura @MMWinesUK but the only day I could go was the same day they were going to visit Toro Albalá! So in the end I didn’t go, and as soon as I mentioned knowing Erik & Laura he insisted that Cinta and I try their lovely Dos Claveles (Two Carnations).
Meanwhile, Pepe and I were “talking shop” a bit about food tour guides, and also about his brother Manolo who owns the most fabulous Taberna Manolo Cateca – a fact that Cinta hadn’t known before, although she knows both bars well.
So it was like a coming together of various parts of my life here, all in one chance encounter at one of my favourite bars (the Romeros are my family). And I ended up with an invitation to visit Bodegas Toro Albalá anytime. When I explained to José María that I don’t have a car so would have to go to Córdoba by train (the bodega is about 50 kms away, in Agullar de la Frontera) he said just let him know when and he’d come and pick me up. Bonus! 🙂
19 Thursday Apr 2018
Posted in food & drink, friends, instagram
So there I was just minding my own business and wondering what to do after a long day of photo editing and writing (catching up on my websites!) when I got an email from a guy called Steve from Australia, who asked if I was free to do a “last minute” tour that evening. And you know what? I really wasn’t up for it, so I said I wasn’t available for a tour but, because my friend Phoebe put him in touch with me, I suggested meeting up for a late afternoon drink.
Steve had just come from judging wine with Phoebe at the IWC in London, and then took a trip to Jerez to visit a few sherry bodegas. He was on his way home with and this was his last night in Sevilla, so he was in a very sherry mood. We met at Palo Santo for a nice chilled manzanilla and a chat and then – somehow! – one thing led to another and we ended up on a Tapeo Extremo. Well, sort of. We only went to two bars – Eslava and La Azotea – but there was definitely extreme sherry involved. And as always, lots of fun talking with the bar staff at both places. An unexpected treat.
casa azahar 