Tag Archives: sevilla

tapeo extremo II

06 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by in food & drink, restaurants, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours

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So this is what I did yesterday! Met up with some Twitter pals and fellow bloggers for a Tapeo Extremo, a term coined by travel writing legend and hardcore tapeo phenomenon Annie Bennett. Taking part were Fiona (Scribbler in Seville), Kate (Tales of a Brit Abroad), Kate’s friend Nicki, and Kim (Becoming Sevillana). I’ve known Fiona for quite awhile now, and Kate and Nicki had been on a tapas tour with me last summer, but it was the first time meeting Kim. Everyone knew that this was going to be pretty darn demanding and they had a lot to live up to if they were going to reach “extremo” standards. And well, the girls did good.

MY challenge was that nobody in the group ate meat, and one only tolerated fish in small amounts, so it had to be a pescatarian/vegetarian affair. Was I daunted? Hell no. Though it has to be said that the tour focused more on fish and seafood until the fourth and final tapas stop. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

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gourmet tapas tour review!

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in food & drink, spain, tapas, tapas tours, wine, work

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Remember back at the end of August when I had that freak operation? Well, one of the reasons I was keen to get home and back on my feet was because I had a Gourmet Tapas Tour booked for the following weekend and I really didn’t want to have to cancel it. Nog had helped me out by doing three tours during the week, but this was a Gourmet one and, well, it had to be me.

So that Saturday night – about ten days after the op – I headed out to pick up Lucy and Dave, with my “faja” firmly wrapped around my middle. It turned out that we were “neighbours” as the holiday apartment they had rented was about a three minute walk from my place, and so I was able to let them know about the best places in the barrio for coffee or a quick snack, along with the list I gave them of other wonderful tapas bars that weren’t on the tour. And, in spite of initial doubts about my stamina, I made it through the evening no problem and had a wonderful time. Nog came to pick me up at our last stop – the rooftop bar – and had a beer with us. Then we walked Dave and Lucy back to their place and headed home.

And so I was very pleased the other day when Dave sent me a link to a post he’d written on his blog The Wine Mule about our tapas tour and their other Seville gastronomical adventures. I already knew a bit about these as we’d been in touch by email during the rest of their visit, and a bit afterwards, but it was great to see the photos and read about what fun they had. And of course it was wonderful to read such a glowing account of their tour with me.

Thanks guys – it really was a great night!

it’s official!

03 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in cancer, change, chemo, hospitals, sevilla, silly, weather

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Forget equinoxes and time changes, for me autumn doesn’t officially arrive until the first day I have to put on shoes. Which was today. Had to go out to the hospital this morning for the monthly chemo port cleaning and, while the heavy overnight rain had stopped, it was still a bit blustery and coolish. Dammit. I didn’t need to wear a jacket, but bare legs and mostly bare feet seemed like pushing it, so out came the dreaded tights and the (very dusty) purple shoes.

Not bad, I guess, but some years I’ve managed to keep wearing sandals until the last week of November. Basically it depends on if it rains.

Anyhow, I got a taxi over to the hospital. It’s different since they changed the port cleaning location – I used to go to the chemo infusion room in the evenings when they weren’t so busy and now I go to the blood lab building between 12-1pm. It’s actually a bit better not having to go to the chemo room, but it’s still a monthly reminder of THE CANCER and that the reason I have to keep this port in for five years is that they expect that I’m going to need it again…

But not today. There were two nurses on duty when I walked in and they immediately asked why I was dressed totally in black. I said I wasn’t, that I was wearing purple shoes and red earrings, but that didn’t satisfy them. Then I realised they must have thought I was in mourning, so I told them I was mourning the sun. Cracked them up. And they also relaxed, no longer worried I was a recent widow on top of having a chemo port in my chest.

So now that it’s autumn (it’s not officially winter until the Christmas lights are turned on) I need to go through my pathetic array of “warm clothing” and see what I can pull together. Even though it actually got up to 20º this afternoon. But I don’t want to buy anything new until I lose another ten kilos…

How’s the weather where you are?

norberto

01 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in art, culture, holidays, sevilla

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It was more than five years ago that I first happened upon Norberto León’s tiny studio while out for tapas with Nog and my dear friend Craig. It was a truly magical experience to come across Norberto and his helpers working away on that hot July night in 2006 and – me being nosy – popped my head inside to ask what was going on.

Since that night I’ve become pals with Norberto and we may still become biz associates one day (if I ever get my darned online store up and running!). I love his work and have had my eye on a rather large Sevilla serigraph skyline of his that I’d love to have in my living room. Well, maybe one day.

But today was a public holiday (Todos los Santos or The Day of the Dead) and by 11am I was getting a bit stir-crazy. Gym was closed, shops weren’t open, and what the hell was I going to do all day other than sit in front of the computer? So I decided to go out for a walk and do some work-related stuff, taking photos of a bar that I hope will become my latest social media client, and also a few photos of an actual client. It was a gorgeous morning – the first of November, 25º and me still wearing sandals.

And that’s when I saw Norberto sitting outside the cathedral, working away on his craft, with several items around him for sale. So we had a chat, I took this photo, got a kiss and then he told me about this video a friend of his had made about his work. I don’t think you need to understand Spanish to “get it”.

Website: norler.com
Estudio: c/ Alfarería 26
Triana, Sevilla
Tel. 676 024 081

heavy weather

23 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in weather

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Took this pic late this morning on my terrace…

I was a bit miffed because, after almost two months since the last major rainfall here, I wasn’t happy about it happening again on my Sunday off. Anticipating a rainy weekend – and possibly entire rainy week ahead – I did four loads of washing yesterday so I could get things dry. Such an exciting life I lead.  But the rain held off yesterday. And almost did today…

At midday Nog and I went out for a walk to check out a couple of new tapas bars in Triana – well, at least they were new to me. I’ve had so many tapas tours this month that I haven’t had time to go out and research new places for my Sevilla Tapas blog. So after the black clouds dispersed we made our way across the river. Turned out the first stop was closed on Sunday, so then we went to try out the second one. And well… at 2.15pm on a Sunday there wasn’t one person in the place, which did not bode well. As we were backing out of there I saw the owner of the tapas bar next door – Las Golondrinas – which is one of my all-time favourites. So we decided to just have a nice non-working lunch there. And it was lovely. The owner Paco kept coming over to suggest dishes and make sure we had drinks. We even got to try a couple of new tapas. And then… the skies opened up and we could barely see across the street. No problem. We ordered another round of drinks and a tapita and waited out the deluge…

Now back at home totally slobbing out and quite enjoying it.
How is your Sunday going?