Tag Archives: sevilla

willie & venetia

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by in andalucia, day trips, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, wine

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This story begins in April 2015 when Venetia @vblebus got in touch with me about my trip planning service as she was organizing a family trip to Andalucía. I recognized the surname and saw that I had been following her husband Willie @willielebus for quite some time, as a “person of interest” on the London wine scene. Anyhow, Venetia and I got to work on her trip and, after the first draft was completed, she said her (adult) kids had decided they preferred a beach holiday that year, so we put things on hold because V said that she and Willie would surely be coming to Andalucía on their own. And just over 2.5 years later… they came!

And it really was like meeting up with old friends. I knew they were interested in excellent food and wine – the “real deal” rather than wanky michelin star stuff – and so it was a delight to take them out on a couple of tapeos while they were in Sevilla, as well as recommend other great places for them in Córdoba and Granada. I also worked out itineraries for them and helped them choose their hotels and arrange transporation.

All of which made me realise that I should be pushing the trip planning thing a bit more. This project started taking shape around the same time I came up with We Love Tapas, and so it ended up on the back burner. But now that WLT is up and running I can turn my attention to developing this service, which is a great way to diversify and continue working in my fields of expertise.

Meanwhile, already making plans for Willie’s & Venetia’s return trip, which will definitely include visiting a few sherry bodegas.

lama la uva 1st anniversary

17 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by in sevilla, wine

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Thursday was the first anniversary of Lama La Uva. Time sure flies, as it doesn’t seem like a whole year has passed since I went to the opening party. It’s great to see Ana doing so well and it’s clear to see how much she loves what she’s doing. Her wine tastings have become very popular and other people, myself included, are also using her upstairs tasting room for our own tours and events.

Congratulations Ana! Here’s to many more years.

tasting sherry

14 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas bars, wine, work

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I’m happy to report that my Sherry Tastings have become quite a success. Different from my Sherry & Tapas Tour in that, although there are snacky food pairings during the tasting (to me sherry is always better appreciated with food, especially by “novices”), it is a more concise introduction to sherry, lasting about 1.5 hours. At the moment I’m working with a few different venues, looking for the best “fit”, though it may turn out that I end up with more than one option. It’s all good!  🙂

clearing out the past

13 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by in casa azahar, home, sevilla

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I’ve had these two (very dusty by now, as you can see) plastic boxes in various “storage” situations over the past 15-20 years or so. Mostly old photos and letters and, other than some family pics from Canada, mostly stemming from my new life in England, and then Spain. A few years ago I tried scanning some of the photos, but it was such a labourious task that I soon gave up and put the boxes back into storage.

When I moved to the new Casa Azahar in August these boxes were put directly in the storage room upstairs, and may have stayed there indefinitely except that this past weekend I decided to put the electric fans up there until next summer. The movers had just placed stuff in the room willy-nilly and it was jam-packed, so it was time to tackle this issue.

And so, with the help of my trusty best friend (and former flatmate) Peter @svqconcierge, we took everything out of the storage room, and I ruthlessly tossed about three more boxes of this and that, making space and, frankly, clearing my mind. It was such a relief to get rid of more unneeded STUFF. But the two boxes of photos… I couldn’t just toss them without going through them first. In this photo you can see what remains of the first box, which was reduced to what is now in that plastic bag in front of the second box. One down, one to go…

Meanwhile, I would like to find an easier way of digitalising the photos I want to keep, because I’d rather just get rid of all the actual photographs and have them on my computer. So, does anyone know of a good photo scanner app? Preferably something I could use with my iPhone?

For his much-appreciated efforts, Peter was treated to Sunday lunch, which also gave me a chance to try out the oven here. It was a bit hit and miss, but I eventually got it to work, though I’d much rather be using the new oven I bought last Christmas (more on that later). Anyhow… great lunch. And a good day with lots accomplished.

Garlicky-herby roasted chicken, boiled skin-on potatoes, grilled courgette.