Seville Part 2: You Are Beautiful, In Every Single Way

Hola Stranger,

April 11: Friday

Unlike the day before, I knew what to expect from the sun and dressed more appropriately for the weather (wearing an all black outfit did not help much). Ricardo dropped us off in the centre and we just walked around, trying to find this garden but accidentally walked into the local university and used their bathroom facility. As we proceeded to look for this garden, thinking we were on the right track, we went way off and ended up at the Plaza de Espana, the most stunning plaza I've seen yet. Tiled railings and lamp posts, a pond, greenery with vibrant coloured flowers and the neo-mudejar architecture standing behind. No wonder George Lucas decided to come here and film part of Star Wars II here.

Example of the tiles I was talking about. I've never seen anything quite like this before. To my surprise, there weren't even that many tourists at this place. If this had been in Barcelona or Paris, you can bet it would be packed with eager picture snapping tourists. This point alone made me love Seville that much more: I absolutely despise crowded areas and I got to jump around the plaza as if I owned the place.

Can you tell me this picture isn't absolutely breathtaking? I can't get over how perfect it is. Sean and I took a bunch of pictures here but they all look way too couple-esqe because how could it not in front of this scenary? If you need a place to go with your significant other, I would highly recommend this city. Be prepared to bring a decent camera with a big enough storage space.

Along the walkway in the building. The design on the ceiling makes the whole place that much more eloquent, as if it needed to be more impressive. I would love to go back to this plaza again, this time not dressed like a hobo too cheap to afford anything except a plain black attire but in a summery dress, and have a full on photo shoot.

Something you can find everywhere in Seville are these horse drawn carriages. I swear that they are all made in the safe factory because they're all identical. Yellow wheels on a black base, simple and classic. Instead of riding them for ridiculous prices in NYC when it's below negative outside, I would much rather do it in here in the blazing sun smelling orange trees instead of engine fumes.

 

For lunch we stopped at a "El Patio" restaurant. I'm not sure if it's a chain or the type of food but they all seem to serve very similar menus. We got a sandwich combo which came with four different types of mini sandwiches. My favourite was the chicken because the jamon ones were way too salty. We sat there for a bit because the patio umbrellas provided a nice shade from the sun and they had a sprayer that would settle a mist on us regularly. I felt like the vegetables in the grocery store, getting showered with water to stay alive.

Eventually, after hours of looking for the Alcazar garden, we found it tucked away in the corner of the Cathedral. It used to be the summer palace for Spanish royalty and I can understand why. Even though it was 30 degrees outside, the rooms felt like they were 16 degrees because everything was made of marble and no sun could get in. Every corner of the wall/ceiling was decorated, apparently built by the Muslims when they conquered Seville before the Catholics came in.

Example of the tiled walls. It looks much more impressive up close in person, trust me. Anywho, there was an actual garden somewhere around the building but we never found it and I didn't realize it until...when I Google searched this place. We saw a puny garden that wasn't impressive at all and thought that was what the craze was all about...how wrong we were. The real garden is supposed to have peacocks and mazes. Oops.

For the rest of the afternoon, we walked around the centre, through all the alleyways and getting lost not knowing where exactly we were. Since we had no plans until 7pm, it was perfect. If I got tired and wanted to hide from the sun, we would just sit on a bench somewhere, people watch, eat and talk about random things. An afternoon well spent if you ask me. The previous day, we had walked by this flamenco house (Tardes de Flamenco en la casa de la Memoria) and it was top rated on trip advisor so we got Ricardo to book it for us. We arrived 20 minutes early, got front row seats (the whole place seats 80 people) and watched four performers dance, sing, clap and play guitar. The first 20 minutes, I almost fell asleep because it was just the guitarist, jamming away on his Spanish guitar in the dim light. I felt bad for dozing off and scanned the room, I saw at least 5 other people with their eyes closed as well. If I ever need to fall asleep, I now know what type of music to play. Don't worry though, once the dancers came on stage, you will wake up. Many people mistake flamenco dance thinking it's a dance dedicated to flamingos, almost ballet-like. Flamenco dancing is a passionate dance filled with emotion. The dancer improvises as they go and the guitarist follows suit. Never before have I seen someone crying when they dance but by the time it ended, the female dancer's make up was all smudged from her tears. I would recommend seeing the show, but for myself, once is definitely enough...unless if I really need help sleeping.

