Tag Archives: tapas

made it!

08 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, holidays, Malaga, travel, trips

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But I almost didn’t! I mean, just look at this little guy…

That was Azar last night. He clearly knew this wasn’t just laundry being sorted and that I was getting ready to GO AWAY. And with his continuing health issues (this past weekend was a bit dodgy) I seriously considered postponing until at least Tuesday. But in the end I decided to go this morning because the real issue wasn’t that he’d be okay today and tomorrow, but for the rest of the week. I had to leave at 10.15 to catch my train and – bless that little sweetheart – at 10 o’clock Azar went to the box and had a very healthy looking BM, which made me almost weep with joy and relief. And so I was able to leave with a light heart and feeling very optimistic that Azar is going to be just fine this week, under the care of Nog and vet Yolanda.

As usual I was a nervous wreck about packing and leaving, and not just because of Azar. Personally, I think I need to travel more so I get over this “leaving anxiety” thing. And if I did travel more often I’d have a selection of small travel toiletries and whatnots always ready to go, so that I didn’t have to ransack the bathroom and then still end up having to buy stuff when I arrived.

The other thing about staying at Manolo’s is that I always bring my own sheets and towels, which really fills up a suitcase! So even though I’m only going to be gone for four nights, it looks like I’m going away for a month. Anyhow, Nog came to the train station with me this morning and saw me off. The plan was that Manolo had left a set of keys inside the apartment and I was to ask the doorman to let me in, but Manolo warned me that he might be gone for lunch when I arrived. Well, the train got in at 1.35 and I got to the apartment just before 2 o’clock, so thought I would surely catch the doorman before I left. No such luck. Turns out his break is from 1-5pm! So I went upstairs and luckily the neighbours were in and were happy to look after my luggage while I went out for lunch.

After that I had quite a long wait at this total dive of a place on the beach, as you can see…

La Moraga 

Afterwards I stopped at the supermarket for a few supplies, got the doorman to let me in, picked up my bags from next door…and got settled in! Made the bed, hung up my clothes, got my kitchen stuff organised, took a shower, set up my “office”, and I have been happily ensconced here ever since. Feet up, sea breeze blowing in through the balcony doors and windows, listening to music on my “travel iPod deck”. And dammit, I feel happy. I really really really needed to do this.

More mañana. Manolo’s place looks amazing! It’s been renovated since last time I was here and is so light and fresh looking. Not sure what I’ll do this evening, though I’m thinking I’ll just stay in and have an early night as I only got about 3 hours sleep last night worrying about Azar. Oh, and that massive mofo cockroach that Loki cornered at 3am also didn’t do any wonders for the ol’ sleep department. Really looking forward to falling asleep to the sound of the waves tonight, which is the next best sound to a cat purring…

palomas

26 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by in food & drink, friends, restaurants, sevilla, spain, summer, wine

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Remember my evening strolls? Well, yesterday evening I went out and see if I could find a place that would clean my camera lens (yes, I know, but the lens cleaning pack thing costs 20 euros) and, after that was accomplished, it seemed like a very good idea to stop off somewhere for a Cold Beer before heading home. I decided it would be nice to go to Casa Morales, which has become one of my favourite starting points on the Sevilla Tapas Tours. So Nog & I bellied up to the bar to order drinks and – as I wasn’t working – thought it would be better to just hang out there instead of getting a table. I’m so glad we did because it ended up being a wonderful evening.

