Seville

Early October in Spain sure brings about a drastic change in the weather! We experienced a VERY chilly day today, wrapping up in our warmest clothing this morning to take a walk outside. It’s a wonderful contrast to a Southern California autumn where it seems you have to wait until late December just for the temperature to drop below 70. I’m not sure what the exact Fahrenheit was today, but as far as Celsius, it was only 11 degrees. I guess we will be using our jackets and those few long-sleeve shirts we packed afterall.

It is surprising that tomorrow is Friday already. With our weekend trip stretching to Tuesday, we had a pretty short week at work.





So, although this comes a little bit late, I’d like to share with you our adventures and a few photos of Seville. Seville was an absolutely beautiful city in Spain, filled with vibrant colorful buildings covered in bright Moorish tile work, orange trees lining the city streets, and a towering Cathedral spire reaching to the sky in the center of the town.


We stepped off of our bullet train just 2 hours after leaving Madrid to experience much warmer temperatures (we were farther south) and bustling city streets. Getting off a train in a new city is always an interesting experience, as it seems the train stations are typically a 20-30 minute walk or a bus ride away from the city center. Why these can’t be centrally located I don’t understand. Although we try to come equipped with directions or a guidebook stating how to get to town, it is usually impossible to find the names of the city streets, and city maps are never available at the station (only at the tourist information centers in the city centers). After waiting at the wrong bus stop for 20 minutes, we finally discovered where we were supposed to go, took a short ride and then hauled our luggage over cobblestone roads to make it to our destination.


The detailed latticework of the cathedral spires greeted us upon arrival. We were charmed by the city plazas and the quaint street where we found our hostel. It was located in the Santa Cruz historic district, which was once inhabited by all of the Jewish people of the city. This district is known for its narrow streets, wild growing gardens hidden behind their front gates, colorful tilework, and trendy tapas bars. Horses and carriages line the streets waiting to snag a tourist and take them on a ride.








The hostel was perfect- it looked like a typical Andalusian home with Spanish tilework, ceramic and metal embellishments. What made the experience extra special was the sound of the cathedral bells ringing every hour (thankfully not beginning until after 8:00am each day), and the sounds of the horseshoes clopping down the cobblestone just beneath our window.










Our tour inside of the Cathedral was fantastic. We read each detailed page of Rick Steve’s guidebook explaining the significance of all the art and architecture. Good ole’ Rick has been quite helpful on our trip! His historical insight and practical tips of advice have added much traveling ease and deeper historical meaning to our sightseeing (His 10-page description of the Alhambra in Granada was awesome as well).

























Outside of the cathedral was a lovely plaza where Travis and I enjoyed several picnics. My favorite picnic was at 10pm on our last night in Seville. We had gone out that evening with the plan of hitting several tapas bars in the Santa Cruz district. At our first stop, I noticed a group of men who came in dressed in tuxedos and holding choral music. When I saw the piece- “Vivaldi’s Gloria”- I was instantly excited and hopefully asked them if there happened to be a concert tonight. They responded to my Spanish in English and gave us a cordial invite to attend. (Why do they always talk to us in English? It’s hard to practice my Spanish with the locals when they notice an obviously “English” speaker and decide they want to practice their English. This happens to Travis and I often. I guess our little Spanish skills don’t quite hide the fact that this language is definitely not our native tongue).



Anyway, we were pleased to discover the concert was only one-block away from the bar, was free to attend, and was beginning in 10 minutes. So, instead of a tapa’s crawl for the evening, we sat in a very old church with lovely acoustics, hearing a local, authentic Spanish chorus singing Vivaldi. It was a “European moment” of this trip that I will not forget. After the concert Travis and I grabbed some market goods and dinned under the shining streetlamps at the foot of the Cathedral.




Overall, Seville was a delightful city which filled our senses with the bright and colorful sights, the sounds of the streets, the tastes of the tapas, the sun’s warmth on our skin and the smells of the pastries baking. I’d return in a heartbeat for another weekend to remember.