29 Tuesday Aug 2017
Posted in casa azahar, cats, home
Tags
casa azahar, cats, home, work
One of the nice things about the new Casa Azahar is that my Office is next to the balcony and I get to enjoy this street view while I work. The girls like it too, so in the morning I move a little table in front of the balcony so they can hang out with me. Now if they could only learn to answer emails and edit photos…
26 Wednesday Jul 2017
I had put in my request at Movistar for a new internet hook-up last week, once I found out that Moving Day would be the following Monday, but I didn’t expect that they would cut off my present service on Friday night (!!!). So I popped back over to the Movistar store on Saturday to find out what was going on and they said I would get my new connection within 14 days (!!!!!). Two weeks without internet at home?? Just getting through the weekend only using my iPhone was hard enough. I mean, it’s fine for just browsing and tweeting and instagramming, but not really ideal for answering emails and, well, running my business. So I was thrilled when Movistar called me yesterday morning and said they would be over the next day (today!) to hook me up.
Luckily there was an existing fibre-optic line so it wasn’t too complicated. And the technician even did a nice job of trying to hide the fine cords from Morcilla’s view. Time to fill up those shelves!
09 Tuesday May 2017
Posted in gastronomy, tapas tours, work
Tags
Peter & Luís at La Azotea
I’ve known Luís (and his biz partner David) from Really Discover for many years. So it was great to run into Luís at The Office (AKA La Azotea Santa Cruz) during a meeting there with the We Love Tapas team. After the meeting Peter and I ended up having lunch with Luís and “talking shop”, which proved both interesting and illuminating. We may also end up collaborating as our tour companies are complementary rather than being in direct competition. Love chance meetings like this…
09 Friday Dec 2016
Posted in christmas, food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars
Getting the We Love Tapas team all together at once can be a bit like herding cats, which isn’t really surprising when talking about four (including me) busy free-lancers. But we finally managed to find a few hours for a nice pre-Christmas lunch to catch up and connect. First we did a little Tapas Research, trying out a new bar (with mixed results) and then ended up for a “dessert” course of cheese and sherry at Palo Cortao. Good times.
19 Wednesday Oct 2016
Posted in friends, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, teaching, we love tapas
Tags
friends, jets like taxis, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas tours, we love tapas, work
Ryan, plotting world domination…
Comes a time during every new We Love Tapas guide’s training period when they do a practice tour with a couple of specially chosen victims “clients”, and me tagging along to “observe and intimidate”. 😉
This time up I called once again upon dynamic duo Ang & Ryan (aka @JetsLikeTaxis) for their services. It was their third time and I have to say they are really getting the hang of it. So much so that next time I might just be able to stay home and wait for their report.
Most uncharacteristically *ahem* the tour ended with a penúltima (or three) at The Office (aka La Azotea Santa Cruz). As you can see, nobody was the slightest bit inebriated. Thanks again, guys!
12 Monday Sep 2016
Posted in sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, work
Tags
flamenco, flamenco & tapas, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, work
Last week I got BACK TO WORK and couldn’t be happier. It was great having a whole month off the tapas tours. I was still working on other things, and was actually able to focus on those things. I was also able to relax. Though I also get to relax at work… this pic is from last night’s fab Flamenco & Tapas Tour. Olé!
08 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in health & happiness, sevilla, we love tapas, work
I can’t believe it’s been TWO YEARS since I last went to the dentist (when I got my first crown and some other work done). But an old filling next to the crown had fallen out and so back I went. I’ve mentioned before how much I love my dentist, which is probably not something most people can say, so I no longer feel the dread of impending pain and financial ruin that used to come over me before dentist visits.
This time there were two visits and on the second one Peter came with me to have his teeth looked at. Even worse than me, he hadn’t been to the dentist in over ten years (!!!), and like me, he’d lost a filling. He also had a serious cleaning done, which has made a huge difference. Now that he is working part time for We Love Tapas he has been put on the “company dental plan”. 😉
07 Wednesday Sep 2016
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, we love tapas, work
Tags
Meet Emily! The newest member of my fabulous We Love Tapas team. I’ve known about Emily for quite some time as she is good friends with a few other good friends of mine. Awhile back she was recommended as a possible guide for WLT, but at the time there were no openings. Lately a new position has become available and, although I have received several CVs, I wasn’t “feeling” the applicants, if you know what I mean. Then my friend Juan reminded me about Emily and I knew from our first meeting that she would be a perfect match. It also fits with the way the original WLT team came together, very organically, with one connection leading to another. Just like this time. We are all very pleased to have Emily with us.
23 Saturday Jul 2016
Posted in sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas tours, we love tapas, wine, work
Tags
employment, spain, tapas, tapas tours, tours, we love tapas, work
Become a part of the We Love Tapas Team!
These past couple of “weeks off” have been both relaxing and very productive. Lots of time for new ideas and research with some exciting new stuff coming up soon. As a result, We Love Tapas is now looking for enthusiastic local guides with food and wine experience for our team in Sevilla. After full training, guides will give both lunchtime and evening tours (number per week depending on the season), each lasting 2.5 to 4 hours, and will be expected to attend monthly staff meetings and periodic (delicious) training sessions.
Requirements:
You will also need to have access to internet at home, and a smartphone, so that you can be kept up to date about your tour bookings, changes and other information.
For more information contact us at:
welovetapas@gmail.com
12 Tuesday Jul 2016
So yeah, the BIG NEWS is that I’ve decided to take a couple of weeks off, and possibly longer. Well okay, not exactly OFF in the sense of not working, or going away somewhere, just not doing my tapas tours for awhile so that I can focus on getting caught up on my other work (massive backlog of blog posts and photo editing) as well as work on some new ideas for We Love Tapas. Re: the latter, there are a couple of things coming up this autumn that I think will be very exciting, but I do need some time to get those going properly. Yeah, I know my Trip Advisor rating will probably suffer as a result, with all the posers racking up fake reviews on a daily basis but, to borrow the pithy words of the Divine Marina O’Loughlin… “I don’t hate it because it enables reviews of and tickets for cruel animal attractions, or for its climate of blackmail-enabling entitlement. I hate it because it’s shit.” Suggest you read this article.
Of course it’s great that while I am “away” I can steer my clients towards We Love Tapas, because the team is going to be working all summer long. Meanwhile, my summer getaway plans are still going ahead, with Galicia Getaway booked for the end of August, though I may swap San Sebastián for London, not sure. Or do them both?? Really no idea at this point. All I know is that for the next week or so I am on “hols at home”, which is mostly about doing a lot of research and writing. But it feels great, and I’m also focusing on healthy light eating at home. Feel very privileged that I can work like this, doing things I love, in the way I want to do them. Anyhow, watch this space…
