Tag Archives: galicia

madrid getaway 2019

14 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by in friends, gastronomy, getaways, madrid

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On my way to ENBHIGA 2019, starting off in Madrid. The official “cocktail party” meet up at the hotel was scheduled for 9 pm, but I came into town at midday to meet pal Andrew @undertheflor and have lunch at La Retasca, the latest venture by chef Juanjo López.

It’s always fun meeting up with Andrew, and this was a place he’d been wanting to go to as well. I left my bag at the station and walked to La Retasca, somehow missed my turn off and arrived late, which was unfortunate because Andrew was on a tight schedule. So it was short and sweet, with the company way better than the food.

Then it was back to the station to collect my bag and taxi over to the Hotel Nuevo Madrid, which was way the hell out somewhere I’d never been before. Checked in and went down to meet the group that was to be my travelling companions over the next few days. I’m so not good at group stuff, especially meet and greets. Lovely to see Jorge & Anna again of course, and also Twitter pal Rachel @R_McCormack from Scotland, but l snuck away while desserts were being served because it was going to be an early morning and long (5 hour!) bus ride to Ourense in the morning.

Rachel, Jorge, Anna, Pepe

my galicia in decanter!

09 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by in galicia, spain, wine

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Pretty exciting to get this in the mail today! My latest article in Decanter Magazine, this one on Galicia. It’s actually part of an 82 page supplement with the November issue, all about Spanish wines. I had a bit of a struggle with this one, not just because it was twice as long as the previous one, but it took awhile for me to feel good enough about it to send it in. Apparently Decanter was pleased with it though as they asked me to stay in touch and send them some pitches on different Spanish wine regions. So I think I can now add “Decanter Mag contributor” to my social media profiles   😉

enbhiga 2019

08 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by in galicia, gastronomy, getaways, spain

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Next week I’ll be back in Galicia attending ENBHIGA in the province of Ourense, roughly in the south east of Galicia. You may recall that I spent a day in and around Ourense last July when I went up to do research for a Decanter article. This time I will be part of an international and national group of 40 journalists and 10 tour operators (not sure which category I fall into… both?) who have been invited by the Ourense tourist board to get to know this lesser known part of Galicia through its gastronomy.

Last summer I visited three of the five DO wine regions in Galicia – Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, and Ribeira Sacra – so I was very excited to learn that this week-long event would be taking in the other two – Valdorras and Monterrei (whose wines have actually become the new “house wines” at Casa Azahar).

My friends and Super Fixers Anna & Jorge @guitianmayer have organised the itinerary, which is so full-on I fear for, well, something. Hopefully not my life. Perhaps my sanity? We shall see. I actually almost backed out because of the ABDOMINAL PAIN, lest I explode somewhere in the northern countryside and die of sepsis. But last time this went on for over two months without incident, so I will be popping paracetamol and hoping for the best.

Including travel days to Madrid and back the whole trip will be from Monday to Sunday. Full day itineraries Tuesday to Friday, and a half day on Saturday before being taken back to Madrid. Ufff… wish me luck!

special delivery!

17 Wednesday Jul 2019

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Look what just arrived! When the folks at Bodegas Cruceiro offered me and @GuitianMayer a gift pack of their wines, and then found out l was travelling with carry on, they said no problem, they would send them to me in Sevilla. And here they are. You may recall that Bodegas Cruceiro was one of my two favourite bodega visits during my trip, and in part this is why. They are just such lovely and generous people.

It wasn’t like we were expecting any freebies from any of the bodegas, but you know, while I spend the next couple of weeks going through my notes and writing my article… having a chilled glass of Casa Noguedo at my side… well, that can only bring back fond memories.  😉

Thank you so much Puri & Ramón! Hope to see you again.

galicia getaway 2019 | day 4 – santiago

16 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by in getaways, hotels, spain, travel

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When I arrived at Hotel Rústico San Jaime at midnight the night before, a clearly exhausted chef Miguel González asked me when I wanted breakfast in the morning. I said… 9.00? He said… 10.00? And it was a good thing we decided on the later option because I didn’t actually wake up until almost 9.30… it had been a couple of very intense days. I had also asked Jorge to tell Miguel that I eat very little at breakfast, so just some coffee and toast would be fine. Well, check out what was waiting for me when I came downstairs to the dining room!!!

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