Do You Know the Way to San Jose?


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Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Seville
November 21st 2007
Published: December 8th 2007
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Madrid-Sevilla-San Jose


Cerveza y BocadilloCerveza y BocadilloCerveza y Bocadillo

three layers, six slices of cheese, 12 slices of ham. Hmmmm......
We Do. But, before we let you in on the secret of how to find the elusive San Jose, the place Burt Bacharach longed to return to, we must start at the beginning of our Spanish caravan tour into Andalucia, at the heart of this beautiful region, the capital, Sevilla.

Sevilla is a city famous for its oranges, flamenco, bull fighting, sangria and all things quintessentially Spanish. It is a quaint city, that feels more like a large village than a capital city. The streets are lined with orange trees, every corner has a bodega or cerveceria overflowing with punters munching on tapas and drinking dirt cheap canyas all day and night. Groups of musicians sit by the river strumming their guitars, and dancing the flamenco. It was a really nice change of vibe after racy Barcelona and daunting Madrid. Although Sevilla is definitely a tourist centre in Spain, the neighbourhood feel still pervades and it is an easy place to take in some Spanish culture. Also, unlike Madrid and Barcelona, the local hangouts are easy to spot, mainly because the crowds literally take over entire intersections and placa´s, so if you´re looking for cheap booze and tapas just follow
Sunset on the MediteranneanSunset on the MediteranneanSunset on the Mediterannean

The Playa de Monsul beach, absolute bliss...
the buzzing sound of hundreds of people 'salut'-ing and you´ll soon find your way to Boedga Santa Cruz at Las Columnas, or the Bodega at Placa San Fransisco. If you do manage to find them make sure you get there before they run out of all the good tapas, and try the Pincho de Pollo and Albondigas, you won´t be dissappointed, but stay away from the cerde, we´re still not sure what kind of meat that is.

Besides being complete hedonists and splurging on food and booze we did take in some of Sevilla´s attractions, the Cathedral is an absolutely enormous structure looming over the city that seems to spread for miles, we kept discovering new angles to view it from, not surpising considering it is the largest per square metre in the world. Originally a Muslim mosque, it is now an incredibly elaborate gothic cathedral with a ridiculously huge organ (....I do mean the instrument, just to clarify), as well as Christopher Columbus´tomb (although it is disputed whether this is just a fabrication, as apparently Spain, Italy and Portugal all claim Chris as their own misguided genius.) The mosque´s couryard still remains, which is a nice spot of simple serenity amidst the excessively embelllished cathedral interior. Also, the view from the bell tower is beautiful. We also checked out the Alcazar, which is another reminder of Sevilla´s Muslim heritage. Originally a Muslim fortress but claimed by later Christian royalty, the magnificiant Islamic design and architecture has been largely preserved and there is a harmony between the two influences. Intricately decorated archways and amazing gilded ceilings, as well as the beautiful Alcazar gardens made this a really lovely visit, and free for students, yay!

But, I think the most awesome highlight of our trip to Sevilla was running into the lovely Rose, an arts students from Melbourne who we met in Madrid briefly before she just happened to rock up at our hostel in Sevilla. It was a match made in heaven, Rose sharing our same love for excessive and varied drinking and guzzling tapas food. Rose was also one of the only Aussies we met who shared our political views and was not in Europe just to get completely maggered, although we did a good job of it. We had an awesome night, accompanied by Patrick (an eccentric Nebraskan with Buddy Holly glasses) out in Sevilla, starting with red wine on the hostel´s rooftop, we moved on to our favourite tapas bar (Santa Cruz) for rounds of pollo, chorizo, albondigas and canyas, then around the corner to sample Sevilla´s famous Naranja de Vino (which is more like a port, than a wine, and made with oranges, really sweet and strong). From there on to Placa San Fransisco to take in the huge crowd. After way too many canyas we managed to find our way to La Carboneria in the back streets of Sevilla (I think it was Calle Levies). Behind a discreet wooden door we found an incredible live flamenco venue and took in an amazing show, whilst guzzling way too many jugs of sangria. (Its lethal stuff, way too easy to drink and oh so alcoholic!) We finished our night at La Liccoureia, where they serve you triple shots of everything for around 4 euros (I think this was my downfall!) and befriended some strange Spanish students, who where touring the country donned in Shakespearean robes and strumming guitars (we found hordes of them wandering the streets of Sevilla, but we couldn´t quite figure out what their mission was except to get ridiculously drunk, they claimed it was an ancient tradition, dating back to the 14th century in Spain, although I´m not conviced). Me and Rose were lovingly serenaded and branded with stickers of initation (placed with great fervour on our boobs) after being told over and over that I was the 'love of their life' we figured it was time to head back to the hostel, where we made complete fools of ourselves and woke everyone up trying to make the beer vending machine work (sorry guys.) I guess you´re allowed to be an obnoxious tourist sometimes.

