07 Friday Jun 2024
Posted in birthdays, casa azahar, cats, home
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Well, thirteenish. When I first took her in (Sept 2011) I thought she was only about 6 weeks old because she was so tiny, but the vet said she was more like 3-4 months, just small from being malnourished and living in the streets. So I decided on June 7th (7 is my go-to cat birthday date) and here is a little Luna retrospective to celebrate her.
Happy Birthday lovely Luna 
!
04 Tuesday Jun 2024
Posted in art, sevilla, spain, tapas bars
My friend Victor sent me this lovely pic overnight on whatsapp (he’s travelling in the US atm, this is why I always turn the sound off on my phone when I go to bed). But how fabulous is this? The view is from my Happy Place at the bar in Las Teresas, in front of the jamón cutting station. I have posted countless photos of this very scene over the years. So I asked Victor where he’d seen this and he said “on Twitter” but then couldn’t find the post again. I tried googling the signature and even searched the image… nada.
So it was time to ask social media… I put up the pic on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram asking if anyone knew who the artist was and – in a very surprising turn of events – Bluesky won! My pal Rob came through with this…
So wow. Not only an artist and husband to a fellow cancer survivor but, really, one helluva guy with an interesting background story. What I’d really love to know is when he was here in Sevilla and how he ended up in my Happy Place and THEN felt so moved by it that he decided to create this. Meanwhile, kudos to my Bluesky buds… I wish more of you were there. It’s a bit like how Twitter used to be.
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31 Friday May 2024
Posted in culture, events, gastronomy, sevilla
This is the second Caracolia – aka Sevilla Snail Festival – with 13 bars from Sevilla city and province participating serving up both caracoles and cabrillas. The former are a smaller snail cooked in spicy broth, cabrillas are bigger and usually cooked in a cuminy tomato sauce. It’s a fun event and lovely that it’s down by the river to catch a cool post-dusk breeze. We had a great time and even caught a spectacular sunset on the way home.
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30 Thursday May 2024
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas tours
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What a lovely surprise to see Ishay again after… 9 years! Last time we were together was in London as part of a Foodie Hub global meet up. Ishay got in touch while I was in Jerez to say she’d be in town for a couple of days with her friend Tuanni and so last night they joined me on a tapas tour with a lovely couple from Australia. We had a great time and it was lovely to her again and catch up. Our last meal together (below) at Kitty Fisher’s in London.
29 Wednesday May 2024
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You may recall that last year Corpus Christi got rained out (for the first time ever) so this year I was keen to haul myself out of bed at ridiculous o’clock to walk the procession route before it started. BUT… I had a tapas tour booked this evening and I realised that I’d be lucky to get to sleep before 2 am (always need to wind down afterwards) and so on my way home I walked a part of the route and took a few pics. The altars still weren’t totally set up but the shop windows and balconies had their displays up. And I caught a virgin making her way through the arches on her way to the Cathedral. And that’ll be it for me, I’m afraid. Still, something new as I’ve never seen the route at almost midnight. Pics below…
casa azahar 