The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain. And it’s true, because we have been getting absolutely soaked this week in Sevilla. So much so, Shruti almost bought a new pair of waterproof boots. But more on that later.
We flew into Spain last weekend assuming it would be similar to Portugal, but we were very wrong!
The first thing that struck us was the well maintained tree-lined streets, and the second: everything was much more spread out with fewer steep hills. Most houses here have a courtyard, and the cluster of apartments in each structure have old historic character, but with a fresh coat of bright paint.
Post-rain walk through the streets of Sevilla
Speaking of bright, every single tree is in season right now and exploding with oranges. The sanitation department works hard to quickly sweep up fallen fruit on the street, there are so many! Shruti picked a few off the ground, wondering why more people didn’t just take these oranges to snack on. They turned out to be very very sour.
Fig.1 - Sevilla oranges come in all shapes, sizes and sourness.Fig.2 - More oranges!
This week we’ve been waking up late pretty much everyday. We blame it on the weather – it’s been raining through the mornings, and then the sun comes out later in the afternoons.
Something we’ve come to realize in both Portugal and Spain so far, is that the coffee is usually served as variations of espressos trickling from machines. We miss an old fashioned cup of coffee, so we’re planning to buy a stovetop filter to make our own brew in the mornings.
Send us your recommendations on what kind of coffee to order at a cafetería (hit reply to this email and we’ll get the message)!
Here are some things we did this week, and some things we didn’t do (but wish we did):
Our top 5 Sevilla highlights:
Walking along the river (pastry and coffee in hand) We were lucky enough to stay 5mins away from the Guadalquivir River, so we walked along it almost every day, using it as our compass to direct us to different neighbourhoods sprawled along the banks.
Evenings at Antonio Romero Bodeguito When we stumbled upon this bodeguito on our first night in Sevilla, we saw how crowded it was, so we knew it had to be good. We went here on our first and last nights in Sevilla, using our rusty Spanish to order tapas (the piripi was our favorite). “Una caña y un vino tinto, por favor.”
Meandering through Plaza de España One afternoon, we walked through an arch on Avenida de Portugal and were suddenly transported to the Plaza de España. We were surprised to hear it was only built in 1929 (we thought it had been around for longer!) Architect Aníbal González created it for the Ibero-American exhibition, with a combination of Mudéjar Islamic + Renaissance Christian styles, something we saw throughout Sevilla.
Crispy churros & hot chocolate at Bar El Comercio Nate says these are the best churros he’s ever had. Shruti had to stop him from going back there everyday to get more.
Triana & Tapas Most days we walked across the river to the less touristy neighbourhood of Triana. On sunny afternoons, the cafés spilled out into the cobbled streets and there was a continuous buzz of people talking over tapas.
After walking by the Catedral de Sevilla nearly every day on our wanderings, we finally decided to go in. The cavernous interior houses 80 chapels and the tomb of Christopher Columbus. We later learned that it’s the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, which we weren’t surprised to hear.
We climbed the 34 floors of its 104 meter (342 ft) bell tower, which was originally a minaret when the structure served as a mosque. The mosque’s sahn, or courtyard for ablutions, later became the Patio de los Naranjos, where Shruti is pictured below.
After saying goodbye to Seville and hopping on a 2.5 hour train, we’ve found ourselves in the magical city of Granada. We’re perched in a cozy spot on top of a mirador and hear old bells ringing in the distance, so we’re off to find out where it’s coming from. We’ll report back next week.
Ciao for now!
P.S. Nate finally got a haircut at La Navaja, a local Seville barbershop. They were great!
If you’re just joining us on our adventures, check out our earlier posts here.
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