The next day, nursing terrible hangovers we managed to do a paddle boat tour of Sevilla´s river (I think we were still drunk, explains the enthusiasm) and hung out on the foreshore with the locals basking in the sun. After a long wait for our midnight bus (which was made a lot easier by Rose´s company) we said goodbye to Sevilla, its lovely locals, fellow travellers, orange trees and tapas bars to head way down south to find the way to San Jose......Its really very easy, I´m not sure if we found our way to the famous San Jose that Burt longed for, but basically you get on a bus to Almeria on Andalucia´s Southern coast, eat some jamon y queso tostadas at the bus station before jumping on another bus to San Jose, and then you´re there!

So now you know the way to San Jose, and if you ever get a chance to go anywhere on the Almerian coast I would definitely reccommend it. The coastline is absolutely beautiful; semi-desert scenery with cactus plantations, rugged mountain ranges and sand dunes contrast with the picturesque tranquility of the Meditteranean. We were also lucky enough to see these stunning places free of the hordes of tourists that descend during high Summer. We were warned against going in late November, other travellers saying it would be freezing and not to bother, but we were pleasantly surprised, while it wasn't hot enough to get a tan, the water was still warm, and the beaches were almost deserted (who wants skin cancer anyway!) Also, accommodation was half the price as it is in July-August, we got a double room at the lovely Hostal Puerto Genovas for 35 euros, with our own balcony and ensuite, a nice relief after the horrendously cramped dorm rooms of Seville and Madrid.

San Jose itself is a typical laid back beach town, the locals are friendly and if you dont' mind cats...I say this because like most of Spain, San Jose is absolutely swarming with stray cats, although in a town with a population of around 250, there are more cats than people! However, even if you don't like them, they are a good indicator of the quality of food being served at a restaurant, i.e. if theres a large pack of cats out the front I wouldn't reccomend eating there, as it means that the food is that bad its going straight to the cats. We discovered this after being served fish that wasn't scaled, apparently thats how they do it in San Jose, but I'm not too sure.

But, despite the bad food, San Jose is a perfect place for a laid-back beach retreat. Playa de Monsul is my idea of heaven, the most beautiful beach I have seen in all my travels, amazing rock formations, silver-blue waters and (almost) not a soul in sight. We hired bikes from the town and rode the 5 kms there, spending a good 6 hours on the beach, drinking vodka and pina, lazing around, swimming in the beautiful beach and joined in the favourite European activity of nude sun-bathing (but, sorry guys, no photos) Sion also built his own version of the Sagrada Familia and showed the locals how to make sand-angels. An absolutely perfect end to a perfect holiday! (Ahhh...how cheesy)




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The Sevilla experienceThe Sevilla experience
The Sevilla experience

Rose, Patrick and Niki at a Bodega
The travelling bardsThe travelling bards
The travelling bards

These are the guys that serenaded me and Rose
Our lovely RoseOur lovely Rose
Our lovely Rose

Wearing her sticker of initiation
Watch out Gaudi..Watch out Gaudi..
Watch out Gaudi..

Sion's version of La Sagrada Familia


12th December 2007

hey
Hey youses... should be back in Oz soon, yeah? Make sure to call me up and catch up when youse do. Enjoy the final leg of your trip y'all.

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