City number four takes us to Seville, a place I’ve visited before and loved returning to! We didn’t exactly have the warmest welcome, as the heavens opened as soon as we left the train station- meaning we got absolutely soaked on our very short twenty metre sprint to get into the taxi! But luckily, it only lasted for about 20 minutes until the sun started shining again! In the meantime I enjoyed chatting to the taxi driver about our travels so far, football and not understanding when he asked if I knew who Tom Jones was because of his accent (it came out more like To-Yones). He must have been slightly confused that, as a Brit, I didn’t have a clue who he was talking about!
As with most of our destinations, we started with a trip to a coffee shop, wandering over to Parceria café. The staff were super friendly and the coffee was a great start to the trip- although be warned that the Matcha is pretty strong, according to our friend Ella judging by the grimace on her face after her first sip!
We spent the first evening enjoying one of the best things to come out of Spain- Tinto de Verano! It’s similar to Sangria but slightly more refreshing in my opinion. Cañas of Cruzcampo were regularly consumed too which is one of my favourite Spanish beers! It was here we first experienced a busker singing a rather enthusiastic version of ‘Bombaleo’ in which the rolled r’s were both frequent and a bit unnecessary! But we loved his passion!
Seville has some beautiful sites and attractions, with the main ones of Plaza de España, the Alcazar and the Cathedral being well worth visiting. The Maria Luisa Park surrounding the Plaza is a beautiful, tranquil haven in the city and is filled with colourful plants and greenery.
Quite a few of the places we went to I had been to before but one new thing we did was paddleboarding on the river. We all managed to stand up, eventually, after we made sure we were balanced enough to not fall into the river. The water was cool but slightly murky so dipping our legs was the extent of how much we were prepared to go in! I enjoyed embarrassing my friends too by insisting on waving at every single boat that passed us- particularly appreciating the one man applauding us from the boat as if paddleboarding was an extreme sport! After, we wandered across the bridge to Mercado Lonja del Barranca- a food market with a variety of options like cured meats, paella and sweet treats. I opted for sushi, however, and had the salmon variant topped with crispy onions (aka the best part!). I washed it down with a Radler- a bottled beer with tangy lemonade mixed in which was an absolute 10/10 drink after paddleboarding on a hot day!
Seville is a city steeped in history and culture and a big part of this is Flamenco- with the neighbourhood of Triana being the birthplace of many Flamenco artists. It was Triana where we went to a Flamenco show on our second night- returning back to the theatre I visited the year prior with my family. I’m not going to go into too much detail on how I nearly killed my friends for turning up late, after a clear message from me about how stressed I would be if they did so… but it’s ok we’ve made up… sort of 😉
The show soon made me forget about the slight tension. I’ve always loved Spanish guitar style music and the passion and talent of the singers and dancers blow you away. The female dancer’s skirt skills in which she whipped it around in circular motions, exposing the exquisite design was particularly impressive! We strolled over to a local bar for a caña or two before enjoying some warm churros and chocolate sauce while sat on the river and enjoying the sunset. What a great way to end the night 😊
Something I love about Seville is the laid-back vibes and relaxed atmosphere across the city. I know I can’t judge fully from only being there for a few days but no-one ever seems to be in a rush- people are enjoying life at a slow pace- making sure to take everything in. It makes you feel so peaceful and I think that is a credit to the people of Seville. If you haven’t been I would highly recommend you visit! And when you do- make sure to check out some of my suggestions below!
Those are the Spanish cities finished- now onto Lisbon and Porto!
Food/coffee:
· Mito- amazing gelato
· Delatribu
· Parceria café
· Cafeteria Placido y Grata
· Hispalis Café
· MUY coffee
· Mercado Lonja de Barranco
· Churreira los especiales
· Casa Morales
· Ancora- great for paella and arroz negro
Attractions:
· Flamenco show at Teatro Flamenco Triana
· Paddle Surf Seville
· Alcazar
· Cathedral
· Plaza de Espana
Ahhh lovely Seville, makes me miss it :-(