Sevilla - May 7-9

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How much can you fit into two days? I think that is going to be our theme on this trip. No, we’ve actually been doing a good job of seeing things but also just hanging out in plazas and absorbing the Spanish way of life. In Sevilla we started off with the Alcazar, old fortress/summer home, and the Cathedral, the two main things to see. The Alcazar is of course full of Moorish and Islamic influence, making it gorgeous in my opinion. I tend to like that kind of architecture and design better than the Christian style. The gardens were also very nice. In the Cathedral you could climb the tower for views of the city – it’s also the place where Christopher Columbus is buried. After some lunch we walked along the river to the Plaza España, stopping on the way to see the Torre del Oro, Palacio San Telmo (now a government building), and the University. Plaza España was built for a Hispanic culture year in which many Hispanic countries participated and celebrated their heritage. Now it is mostly just there for tourists to look at (although there are some government offices as well). It is basically just a big plaza with a fountain surrounded by a small canal and really neat buildings. You can rent little boats and paddle your way around the tiny canal/moat (we labeled it the fake Venice) and it was highly entertaining to watch some of the people zigzag their way through as they tried to figure out how the oars worked… We then just wandered through some of the little streets and happened across random plazas. In the evening we went to a flamenco show, since Sevilla is the capital of flamenco. It was absolutely amazing! Definitely the best flamenco I’ve seen. Touristy, of course, but we decided that if it’s touristy it probably means it will be really good because the dancers have to be excellent in order to get the job and keep it. For dinner we tried to have tapas, but somehow chose the most greasy restaurant in the entire city. The plates were literally oozing with grease. Not impressed.

Wednesday we wandered the little winding streets up to Basilica Macarena, in the north part of Sevilla, a little ways outside the main tourist area. We saw the Parliament building and the old city walls, along with even more little churches and plazas. Then Convento San Leandro and Santa Il defonso church before going into the Santa Cruz neighborhood, the old Jewish Quarter by the Cathedral. There is a reason why this area is so popular with tourists. Literally every street was adorable, every plaza was filled with trees and little cafes. All the streets were tiny; some are even labeled kissing streets because the balconies on either side are so close together. When the quarter was created they had to fit many Jews into a tiny space so they compensated by making the streets as small as possible. Now it just makes it seem even more quaint and cute. Our lunch redeemed our impression of tapas.

In the evening we took the train to Cádiz. We thought we had absolutely loved Sevilla (which we did), but Cádiz is even better. It is a little smaller, slightly less touristy, and right on the coast. We went down to the water for sunset (which doesn’t happen until almost 9:30 here these days) and then walked around exploring the plazas and side streets. This is the kind of place where you could just sit for hours in a little café and watch the world go by.

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