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Tag Archives: sevilla

1992

09 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in sevilla, television

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1992, netflix, sevilla

1992

This could have… should have… been better. Directed by award-winning director Alex de la Iglesia and shot mostly in Madrid and Sevilla, with a very good cast, this slow-burn serial killer mystery series ran into trouble in the first episode. Well, it did for every Sevillano watching. The first major faux-pas was when the main characters emerge from the Santa Justa train station and there’s a tourist horse carriage parked outside. Like, wtf? Has never happened ever. Later on it shows a pre-Semana Santa costalero practice session, where 30 burly guys carry the “paso” frame (parihuela) through the streets late at night, loaded down with bricks and sandbags to replicate the weight of the sacred images that will be placed on top during the processions. Well they got that bit right, except they were accompanied by a band and a parade of nazarenos (penitents) in full gear, long tunics and pointy hats… another thing that has never happened ever. When the costaleros practice at best they have a boom box on top of the bare bones parihuela playing a few marches. These were the most glaring (and insulting) misrepresentations, but it did feel like de la Iglesia has a very narrow-minded opinion of Sevilla and sevillanos and decided to go with straight up caricatures.

This may have been saved by a gripping story but it actually started fizzling out early on. I finished the series just because I love watching Sevilla on film, and it wasn’t awful. Just a bit disappointing.

lunch with reyes

08 Wednesday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in birthdays, food & drink, friends, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birthday, casa morales, la barra de inchausti, sevilla

birthday reyes (1)

It’s always a great time with Reyes. It’s become a bit of a tradition for us to meet up sometime during Birthday Week so today we met at her iconic bar Casa Morales, founded by her great grandfather in 1850. We started things off with a glass of Codorníu rosé cava and a bit of exquisite jamón Ibérico de Bellota from renowned producers Sierra Mayor before heading out to our lunch destination.

birthday reyes

This was to be La Barra de Inchausti just around the corner. Another family-owned spot, now run by siblings Isidro, Concha and Jorge Inchausti.  MORE fish and seafood and that was totally fine by me. We got there early enough to get “my” table next to the window and it was perfect. Afterwards Reyes suggested we have a penúltima at Morales as that was also on my way home.  So a little more cava rosé, a bit more jamón and I think I got home from lunch about 8.00 pm. One more birthday lunch planned this week. Stay tuned!

birthday reyes (2)

We had…

  • Codorníu Ars Collecta Blanc de Noirs Cava 🥂
  • Tortillita de camarones
  • Bodegas Santa Marta Godello Viñaredo 🥂
  • Albóndigas de choco
  • Alubias with prawns
  • Breaded monkfish liver
  • Garlicky grilled monkfish
  • Torelló Special Edition Costa Brava Corpinnat 🥂

birthday 2025!

07 Tuesday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in birthdays, friends, restaurants, sevilla

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birthdays, friends, jaylu restaurante, sevilla

birthday 2025

As everyone who knows me knows… I love birthdays! This Birthday Week started off with a bang by returning to the fabulous Jaylu Restaurante in Triana. My first ever visit there was on my birthday two years ago… it’s not an every day kind of place. Since that visit I’ve been back a couple of times and discovered the joy of sitting at the bar there rather than the posh dining room. I mean, same eye-watering prices, but a much more casual and friendly experience. So this time I called ahead and Ana said she would have my usual spot at the end of the bar ready for me.

Peter very generously invited me out, as on the first visit, but this was his first time at the prized bar location and he agreed it was a lot more fun. Fabulous food, amazing wines and a chupito of orujo blanco to finish us off. There’s more to say about this but I’m playing blog post catch up so will either write more here or do a long Jaylu birthday post on my Substack. Have I mentioned I have a new Substack?

We had…

  • Raventós i Blanc Brut Cava
  • Breaded king prawns
  • Ossian Verdejo
  • Morillo de bacalao
  • Grilled tuna belly with garlic sauce
  • Zamorano cheese
  • Orujo blanco

There’s more coming up this week, stay tuned…

bitesize sevilla

06 Monday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in culture, food & drink, gastronomy, music, podcasts, recipes, sevilla, spain, substack, work

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bitesize sevilla, sevilla, substack

bitesize

So remember when I started off the New Year last week by saying goodbye to Twitter and writing my first Substack post? Well, I am just now coming up for air. I had no idea that one post was going to turn into its own publication and brand and open up all kinds of ideas and possibilities. Also Substack is the most unintuitive platform I have ever participated on, and so a lot of time this past week has been spent just trying to figure it out. I think this is because it is trying to be too many things. Aside from being a publishing platform for writers it has various other features such as the aforementioned separate publication option, plus posts, notes and chats (don’t ask). And there is also a podcast option, which I have yet to look at.

As a result of all this STUFF there, there are at least three “HOME” pages and two “SETTINGS”… plus you have to set everything up, which is tricky to do when you can’t remember which home or settings page you need, or even where you last found them on your dashboard. Anyhow, things are pretty much operational now and happily it’s not tricky to navigate simply as a reader, so please have a look if you’d like to… Bitesize Sevilla (two posts up so far!). And if you like what you see you can subscribe for free.

And so how is this different from all the other platforms I am on? Well, I’m glad you asked, because although Substack may seem like more of the same, the hope is that it will start generating some much needed income. Not only because of still being sidelined due to THE KNEE, but also just because it’s exciting to have a new project and do something a bit different. The writing for Bitesize will overlap with my other blogs, websites and social media, but the aim is to create an essential guide to all things Sevilla… all in one place.

For the moment the posts are all free to read as I am getting started by publishing a series of basic info posts, but once I start researching and writing more in depth pieces then people will be able to access those by subscribing to one of the payment options (monthly or yearly). I’m also considering a podcast for a bit later on. My feeling about most podcasts I’ve been listening to is that they’re just too long. I plan to make mine “bite sized”, maybe half an hour. And again, some will be open and others for paid subscribers only. But first things first. I have a LOT of writing to do now and so I’d better get to it!

hope 2026

03 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by azahar in cancer, casa azahar, home, hope, sevilla

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Tags

cancer, health, hope, sevilla

hope 2026

Well wouldn’t you know it… still here! And hope to still be here a year from now. I continue with this annual message of hope since that first time in 2009 when I boldly posted my daybook turned to January 3rd 2010 with the words “STILL HERE!” written on it, after having been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer mid-2008 and going through three major operations and chemo and being told my chances of survival weren’t very good. But I made it to January 2009 and I hope to keep posting every January 3rd for some time to come.  Watch this space. ❤️

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