Sevilla Blog | Azahar Sevilla

Horse Racing in Sanlúcar de Barrameda

August 5, 2013July 27, 2014 azaharLeave a comment

I have ALWAYS wanted to do this. And now I have. For years I’ve heard about the wonderful sounding horse races on the beach in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and every August I have somehow never managed to make it. In part I blame the very shoddy public transport between Sevilla and Sanlúcar… nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is going to get me to sit on a bus for over two hours for a journey that normally takes just over an hour by car. But I digress. Because yesterday I did have the chance to go by car with my friends Markus, who runs Veoapartment, and Peter Seville Concierge.

We set off in time to catch the first race (the times announced were vague, we got there for the 6.30 pm race to discover that it didn’t start until 7.00, más o menos.). Eventually we managed to find a spot in the front row and waited for things to get going. I had my camera ready to take some photos but other than a few pics of the horses making their way to the starting gate I got nothing because they ended up whizzing by again in about three seconds flat. So I decided to try Vine for the next one. Six seconds.

In between races we went over to one of the beach restaurants in Bajo de Guia to enjoy a cold beer and the sea breeze. But after the second race we decided that was enough and headed back into town for a bite to eat before heading back home. The obvious choice was Casa Balbino, home of The Very Best tortillitas de camarones, well, anywhere. As usual it was jam-packed but we found a little corner spot in front of the bar and started off with – what else? – a chilled glass of made-in-Sanlúcar manzanilla and some plump and juicy locally caught langoustines. Then the super-crispy tortillitas, some seafood croquetas and gambas pil-pil.

On the large flatscreen above our heads we watched recaps of the races which were quite a bit different from our blink-and-miss-it experiences, as cameramen in cars and at various strategic points along the beach caught the entire races. But I was still glad I went and experienced it for myself, and a day trip to Sanlúcar is always enjoyable. All in all, it was a lovely Sunday.

There will be one more weekend of races 16, 17 and 18 of August.

A Sad Ending for Mr Pulpo

August 4, 2013 azahar1 Comment

In October 2008 I did a fabulous long-weekend road trip with my friend Susan, from Sevilla along the Costa de la Luz to Bolonia and, after a quick side trip to buy knickers at M&S in Gibraltar, we went on to Málaga because my friend Agustín told me I HAD to eat at Andrés Maricuchi. This was my first, and very brief, visit to Málaga and after lunch and visiting the Picasso museum we stopped for tea and cake near the Roman amphitheatre, which was still being excavated at the time. And for some reason there was a massive octopus draped over a small viewing area.

Apparently the giant octopus is a legend told by Pliny the Elder about an incident that took place when Málaga was a part of the Roman Empire and was an important producer and exporter of garum, or fish paste. During the night this giant octopus would drag itself across the beach and eat the stored fish paste. They tried to catch it with dogs, which it slapped aside like so many mosquitos, and so they also put up barriers around it, but it escaped by jumping into a tree and then over the barriers. It was finally killed by many harpoons … well, that is the story in a nutshell.

So imagine my surprise when I was walking over to the Contemporary Arts Museum during my recent holiday in Málaga and, looking up, spotted a decidedlly worse-for-wear Mr Pulpo sprawled across the balcony of what looked like an abandoned building near the port. I thought this was a very sad way for this impressive specimen to have ended up. But it was even sadder when my friend Victor (@welovemalaga) sent me the photo below this morning on Twitter. Not only had Mr Pulpo been unceremoniously pushed over the balcony but they’d cut all his legs off! Why?? 🙁

Open in August!

August 1, 2013July 27, 2014 azaharLeave a comment

Here’s a short list of some of my favourite tapas bars and restaurants that are going to be open in August. Remember that tapas bars usually close between 4 – 8 pm, or if they stay open all day their kitchen will probably be closed then. It’s also a good idea to call and see if you can book a table on Sundays, which tend to get very busy with families going out for lunch.

Barrio Santa Cruz
Vineria San Telmo
Paseo Catalina de Ribera, 4
Tel. 954 410 600
Las Teresas
Santa Teresa 2
Tel.954 213 069
Modesto (restaurant not tapas bar)
Cano y Cueto, 5
Tel. 954 416 811
(all-day kitchen)
Las Sal
Doncellas, 8
Tel 954 535 846

El Arenal
Casa Morales
Garcia de Vinuesa 11 (open 16-31 August)
Tel. 954 22 12 42

La Alfalfa
La Bodega
Plaza Alfalfa, 4
Tel. 954 22 783 62
Casa Antonio / Bar Los Caracoles
Pérez Galdos 13
Tel. 954 213 172

El Centro
La Azotea
Jesús del Gran Poder 31 (open 16-31 August)
Tel. 955 116 748
La Azotea Zaragoza
Zaragoza 5 (open 1-15 August)
Tel. 955 116 748
La Antigua Abacería San Lorenzo
Teodosio 53
Tel. 954 380 067

Santa Catalina
El Rinconcillo
Gerona 40
Tel: 954 223 183
Taberna El Panduro
Doña María Coronel 17
Tel 954 045 751

La Alameda
Bar Antojo
Calatrava 44
Tel. 955 425 337
Al Aljibe
Alameda de Hércules 76
Tel. 954 900 591
La Parrilla del Badulaque
Alameda de Hércules, 37
Tel. 954 91 55 24

