02 Friday Aug 2019
Posted in tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, travel, trips
Last week Patrícia (owner of Singular Trips in Lisbon) got in touch with me, saying that she and her husband Luís would be in Sevilla in a few days and that she would like to meet up. She has been getting requests for tours in Spain and wanted to know more about what I do, etc… and so we met for an afternoon tapeo. Lovely people who really care about what they do, so hopefully we will end up working together sometime. 🙂
27 Saturday Jul 2019
If any of you don’t already know that I’ve been GOING THROUGH IMPOSTER’S SYNDROME HELL writing this commissioned article about Galicia – which was the reason I went to Galicia two weeks ago – then, you know, where have you been?? 😉
Okay, I have actually written a lot. Way over the word limit I was given. The thing is that it all sounds like total crap to me and doesn’t seem very cohesive. BECAUSE I AM NOT A WRITER, OMG, STOP ASKING ME TO WRITE THINGS. STOP IT NOW.
But then I remembered that my friend Ania said it sometimes helps to get out of the house, find a café or somewhere else to write for awhile… and in desperation I took this advice today. And hey… it worked!
Well okay… “worked”. Still not sure about that but it certainly helped. And I think part of it was – duh – using pen and paper, rather than just writing on the computer. I dunno, there’s something organic about physically writing that seemed to help me put my thoughts together a bit better. And well, the article is still not done, but at least I now feel like I’m a bit more organised. Thanks Ania!
25 Thursday Jul 2019
Posted in casa azahar, home, travel
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Well okay, I cannot actually claim to have writer’s block because that would be making the clearly erroneous assumption that I’M A WRITER… but it’s been tough going this past week, working on the Galicia article. If you need me I’ll be drinking albariño at my desk, hoping for de-vine inspiration (also not a comedian).
23 Tuesday Jul 2019
Soooooo… have been working on a blog post about tourism in Sevilla. Well, it applies pretty much everywhere I’m sure. Just putting some thoughts together about the effect of mass tourism on travel destinations, and also about how places are so often marketed in a misleading way. One of those horrid catchphrases that I’m sure you’ve all heard by now is LIVE LIKE A LOCAL.
To wit I’ve been capturing some photos of how I – a local – actually live in Sevilla. This was one of them. Funny, right? Well, apparently not. I got some serious verbal backlash when I posted this on Instagram a few days ago with #livinglikealocal and #livelikealocal hashtags. This was followed by a dozen or so “unfollows”. And I had been SO CLOSE to reaching 5000 followers 😉
I would have quoted the Divine Ms M – FUCK ‘EM IF THEY CAN’T TAKE A JOKE – but I’m sure that would have just got me into more trouble. Anyhoodle… will let you know when I finish. 🙂
13 Saturday Jul 2019
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Up early to visit wineries in Rías Baixas, about an hour’s drive from Santiago. Jorge & Anna @guitianmayer had organised a very full day for us, with the first of our FIVE winery visits at 9.30. I was excited because everyone wants to go to Rías Baixas when they visit Galicia, though apparently summer is full-on touristy. Luckily we had private tours booked at the bodegas and missed most of the crowds.
casa azahar 