I’ve known Diego (on the left) for years, as he used to work at the Horno San Buenaventura, and back in the day I would stop in there almost every morning for coffee and toast. So we got to chatting and one tapita led to another… they are so simple, so good and so cheap it was hard to resist. Then Diego started topping up our drinks on the house, and also brought us a couple of other snacks (not shown – a bit of chicharrones and some tuna mojama). At one point an elderly couple who had been sitting behind us – you can just about make them out in the photo – came up to pay and they gave the guys a little puzzle that they said could be made into both a square and a cross. Well, doing the square was no problem, but nobody could make the cross, so we said we’d have a go. At which point Diego said he’d bet us double or nothing on our bar tab that we couldn’t do it. Too bad we didn’t take him up on that as Nog eventually worked it out while Diego showed me an origami “flying” dove, which he said he’d made. When I looked sceptical he took a piece of paper and made one in front of me. I’d grabbed my iPhone to make a video of it but when he was finished I saw that I hadn’t turned the video on properly, so asked him to do it again. Only I stupidly held the iPhone the wrong way, which ended up with a rather odd looking video, but I didn’t think I could ask for a third performance. Anyhow, below you can watch Diego making palomas.

So what was just going to be a quick beer stop on the way home turned out to be a couple of very pleasant hours spent at this totally charming bar with great people. I love it when stuff like that happens.

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…

reconnecting

24 Friday Jun 2011

Posted by in friends, health & happiness, life stuff, tapas

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You may remember Pilar – one third of my fabulous team in the nuclear medicine department. Well, it turns out that just after my last PET scan in January she fell ill and has been off work ever since. We’ve stayed in touch by phone, but she hasn’t been up to going out until the past week or so. And so she organised it so that we would meet up with another old pal of ours, Montse, and her baby Irene.

Here we are sitting outside a tapas bar in Montse’s barrio, enjoying some cold drinks and snacks and catching up. Both Pilar and Montse were also students of mine at various times over the years but, although I’ve seen Pilar quite a bit, I actually hadn’t seen Montse for about three years. I knew about her first child but was surprised to see her almost ready to have her second. And Pilar looked great, with lots of energy, but she doesn’t expect to return to work until after the summer. Which means Monday will be the first time I’ve had a PET scan without my “Pili” there to make me feel at ease and – very importantly! – to give me my results straight away. But I’m hoping that either Isabel or Ricardo will be able to break the news (either good or bad) to me before I leave the hospital. And I also hope that Pilar gets better soon so I can start giving her the year of pre-paid English classes I still owe her.

After a couple of very pleasant hours we said our “hasta prontos!” and I met up with Nog to have one more Cold Beer before going home. Stopped at a kind of rough & ready place around the corner from the house that I wouldn’t choose to eat at, but it had Cruzcampo “Glacial” and a nice terraza that was catching a lovely breeze. So we sat out and listened to the Gay Pride concert that was going on at the Setas. This was the view from the terraza.

Finally came home to cuddle cats and turn on the a/c for awhile before going to bed, and I found myself thinking about what a wonderful day it had been (including my early morning Corpus Cristi walk) and what a wonderful place Sevilla is to live in. Happy.

weekend plans and other stuff…

16 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in food & drink, friends, restaurants, spain, summer, tapas, travel, trips, work

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So what the heck.

Have been invited to Vejer to participate in a cooking class headed by the fabulous Annie B, and I am to stay over in the “yellow guest suite”, which sounds delightful. The next day Annie is going to drive me down to Zahara de los Atunes where we will have a delicious lunch in the village before she drops me off in Atlanterra so I can get down to work.

Said work involves taking photos and lots of notes about my Seville client’s sister restaurant in Zahara, which I already know well from my visit there two years ago. You may recall the time my friend Agustín asked me to look after their old pup Mini while they were away in Mexico. Not sure if this time I’ll be able to stay over at Agustín’s because he’s having work done on the place, but if not my client Charo says she can put me up. So why not?

And since you’re probably wondering… no, it never occurs to anyone to pay me extra for going out of town or spending days at events with them. At least, not so far. And so far I am more or less okay with that because I am trying to prove myself to them, that I really am a valuable asset. And, it must be said, a lot of the extra work is actually quite fun. But it doesn’t pay the rent.

There will be another trip to Zahara in early July – just overnight again – to make a video of a wine and food pairing evening with two of my clients. Which I think is going to be amazing. Stay tuned…