
Today is World Ensaladilla Day.
14 Tuesday Nov 2023
Posted in gastronomy, sevilla

Today is World Ensaladilla Day.
31 Tuesday Oct 2023
27 Friday Oct 2023
Posted in friends, sevilla, social media, spain, twitter, twitter friends

I’ve known Ali & Kaye on Twitter for ages (and they have been real life best friends since 2011, though they live on opposite sides of the Iberian peninsula) so it was great to finally meet them both in person and take them out on a tapas tour. As they have both been to Sevilla before we decided to eat our way around Triana and it was a fabulous afternoon. Honestly these two are like a comedy team, funny AF and constantly playing off each other, and hey, they thought I was funny too! Always makes a nice change when people think I’m funny and not a cranky old cynic who hates everything and everyone (who me? 😇).
We even went into “overtime” going for a penúlitma after the tour was over and, since I was off the clock, so to speak, I finally felt able to swear properly again. Heck, by our final tapas tour stop we were already sharing pet photos and comparing scars à la Jaws (don’t ask, but I won!). I would have loved to spend more time with these two lovelies, so hopefully that will happen again before too long. Whenever people dis Twitter I always have many happy-making stories like this to counter all those cranky old cynics. 🙂
26 Thursday Oct 2023
12 Thursday Oct 2023

So sad to hear the news today that we are about to lose our last giant ficus tree in the Plaza de la Encarnación. When I first moved to Sevilla there were four of these magnificent trees, one on each corner of the square. If I’m not mistaken, the two on the east side of the square were removed to make room for the Setas, and last year we lost the north-west one for the same reason we are losing this last one. Apparently they were rotting inside, branches started falling off (obviously a hazard) but I mean, what the hell? These trees are the responsibility of the City Council to maintain. How is it that this “rotting” was only noticed in 2022 and only after a large branch broke off? And since then, why wasn’t the last remaining tree studied and cared for?
Anyhow, I took this photo the other day after I’d heard about the branch falling and, as you can see, the tree had been seriously pruned back. But dammit. This feels like it could have been prevented.