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~ my life in sevilla

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Tag Archives: sevilla

no hay caracoles

05 Friday Jul 2024

Posted by azahar in seasons, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

caracoles, sevilla, snails

no hay caracoles

Got in at the tail end of snail season this week at Bar Alfonso (El Rey de los Caracoles). That’s it now until next late spring… ๐ŸŒ ๐ŸŒ ๐ŸŒ

summer self care

03 Wednesday Jul 2024

Posted by azahar in change, hair, health, sevilla

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

hair, pedicures, self care, sevilla

self care

I never plan haircuts. I just wake up one day and realise that I REALLY need a haircut!!! Today was such a day. Then I had a look at my feet and saw the pedicure I had done in May (first professional one since 2018!) was also getting a bit shabby so what the heck. I decided to book both appointments for today since I am ON STAYCATION and both the hairdresser and the nail place are just a few doors down from my house. Easy!

I remember thinking back in 2018 that the pedis were going to become a regular thing, but then this and that happened, then Covid… but then in May I couldn’t deny that my feet were in pretty bad shape. So I tried the place in my street because I saw the girls were wearing masks (surgical, but better than nothing). That poor woman! The workout she had trying to get my feet even half-way back to OK. It was easier on her this time – better results too – and I also brought my own Essie polish (appropriately named TOO TOO HOT) because last time I ended up with a too-dark red. Isn’t this interesting?

Then I popped two doors down to the hairdresser. They know me by now. Just spritz my hair, cut off “dos dedos” with a “longer at the front” incline, and then I’m outta there, wet hair and all. I get charged for a full “cut & styling” but that’s fine. All I want is my hair cut.

So now I’m all set for summer. Shorter hair, perfect red happy toes, and really just a good feeling about having done this. Making time for a bit of self care is important, even if you think you can’t afford it. Oh, and I also did a full-on (chair) cardio & strength workout before I went out. Yay me!

staycation 2024

27 Thursday Jun 2024

Posted by azahar in health, holidays, home

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

sevilla, staycation, summer

staycation 24

Am considering not doing any tapas tours in July (August is already booked off – way too hot!). I can’t actually afford to do this but as I’m also not going on holiday my (somewhat warped) logic is that the money I’m not spending on a holiday I also can’t afford might help pay for a two-month staycation.

Well almost two months. I have a couple of tours booked early July, but I’ve been thinking… what if I had (almost) two months to just focus on other things? I’ve been dithering about The Next Step(s) ever since I realised I needed to diversify and not just rely on the tapas tours for income, but it feels like I’ve been pivoting so long I’m really just going around in circles. So maybe a reboot would help?

I’ve never been a “go on holidays” type of person anyhow, short getaways are more my style. Mostly due to finances but also because I don’t really enjoy being away from home for a long time. I love where I live and enjoy my day to day life. But I’ve also never had an extended period of time to just… BE (well other than when sick with cancer and during covid lockdown, which don’t really count).

I mean, I’d still keep up with my websites, visit tapas bars, and visit all you guys here. I just think it would be nice to feel like I didn’t have to do something, or be somewhere, on a schedule. Feeling more relaxed just thinking about it. What are you doing this summer?

michele

25 Tuesday Jun 2024

Posted by azahar in gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, twitter, twitter friends

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

restaurants, sevilla, twitter

michele (1)

Got to meet another Twitter pal in person over the weekend. Michele @mneylon is a world-travelling food-loving guy from Ireland and we’ve known each other virtually for YEARS. And then all of a sudden he was in Sevilla! So we met up for lunch. When Michele mentioned he’d like some seafood I knew we had to go to Salmedina. I mean, I go there a lot both on my own and on my tapas tours, but it’s always fun to go with someone who really knows and appreciates good food.

Our waiter recommended the “pez tambor” in tempura and… he was so right! I’d never heard of this fish before, which is found on the Cรกdiz coast. Toothy little guy, also very toothsome, with firm sweet flesh in light crispy batter. Michele also made sure to get all the goodness out of the head (cheeks etc) but before taking it away our waiter pointed out that there was still some good eating from behind the eyes, and Michele happily followed instructions.

That evening I suggested that Michele go to another of my favourite spots, Augurio, and so he went with two friends and, well, raved about it. There are other excellent new restaurants in town but to me Augurio is THE opening of 2024 (even though we’re still in June I feel safe saying this). Anyhow, great to meet Michele and I hope he’ll be back again before too long.

michele (2)

feeling a bit hopeful again…

24 Monday Jun 2024

Posted by azahar in health, hope, hospitals, knee saga, knees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

health, sevilla

hoping

You may recall that after the disastrous episodes with the Traumatologist and the Endo, and the ongoing issues with Heartless GP (who just keeps telling me I’m fat), I was feeling pretty let down and not sure what to do next in terms of my health concerns. Then I remembered I still had one more blood test available, so I booked that a couple of weeks ago and afterwards made an appointment to see my GP again to go over the results and hopefully to also see if I could get some actual help with my fucked up knee. Made the appt online and was surprised to see that I would be seeing a different GP and a glimmer of hope started to break through.

And so I went off to see New GP today. We talked over the blood test results and my medication. I told her I am only taking the BP meds because I’d had three different doctors tell me three different things about the other meds and she kind of smirked knowingly at that. So we took them one by one. My blood pressure is still a bit high but she said it was fine to stay on the present meds for now (she wants me to check in again in December at which point she’ll also order another blood test). Re: statins (for cholesterol) and metformin (sugar) she agreed with my oncologist that neither of these were necessary as I am kind of “borderline” and in fact my cholesterol has gone down a bit since October. I told her I had been making some diet changes and taking some supplements, and she seemed to think I was making good progress but that we will check it again in six months.

Then it was on to my knee. I told her the whole story and finally said that I really didn’t want to be living on painkillers, the only treatment so far offered to me, and I wondered if it would be possible to get an MRI for my right knee. I said to her maybe then they could figure out if there is any kind of physio or other treatment I could get because so far I felt like nobody has been helping me and the pain is so bad now that I can’t even climb stairs anymore. She immediately put in a request for an MRI and said I’d get a call telling me when the appointment would be. As for treatment she said that my best bet was probably going to be surgery but first things first.

And omg I almost cried. It’s been so long since a doctor has actually listened to me that I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. And she didn’t once mention my weight. I actually brought it up when we were talking about diet and cholesterol saying that of course I know I need to lose weight and she said I could try walking a bit more and cutting down on fats when cooking (this led to a chat about my air fryer) but she said the drop in cholesterol was a positive. In contrast Heartless GP, the Endo and Trauma Doc all made it seem like being fat was the reason EVERYTHING was happening to me. Not helpful.

And so there is a plan now. And I feel so very relieved. All I needed was a little support and now that I have it I feel like I can move forward with this. Getting my knees back would certainly help with getting back to my 10,000 step walks, meanwhile will keep on with my chair yoga/pilates and yeah, am also going to start tweaking the diet a bit more. Amazing what a little hope will do.

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azahar's avatarazahar on hola… septiembre?
sledpress's avatarsledpress on hola… septiembre?
Deb B's avatarDeb B on dolly
azahar's avatarazahar on it’s heeere!
sledpress's avatarsledpress on it’s heeere!
Unknown's avatarit’s heeere! |… on new comfy chair! (maybe)
azahar's avatarazahar on caturday august 22nd 2026
sledpress's avatarsledpress on caturday august 22nd 2026
Unknown's avatargetting my ducks in… on iykyk
Unknown's avatargetting my ducks in… on shoulder shot

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