Tag Archives: travel

going for it…

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, getaways, health & happiness, holidays, travel, trips

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So after the HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT of not getting my CT scan results yesterday (though I DID get to ride in a Jaguar XF!) I have decided – fuck it – I’m just going to go for it. I’ve been putting off making any summer travel plans. You know, JUST IN CASE. Because if I suddenly needed surgery or treatment, well, then I’d lose deposits and/or entire payments for hotels, flights, etc. Given that I’m not feeling too badly and that nobody seems to know what is going on… I have decided to book my summer holidays! Today.

First up… three days in Granada in mid-July. It’s been over three years since my last visit and I really want to catch up, and also hang out with Gayle @granadatapastour on her home turf. From there I will carry on to Málaga for a few more days. Not sure for how long yet, but that is flexible as I am staying at a friend’s place.

Then… a week in San Sebastián at the end of August! I have been planning to visit my friend Gabriella @tenedor (aka Shawn of The North 😉 ) for YEARS. And now it is finally going to happen. I will also spend a day or two in Bilbao, that bit is still up in the air. But I am going to book my flights and then the rest of it I can sort out later.

And so, excited and nervous. Apparently I have the next oncology appointment on July 5th, though I wasn’t given a time and was told I will have to sort that out myself. In the meantime, life goes on… I hope…

málaga friends

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, friends, Malaga, malaga getaway, spain

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Many of you know that I consider Málaga to be my second home in Spain. For awhile I even toyed with the idea of moving there. But for now I am happy in Sevilla and always look forward to seeing my Málaga friends when I go to visit. This last Málaga getaway was a bit different in that I got to see dear friends that I don’t usually see there. And it was great.

When I first arrived I met up with David, Kasha and Kyra for an impromptu snacky lunch and quick visit. We went to a small local bar and had a lovely time catching up and then ended up at a nearby playground. Good times.
Then in the evening I FINALLY got to hang out with Thane and Bob IN MÁLAGA. We’ve met up in London and in Sevilla but it was the first time we have coincided in Málaga even though we all go there a lot, and we had a fab traditional dinner at Los Mellizos with our mutual friend Victor.
Finally, I found out that Anna & Jorge had also been invited to the Premios Andalucía de Gastronomía (which is why I was there in the first place). So after the presentation and cocktail lunch we got to spend some time together in town before I had to catch my train home.

And then there was Victor. Always Victor. Victor is always there for me when I’m in Málaga and he is one of my dearest friends. So yeah, it was a great visit. Spending time with all of these amazing people that I am privileged to call my friends – and even more amazingly – they call me their friend too. Love you guys. See you soon! xx

bodegas luis pérez

07 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, sevilla, travel, trips, wine

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I had been wanting to visit Bodegas Luís Pérez for a while, and finally got my chance on this trip to Jerez with friends Peter @SVQConcierge and John and Jane Bachner King. Although firmly inside the Marco de Jerez, it’s not, in fact, a sherry bodega, but rather produces red wines, once just as important as the white Palomino Fino sherry grape, but lost long ago for a variety of reasons, the coup de grace being delivered by the phylloxera virus that devastated European vines at the end of the 19th century.

The bodega was founded in 2002 by Luis Pérez, former enologist at Domecq and professor of chemistry at Cádiz university, when he bought the Hacienda Vista Hermosa, a farmhouse on the hill at the top of the Pago de Corchuela outside of Jerez, and began the work of planting the new vineyards with red grapes. These days the bodega is mostly run by the Pérez children, Willy and Fátima. Willy’s new project is producing vintage unfortified sherries, as they used to be made before the trade and shipping demands of the last few centuries that led to the development of the present day solera and criadera ageing system. I tasted some of these sherries at the Cuatro Gatos Wine Fest a couple of weeks ago and they are very special indeed.

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mr & mrs o

02 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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Back in November 2015 I had the pleasure of finally meeting Ana & Simon (aka Mr & Mrs O), and we have stayed in touch since then via Instagram & Twitter, where we first met. So I was really excited to find out they were coming back to Sevilla for a quick weekend getaway, and yesterday I was once again there to meet them when they arrived at their hotel.

The weather was not in our favour, but luckily the RAIN let up for the entire evening. We began our tapeo with starter tapas at the fabulous Becerrita, near the hotel, before making our way to La Sal in barrio Santa Cruz for Almadraba red tuna. Then somehow it was suddenly a good idea to have more jamón for “dessert” at Las Teresas along with crisp, dry manzanilla sherry, and we finished with a sweet sherry nightcap at Vineria San Telmo.

Aside from the great food and wine we shared, we also shared plenty of stories and laughed a lot… the time just flew by. Can’t wait to do it all again. xx

tapas at Becerrita

almadraba tuna at La Sal

carnaval chiquito

28 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, tapas, tapas bars, trips

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To be honest, you couldn’t pay me to go to Cádiz during Carnaval, so when Peter and I made a last minute decision to ditch El Puerto for a Sunday afternoon in Cádiz I was relieved that the celebrations had finished the previous weekend. Or so I thought! When we got to Hostel Casa Caracol to drop off the suitcase (a great service, and just a short walk from the train station) the guy at reception informed us that we had arrived just in time for Carnaval Chiquito, a kind of “last hurrah” until next year. Oh boy…

Our plan had been to do a three-stop tapeo at some of our favourite bars, as well as take a walk along the beach, and then stop in at the splendid Cafe Royalty before catching the train home. And well, we did manage all that, but both the streets and the bars were absolutely heaving (though to be honest, the bars are probably that busy on a Sunday anyhow). We totally lucked out with the weather, with the predicted rain holding off until after we got home, and warm enough to walk around in shirtsleeves. So it turned out to be a great afternoon and made me realize that I really have to visit Cádiz more often.

one perfect lacy tortillita de camarones at El Faro

three-bar tapeo: chicharrones de Cádiz at Casa Manteca
chocos & prawns at El Faro
grilled presa and stewed abanico at Cumbres Mayores

fabulous picatostes at Café Royalty

La Caleta beach and the Cádiz Balneario