Sean is very indecisive when it comes to choosing restaurants and after walking around for an hour, still deciding, I buckled down and ran into the nearest restaurant I saw. The food turned out absolutely amazing!!! Best risotto I've ever had in my life! Extra creamy and filled with mushroom bits. We devoured that dish so fast...

Beef briskets on top of fries. Kind of reminds me of a poutine, minus the cheese. Extra tender and I have nothing bad to say about it. I don't remember the name of the restaurant but if I ever go back to Seville again, you can count on it that I'm going here again.

After dinner, to help us digest, we walked all the way back to our apartment. I don't really know how long it took but the night was warm with a slight breeze. We walked by the river, watching locals roller blade and bike around. I think my mom would be proud of me, taking a stroll after dinner is definitely something she enjoys doing all the time...am I starting to turn into her?

April 12: Saturday

After seeing everyone roller blade around the night before, we were determined to find a rental shop and do the same. We bused to the centre and decided to walk across the river to the Triana area, a main street right by the river filled with restaurants with a view of downtown Seville. Right before we crossed the bridge, we saw a roller blading park filled with people of all ages, skating with their loved ones. This made us even more determined to find a rental shop. We...failed. This only proves my point that there's not enough tourists in this city, bleh.

We walked into a marketplace, where you can find stands of fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat and some cafes. Sean and I thought this was probably the most local thing to do, so we sat at the bar and ordered our lunch by pointing our fingers. Look at the massive wok of paella. We could not pass out on it and waited 30 minutes for the dish.

The result. Everyone who ate at the bar/cafe got this, and truthfully, it wasn't all that amazing. One word: salty. The risotto the night before was 1000 better for sure. Maybe paellas just weren't meant for me...

Since we've ventured through most of downtown Seville in the previous two days, Sean and I just strolled around, admiring the scenery. Here's what the riverbank looks like. I can only imagine what it would be like at night...how romantic...

For 10 euros, we rented this peddle boat for the hour and made our way around the river. Half the time we just sat on the boat, hiding under the bridge for shade, trying to touch the ducks and watching the kids on the shore jumping into the water. If only everyday could be spent like this, so carefree, so relaxing, so unexpectable...

Once we got back on shore, we headed to Plaza de Toros de Maestranza, one of the oldest bullfighting rings in the world. Sadly they did not have a show since the season started the week after, but we got a nice tour of the arena. Yes, that is my attempt at being a bull. What, let's see you try!

Each show consists of four bullfights, each lasting about 20 minutes. I actually didn't realize this until I was there but they actually kill the bulls on the spot. I thought bullfighting was all about a comically dressed man waving around a red piece of cloth, messing around with the bull, I didn't think they  had spears and stabbed the bulls...isn't this a little similar to what the Romans did at the Colosseum? Hmmm....

Ricardo recommended a restaurant and we tried to go there on Thursday night but they were closed so being determined foodies, we went back again. We got there at 8pm and was ready to order only to find out that the kitchen didn't open till 8:30pm. What is this nonsense?! In Vancouver, you'll be lucky to find a place that's still open at 9pm! Since we had gone through all that trouble just to eat there, we sat around and waited. Boy oh boy was it a good decision. Left: chicken breast on top of potato covered in a almond & cream sauce. Tasted fresh, healthy and delightful. Right: fried calamari. Huge chunks of calamari lightly battered and not heavily fried. I have to admit, aside from the salty paella and jamon, everything else I've ate has been top notch. Another point for Seville :)