Tag Archives: spain

lockdown day 17: un día más, un día menos

30 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, home, sevilla

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This is funny even if you don’t know the original quote (but even funnier if you do). So one more day, one day less. I dunno, it’s kind of getting easier in some ways, though I still don’t know how I’m going to pay my rent on Wednesday. Apparently there’s a moratorium on mortgages, but I don’t know if that will trickle down my way. Fingers crossed! And there may be some kind of government assistance, but it’s unclear how self-employed people will benefit. So far it looks like they are offering a small basic amount and then taking half of it back again by continuing to charge us the 300€ a month for social security. As far as I know, regular employees are getting 75% of their usual income. So um… thanks?

Today I sent in my final writing assignment, which I had kept putting off and putting off, until I couldn’t put if off anymore. And I finally know why… at least until now I felt like I had work to do. Feeling a bit bereft at the moment. Not sure what I’ll do tomorrow if I’m not spending the day putting off my writing assignment. What’s going to motivate me to do all those C List activities?

How are you guys holding up?

home delivery during lockdown

24 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, food & drink, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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El Mercado de Sevilla

Today I went out for my weekly supermarket run (and rubbish dump). My last time out was on Wednesday, when I noticed changes since the previous visit to El Corte Inglés supermarket at the beginning of the lockdown. Staff were all wearing gloves and masks and we were handed plastic gloves on our way in. Today security had been stepped up, with gloves and sanitiser left out for our use on a table on the way in, and cashiers were being protected behind plexiglass.

All this time I’ve been feeling bad about not supporting local independents more but the sad truth is that the small guys aren’t able to offer the same protection for both staff and customers that the bigger supermarkets can. Being in a high risk demographic – over 60 with autoimmune shit going on due to previous stage 4 cancer & chemo – I just don’t want to take the extra risk.

Meanwhile, last week my friends Jeanine & Juan who run the amazing La Azotea, started offering daily menus for home delivery, along with selected items from their regular menu, and also wines. This is a great option for people who haven’t had time to shop, don’t like cooking, or simply miss their favourite La Azotea dishes. You can follow them on their Instagram stories to see the daily specials.

And today I found out about a new iniciative started by four friends, including my pal Javier, chef and owner of Taberna Lalola, called El Mercado de Sevilla, offering an online platform for local independent food shops and suppliers to provide home delivery. It’s free of charge for suppliers to join and there is no delivery charge. It’s still early days, but the website is up and runnying as of today.

La Azotea Sevilla

lockdown: day 3

16 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, home, sevilla

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The official nationwide lockdown started on Saturday, though as I made a quick cat food run to El Corte Inglés that day I feel like my first real day being shuttered in at home was yesterday. And you know, so far so good. I’ve actually got lots to do with finishing up the Decanter article by Wednesday. And I’m used to working from home anyhow, and spending a lot of time at the computer. What I’m not used to is not being able to go outside. Obvs.

It’s actually not that easy. I miss walking. I miss fresh air. Freedom of movement. And along with all that is the fear about how nobody can actually say how long this is going to last. We’ve been told two weeks, but apparently that was just to keep us from panicking. I’ve mostly gone numb in the Worry Dept because there is only so much I can process before I slip into my usual living in denial thang. But today I found myself getting all WHAAAT reading (on Twitter) about people in the UK who are thinking exactly like I was a week ago.

A week ago today l went to a wine tasting event in Sevilla. I was still going to tapas bars. Then midweek l did an overnight trip to Málaga to visit wineries. In retrospect I shouldn’t have done any of those things. So I am here to tell you now, boys and girls, with the wisdom that only hindsight can bring… wherever you happen to be living now DO NOT wait for your gov’t to tell you what to do, self-isolate NOW.

Also, we all have more information than we did a week ago, even though a lot of it is contradictory and confusing. But really, do not worry about losing your job because, guess what, you are going to lose it anyhow unless it is something you can do from home. And as for supporting other local businesses, they are only days away from losing everything, so although well-meaning, you will not be able to save them. Seriously, save yourselves, and by doing so, you may also save the actual lives of many others who have compromised immune systems. This is serious shit. Learn from us.

lockdown

14 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by in sevilla, spain

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Spain is now officially on lockdown for a minimum of 15 days, though it may be longer. A lot longer. So after one last quick outing to get more cat food earlier in the day (I wasn’t as well stocked as I’d previously thought) I am now housebound for the duration. Have to say I was very disappointed to see so many bars still open, with one owner saying that until they were strictly prohibited from opening (rather than the “express recommendation” issued on yesterday) they wouldn’t close. But even worse were the idiots INSIDE THE BARS… I mean what were they waiting for? I felt guilty enough going out again for the cat food, how did they justify sitting around (not a safe distance apart) just to have a tapa and a beer? Anyhow, all bars have now been forced to close.

At home have spent much of the day cooking up some of the food I bought yesterday: chicken & veg garam masala, meatballs, marinara sauce (with added sausage and veg), all now frozen in single meal sized packets. Tomorrow will do something with garbanzos and spinach, basically trying to cook and freeze all my fresh vegetables as they certainly won’t last 15 days.

Meanwhile am hoping that the “cold” I picked up while away this week is actually JUST A COLD. I keep reading conflicting info about coronavirus symptoms, so I’m going to stop reading them now and just hope for the best. No fever (as of yet) so that’s a positive sign. It’s going to be a very weird time. Thank goodness for the internet. I’d hate to be going through this without all you guys.  🙂

These are the only shops and services allowed to be open (dry cleaners?) though for the most part it only seems to be supermarkets and pharmacies opening at the moment.

  • food
  • beverage
  • essential goods
  • pharmacy
  • clinics
  • optical
  • orthopaedics
  • hygiene products
  • hairdressers
  • newsagents
  • gas stations
  • tobacco
  • technological equip
  • telecos
  • pet food
  • online shops
  • dry cleaners
  • laundries

momentos coronavirus

13 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by in sevilla

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After arriving home from the Axarquía it became clear that shit was getting real re: the coronavirus (aka covid-19). I went out in the morning to stock up and stay home, stopping by a couple of my bars to see how they were doing and what their plans were. Usually on a Friday afternoon these two bars would have been heaving, but they weren’t even half-full. Schools, museums and parks had already been closed and everyone was waiting to hear what would be decided by the city council about bars and restaurants (Madrid had closed theirs the day before). Later that evening they had their answer when the Ayuntamiento issued an “express recommendation” that all bars and restaurants shut down until further notice.

Meanwhile, I came across these sights while out shopping. Honestly don’t understand why anyone drinks from public fountains at any time, but seeing this group of elderly folks taking turns made me shudder. Other signs of the times were seeing the cosmetic testers covered in plastic at El Corte Inglés, LUSH inviting passersby to stop in to wash their hands, an almost empty meat section at the CI Supermarket (though I did get toilet paper!), and a used medical mask, possibly contaminated, left on the street by some asshole. I mean, WTF?

A country-wide lockdown similar to Italy is expected over the weekend.

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