Old Friends

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Tim is so excited today because we are catching up with Javier, his good friend and crazy Spaniard that came to work with Tim at C.A.L.M (or D.E.C as it is now called, typical Government department, change the name regularly and the public don’t know who to complain about!) for one summer back home. Javier came at 10am and we went for breaky at the same place as we had lunch yesterday coincidentally.

We all had a traditional Spanish breakfast of toast with olive oil and a tomato puree on it. Wasn’t sure what to expect with olive oil instead of butter, but it was really yummy. Tim had orange juice that was fresh, fresh. Javier said that it is the only juice you get fresh in Spain because there are orange trees everywhere, even in the streets.

We were all tourists (or giddy’s as the Spanish call us) and went to cathedral. Javier said that all the time he lived here he has never been, but we don’t do the touristy things back at home so are not that surprised. If anyone who lives in Perth has climbed up the Bell Tower let me know!

The Cathedral is as expected enormous inside and spectacularly decorated. It’s funny how in modern times for something to look great it is minimalistic in design, usually fairly straight walls and lots of glass, but in history they use ornate ceilings, designs on the walls, statues etc. Inside the Cathedral it is broken up into a lot of different areas with a different space for different things. This is also where Christopher Columbus is buried and we saw his tomb.

We climbed the 34 floors up the Giralda tower and saw the entire city of Seville, including our hotel. Note to self, no nudey sunbathing in hotel pool, hahaha!! There is a law that no building in Seville is allowed to be higher than the Giralda Tower and the Cathedral.

We walked past the bullfighting arena to the river. On the street side it just looks like a normal building and it’s not until you go down the side that you see the round shape. There is no fighting on now as the season is over. I don’t agree with it, but it is a big part of the culture here. I’m sure perhaps they don’t agree with Australians eating every animal on our Crest either!

We had a drink at a floating café on the river. Great spot, there were people rowing on the river, walking dogs and jogging on the banks. Gotta say, it’s really nice having someone to translate for us!

We walked over a bridge that had padlocks all along the side rails. You put you and the one you love’s initials on the padlock, secure it to the bridge and throw the key into the river. Your love is meant to last as long as the padlock. But it’s illegal to do it, you will get a fine if the police see you (especially because apparently this originated in Italy) and it gets cleaned off every winter (so much for your love lasting as long as the padlock stays secured), and they literally get tones of padlocks. Can’t imagine what the bottom of the river must look like!

Went in to a different part of Seville with really skinny streets, I thought our side was bad enough! Only wide enough to walk, no way could you drive - well not any Aussie anyway!

We had to make a stop and buy sunblock- giddy’s! But we didn’t want to end up like Owen on his trip there - all red and burnt to a crisp, except for his sunglasses of course!

Along the way, Javier points out more gypsies, this time they are going through the big mini skip type bins, not getting food out, but things, all sorts of things, like we would put out for bulk rubbish pick up; bits of hose, wood, boxes etc

After Javier asking for directions (who’s the giddy now!) we went to café to meet Carmen, his lovely lady friend (no, not his girlfriend!!). The first café sold only seafood and meat to eat, the second managed to scrounge up something non meat for me, I became a bit of a novelty there! We had Tapas, meaning lots of small serves, to share. Although, the Spanish idea of small is waaaay different to mine, the serves were huge!

Carmen was lovely, she is how I imagined Spanish women to be - tiny with dark, thick curly hair. She didn’t seem to speak a lot of English so Javier did his second job as interpreter for us. She works as a journalist for the military, so first to hear all the gossip! I think she could maybe speak a little more English than we think but it would be hard with new people in a crowded setting.

Carmen and Javier dropped us off to go back to our hotel. But they had to drop us off before the skinny streets started as you have to have a permit to drive in there, otherwise it would be bedlam, especially going by the people that were lost who we followed in the taxi yesterday.

Much to Tim’s enjoyment it is siesta time. He actually bought a t-shirt that says ‘Siesta 3pm to 6pm’, this is Tim’s kind of country! For me though, it’s pool time - hot days means that it’s Sam’s kind of country too, just have to learn to speak Spanish!

Javier and Carmen came back at 7pm, looked at holiday pics, Carmen wanted to stay longer for the wedding photo’s but we had to leave for dinner. Just goes to show, it doesn’t matter where in the world you come from, every girl loves a wedding.

Walked to a café for tea. With these teeny tiny windy streets that all seem to look the same, if Javier abandoned us now we would still be trying to find our way back by our tenth anniversary. Nice café, was outside (because of course it was warm and STILL daylight), great food that we put in the middle and shared.

Two of Javier’s mates came by, funny guys and fortunately for us both had good English. Was funny listening to them give each other a hard time about where they are from and their respective soccer clubs, Seville v’s Madrid v’s Barcelona. It sounded like a Spanish version of West Coast Eagles v’s Collingwood v’s Fremantle - of course we all know who’s the best there, perhaps not on the ladder at the moment though….

After tea we said goodbye to Javier’s mates and walked to a Flamenco show. It was a free show and packed inside, but for Flamenco beginners like us it was a good introduction. Javier rated it pretty high and both he and Carmen like Flamenco a lot! It was really hot inside (it was a lot cooler outside which says a lot) and for the lady dancing it must have been murder. She wasn’t even wearing the full outfit, just a singlet top and the skirt because of the heat. There were fans over the crowd but nothing over the stage (I guess because when she danced she’d lose her arms!), but there was one small fan way off stage that couldn’t be angled right and was so far away the breeze wouldn’t have made it to them anyway. Seated on stage was the dancer, a guy who sang (it’s mean to say, but for a relatively good looking guy he looked real funny when he sang) and a guy on guitar. While the dancer and the singer were drenched, the guy on guitar barely broke a sweat, don’t know what his secret was. The lady dancing was a little on the larger side but good to watch, her feet were so fast.

After the show we walked back to our hotel where Javier met up with another of his friends, he has so many! Because we still had to pack for our flight tomorrow (or more accurately, redistribute our belongings as for this flight we are only allowed 20kg in hold luggage and 5kg in carry on - they’re dreaming!

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