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Tomorrow night I’ll be sleeping with Mario…
Follow @AzaharTravels and Azahar @SevillaTapas for updates!
#MadridGetaway
24 Tuesday Jun 2014
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Tomorrow night I’ll be sleeping with Mario…
Follow @AzaharTravels and Azahar @SevillaTapas for updates!
#MadridGetaway
23 Monday Jun 2014
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours
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One of the best things at the end of the day is looking back and thinking “well I never expected THAT to happen!” (unless of course it’s sprained ankles). It started off as a fairly normal day, first meeting my friend Anna @annalibera for a quick tapita, catching her on the last day of a short visit to Sevilla. Then I went off with Saray @SarayPineda to meet a food writer from Texas and welcome her to town, which was basically a favour as Saray said she was a bit nervous about her English (which is very good). So I said I would go with her. Well, we got to the train station and met Ellise Pierce @cowgirlchef, a Texan living in Paris. Ellise had just got off the train from Madrid following a long overnight flight from the US and was pretty zonked. She was also confused to be suddenly greeted by us as she hadn’t been told anything and thought she’d have a couple of hours to find a WiFi connection and catch up on stuff before the official presentation by the people who organised her visit. But no. We sat down to have a chat about Sevilla and then one thing led to another and suddenly we were grabbing a taxi back to the centre of town for an impromptu tapas tour. There was just time for two quick stops, but they were both excellent. One very traditional – Las Teresas – and the other a more modern take on tapas – Vineria San Telmo. Then we bundled a slightly tipsy Ellise into another taxi and sent her back to her meeting. Phew!
Later Ellise sent me an email saying it was the perfect kick-off to her Spain trip – “spontaneous, girly, giggly, and with lots of ham”. And it turns out that she is going to be in Madrid on Saturday, my last day there, so we are planning to meet up. Saray and I have decided that we make a great team. We’re not sure yet how to use these special powers, but once we do world domination won’t be far off. Anyhow, what a great day it was. How was yours?
29 Thursday May 2014

I’ve known Gabriella (@tenedor on Twitter) for years and we’ve often talked about me going up to visit her in San Sebastian (which may actually happen this summer). But then she was suddenly in Sevilla and so of course we had to meet up and go out on a “tapeo extremo”. It was a fabulous afternoon – also the first long outing I’ve done without crutches in six weeks! – and we really hit it off. I was introducing Gabriella to the various bar owners as the “Shawn of San Sebastian” except she is actually on a whole other level as you can see by her website: Tenedor Tours.
Of course at the end of this fabulous tapeo I got to come home and put my feet up for the rest of the evening while Gabriella had to get back to work with the clients she had brought to town. Really hoping to get a chance to do pinxtos with her soon and, who knows, maybe drop in on the Arzaks. But mostly it would just be fun to hang out with her again. The list of fabulous people I’ve met via Twitter continues to grow…
07 Wednesday May 2014
Posted in food & drink, tapas, tapas tours, work

Another very successful Market & Tapas Tour! I actually wish I got more requests for this particular food tour because it’s really a lot of fun, and it makes a nice change for me to work during the day and have the evening off. In other news… I graduated to using ONE CRUTCH for this tour and it was fine. Still very painful feet but it wasn’t any worse with just the one crutch. Also much easier to manoeuvre. I think I’ll hobble over to the doctor’s this week and see about arranging some physio (okay Beth??).
19 Saturday Apr 2014
Posted in food & drink, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours
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My first Introduction to Sherry Tour was a success! Except for that bit after when I fell down. Can’t even blame the wine as I’d only had two glasses! But my clients got to sample 7 different sherries paired with various tapas, from cheeses and charcuterie to hot dishes and finishing up with cheese and dessert.

Kathleen and Sam were perfect victims guests and asked lots of questions. I was a bit sneaky and didn’t tell them they were my first Sherry & Tapas tour. Happily I was able to answer all their questions and give them lots of information about the wines and the sherry making process. But most importantly they were able to sample the wines the way they are meant to be enjoyed… little by little, with food and friends.

You may recall that I got the idea for this tour when I inadvertently did my own World Sherry Day event last year after missing my train to Jerez that morning, where I’d been invited to attend an event. In the end it turned out for the best because that’s when I realised that sherry is best experienced with food and I wanted to share that experience with other people. Looking forward to future Sherry & Tapas tours now. Even though I still have a lot to learn, for now I know enough to help people learn about and enjoy sherry. And I’m very happy to report that Kathleen and Sam are new sherry converts!