Tag Archives: spain

impromptu trip to málaga

25 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by in Malaga, tapas, trips, wine, work

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The last time I went to Málaga was in August for the Botani vendimia tour. Since then I think I’ve only seen Victoria twice, not really often enough as we still have to finish off a few projects as well as keep the blog and website updated properly. So, as Victoria had no plans to come to Sevilla again soon, and I didn’t have any Sevilla Tapas Tours booked until Thursday evening, this week seemed a good time to make some time to get together.

And so, after a quick phone call yesterday to confirm our Wednesday meeting I went out to buy my tickets and will be leaving for Málaga bright and early this morning on the 7.30 am train! Aargh. I prefer taking the 11 am train, which gets me into town at 2.30, but that means having to wait around, with luggage, until the porter at Manolo’s building gets back from his lunch break – at 5 o’clock – so he can let me in to the apartment.  This way I’ll get there around 10.30 and will have a whole day in Málaga on my own, which will be nice. The plan is to come back on Thursday afternoon, arriving just in time for a Gourmet Tapas Tour.

Quite like this mixing business with pleasure thing!

cava cata

29 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in food & drink, restaurants, sevilla, social media, tapas, wine, work

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So this is what I did last night!

What better way to further celebrate Tuesday’s good news than to go out to a free cava tasting the following evening. No question mark – rhetorical question. One of my all-time favourite tapas bars – La Azotea – has recently opened the new location of their fabulous Vinos & Más gourmet food and wine shop and last night was the first cata (wine tasting) featuring five fabulous Parxet cavas:  brut reserva, brut natura, gran reserva extra brut (my favourite), brut rosé and a dessert rosé. What I love about these catas at Vinos & Más is that they are casual and not at all snobby. I get to learn something new about wines and never feel silly about asking questions.

After the cata Nog & I were in need of a bit of something to eat and as La Azotea was jam-packed (as usual at that hour) we wandered over to a typical neighbourhood place called Dos de Mayo, which was also packed but their clientelle doesn’t linger as long. So we shared a few tapitas… always nice to mix business with pleasure, and especially when it ends up being mixing pleasure with pleasure…

rick stein’s spain

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in cooking, culture, sevilla, spain, video

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Remember back in May when that rascally Del sent me a surprise package containing the DVD of Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes? Well, he did it again with the latest series that features Spain.

As it was recently shown on tv in the UK, I’d been hearing various opinions about it on Twitter and couldn’t wait to see it for myself. And then it arrived today, which also happens to be WeeRascal’s birthday, so after getting home from an amazing lunchtime gourmet tapas tour, I just had to sit down and watch some of it.

Against Del’s and Ian’s advice I went straight to the fourth (and final) episode, which featured Sevilla. I was told that this was the best of the four and that it would be better to watch them “in order”, but how could I resist seeing my Sevilla on film? And… hmmm. I liked it, and will watch it again, but my first impression was that it didn’t really capture Sevilla very well. Which made me wonder if everyone who sees their “home town” represented in series like these feels the same. But it’s still great fun to watch and I am now wanting to travel more around Spain, especially the north.

Who wants to come with me?

evening stroll

20 Wednesday Jul 2011

Posted by in home, sevilla, spain, summer, tapas

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On a hot summer night in Sevilla it just doesn’t seem right to go to bed just when the weather is turning agreeable, so lately flatmate Nog and I have taken to late evening walks, which often end up with us stopping off somewhere for a Cold Beer and a tapa. Tonight we made two stops as I hadn’t had dinner, and we ended up going over the river to Triana, thinking it might be a bit cooler. It wasn’t. But it was cooler than inside the house, and there was a lovely breeze. And look at all the pretty things we saw! Plus we got some exercise and our two snacks cost a grand total of 12 euros. I love Sevilla.

Now it’s time for a cool shower and bed…