Walking home tonight after a lovely impromptu sherry tasting event I was reminded of how I live in a postcard.
living in a postcard
05 Tuesday Jul 2011
Tag Archives: seville
all in a morning’s work..
30 Thursday Jun 2011
Posted in food & drink, sevilla, wine, work
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I was invited to an ice cream tasting this morning by my friend Eduardo who runs Different Spain, a fabulous private travel and concierge service. You may recall that a couple of months ago Edu and I went to an olive oil tasting together at the Basilippo Hacienda just outside Sevilla, and it turns out that this ice cream tasting, held at Mascarpone, was going to include three flavours made from Basilippo’s exquisite extra virgin olive oil.
Have to admit I’m not much of an ice cream person. Or maybe I’m a purist? I only eat ice cream once or twice a year and my favourite flavour has always been vanilla. But it was fun to taste a few very different flavours, such as:
- vanilla olive oil
- gazpacho topped with balsamic vinegar
- chocolate with hot chilis
- vanilla bonbon filled with wine and covered in dark chocolate
- chocolate bonbon filled with olive oil and covered in white chocolate
- mascarpone with salted sunflower & pumpkin seeds, mixed with dulce de leche
Later Eduardo and I were given some frozen fruit pops to try. They are not on the menu yet but I quite enjoyed my strawberry one, which was made from 45% fresh fruit. As for the rest, it was all very interesting and some of the flavours were quite nice, but I think I’ll stick with vanilla…
brand new walking tours!
07 Tuesday Jun 2011
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So okay, this came about yesterday while wondering how the heckity Nog was going to not just get through the summer, but also get by in general, teaching English classes here.
For the past year or so he hasn’t been doing well in that department and so, instead of trying to flog that tired old horse (I gave up trying to make a living teaching after getting off last chemo two years ago) I came up with this brilliant idea – private walking tours!
And very special tours, where Nog would take people to unusual and “not on the tourist map” places, perhaps throw in a coffee break, and also give advice on other great places to visit, fab tapas bars and other stuff people want to know. I think it’s going to be a winner.
Of course he is a bit nervous, but in fact he knows more about the history of Sevilla than I do, and I know he loves teaching and sharing knowledge, so I really think this is going to be up his street. And now to get busy promoting it – wish him luck!
Sevilla Walking Tours
up on the roof
13 Friday May 2011
This afternoon I had AN EXPERIENCE … a special tour of the rooftops of the Cathedral. Yes, plural, as the Sevilla Cathedral is the third largest in Europe. Anyhoodle, not the best place for an agoraphobic to be, and at one point – with the bell tower IN MY FACE – I decided not to turn and run screaming down five miles of narrow stone spiral stairs and shot this short video instead. More later… I have tons of pics!
semana santa 2011
21 Thursday Apr 2011
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only in Sevilla…
In case you missed this on the Sevilla Blog, we are now in the middle of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Sevilla. For those who haven’t experienced, or don’t know about it, it’s all about the processions – more than sixty of them during the course of the week, including those of the Madrugá on the Thursday night through to Friday morning (though this year it looks likely to be rained out). Each procession carries statues of the Christ and the Virgin from its home church to the Cathedral and back again, accompanied by nazarenos and penitentes carrying candles and crosses, and the distinctive music of the Semana Santa marching bands.
Because this is the largest and most elaborate celebration of its kind in the world, people come from all over Spain and even further afield to see it. With such large crowds, especially in the centre and around the cathedral, it is almost impossible for the residents to live normal lives, and for the last 18 years I’ve spent most of Semana Santa pretty much trapped in my flat just up the street from the cathedral. But this year I will be spending it in my new home near the Alfalfa for the first time, and I really don’t know what to expect in the way of crowds and inconvenience.
In retrospect it seems almost prescient that I took this video last year of the Santa Cruz procession, which plays my favourite marcha, the haunting La Madrugá by Abel Moreno. Little did I know that it was going to be the last time I would watch it go past below my bedroom balconies…
casa azahar 