Triana
La Primera del Puente
Bétis 66
Tel. 954 27 69 18
Las Golondrinas II
Pages del Corro 76
Tel. 954 33 82 35

Hinestrosa Siete Holiday Apartments in Málaga

July 29, 2013 azahar1 Comment

I am just back from two wonderful whirlwind weeks in Málaga, my second home here in Spain. As some of you know, usually when I visit Málaga I stay at my friend Manolo’s apartment on the Malagueta beach, but normally only for a weekend or a few days at a time. This time I was actually taking two whole weeks – my first real vacation in over 20 years! My original plan was to go on a northern Spain adventure but once again (just like last summer) Life Stuff got in the way, including this lovely wee thing that happened into my life. So in the end I decided to take a total RELAX holiday in Málaga. Manolo very generously gave me the use of his fab beachside apartment for the first week and for the second week I thought it would be fun to stay in the centre of town for a change. And as so often happens, Twitter came to the rescue.

Turns out that the the brother of the owner of one of my favourite tapas bars in Málaga – Taberna Uvedoble – has four fabulous apartments in a newly renovated building (designed by their architect father). Take a look on the Hinestrosa Siete website (my apartment was Duplex 1) and you can also see more pics on their AirBnB page. Normally I would have taken a lot more of my own photos but when I moved over from the Malagueta I had just enough time that morning to get Morcilla settled before dashing off to see some processions, and later I forgot to take any before unpacking, so instead you get these.

I just loved the apartment. It’s on a quiet pedestrian street and is all white minimalist, clean lines, with a bright well-equipped kitchen and – very important – a good wifi connection. And Fede was fine about Morcilla being with me. As the week went on we discovered we had even more mutual friends in town. It’s a small Twitter world out there.

Morcilla waking up after a siesta — La Morcilla de Burgos waking up after a siesta

In fact, I’ll be going back to Málaga at the end of August and staying another week in what I think of now as My Apartment. I guess just for one person (and a small kitten) one of the studio apartments would suffice as they are also very bright and cheerful. But I kind of like the extra space and Morcilla loves running up and down the stairs.

I don’t know about you but if I stay somewhere for more than a night or two my choice is always to go with a holiday apartment rather than a hotel. For the same money (and usually less) you get a lot more space and also a small kitchen. Turns out I did next to no cooking this last holiday but it’s great having the option to make brekky at home, have a fridge to keep drinks cold and basically not feel cramped. And it’s great having a washing machine too.

One of the many things that set Hinestrosa Siete apart from most holiday apartments is finding a little “welcome basket” of snacks in the kitchen (and cold juice and water in the fridge) along with travel size shampoo and shower gel in the bathroom. Also, everything is sparkling clean when you arrive, with perfectly folded towels and the bed made so professionally you actually feel like you’re in a hotel. Plus Fede is just a phone call or email away if you need anything. I almost hesitate to give such a glowing review here lest I never find My Apartment available again, but I honestly can’t recommend this place enough. Perfect for a weekend getaway or even a longer holiday (it’s just a ten-minute walk to the beach). And Fede will also give you lots of recommendations for things to do while you’re in town. Can’t wait to go back.

Hinestrosa Siete Holiday Apartments in Málaga

Jerez en V Cata

July 10, 2013 azahar1 Comment

[click on image to enlarge]

As part of my ongoing sherry education, stemming from my World Sherry Day ephiphany, I was thrilled to be invited to a special sherry tasting hosted by Gonzalez-Byass at Catador Sevilla. And especially as our host was going to be Antonio Flores (@Hacedordevinos), not only head winemaker and master blender for G-B but also one of the most passionate people I’ve ever met when it comes to talking about their work. And as Antonio’s work involves creating some of the most amazing and prestigious wines in the world, well, it was both a pleasure and a privilege to see the master in action.

This was a wine tasting event organised by Mónica Trujillano from El Comensal to which various bloggers, journalists and hospitality professionals had been invited. I loved the venue, Catador, which is smack in the middle of the Barrio Santa Cruz. It’s an open and minimalist space, with wall murals depicting both the famous Tío Pepe barrels and the vineyards surrounding Jerez. I’ve been to a few sherry tastings over the years, here in Sevilla, but nothing prepared me for how much I would feel engaged and inspired by Mr. Flores. He is both eloquent and passionate, and also quite a showman, knowing how to gently seduce and inspire his audience. With such an excellent product you wouldn’t think this sort of thing would even be necessary, but in fact sherry remains one of the lesser understood Spanish wines. People from abroad often assume that sherry is the sticky sickly sweet stuff their maiden aunt would haul out every Christmas but in fact there many varieties ranging from bone-dry finos to the sweet raisiny Pedro Ximenez, and I want to learn more about all of them.

On this occasion we sampled ten wines including Fino Tío Pepe, Amontillado Viña AB, Alfonso Oloroso, Leonor Palo Cortado (recently chosen one of the top 100 wines in the world by WAWWJ: World Association, Wines & Spirits, Writers and Journalists), Apostoles Palo Cortado, and Noé Pedro Ximénez. As a special treat we finished the evening by sampling Cuatro Cortador & Gonzalez-Romano, both more than 100 years old, while Catador put on a spread of some fab charcuterie and cheeses.

Watch for my Introduction to Sherry Tours, which I hope to start offering in September. Now that I am smitten with this amazing wine I really want to share the love.