Seville (01-03 February 2013)
We spent a dew days in Seville to break up a little bit the first spring half term. It was good to see this marvellous city in February as it provided us with a nice escape from the British winter.
I have decided I won't be too personal with my comments on this blog, I am going for a general description of what to do and what to see in the cities we visited, so that readers can find ideas, inspirations for their own trips!
So.... there we go. I hope you enjoy reading my new blog!
A bit of history of the city...
The Romans governed the whole of Spain for more than six centuries and they changed the face of the countryside and towns, building aqueducts and long straight roads to link the major towns.
But it was the Muslim civilization which was to have the most lasting impact on the city. Their reign lasted for nearly 800 years in Andalucia from 711 until 1492 when the Catholic monarchs defeated the Muslim kingdom of Granada. Some of the city's most magnificent buildings stand as a legacy to this era, including the Torre del Oro, Torre de Plata, Giralda, Patio de los Naranjos, the area of Triana, the Macarena Walls and the Alcazar. Later the the mudejares used their skill to create beautiful Moorish-style buildings, such as the Palacio Pedro 1, part of Seville's Reales Alcazres.
Interestingly, Mudejar architecture continued long after the Moslem period, one of the best examples being the Casa de Pilatos, one of the most beautiful buildings you can visit in Seville. The city walls and gates offer an insight into the history over the ages.
Day 1 (Friday)
We managed to rush out of school and reach Stansted airport just in time for out departure (at 6 pm). Once we arrived in Seville we got a cab to get to the hotel (30 euros, which is apparently a fixed rate). We really could not allow to have 50 minutes or so of buses (including changes).
As soon as we arrived at the hotel San Gil, we were happy to discover that the hotel was really pretty and it had a touch of Arabic influence (very usual feature in the Province of Andalusia) and we got there just in time to get some tapas before the kitchen closed at 10 pm. Not a big plate, mind you, but at least it got us in the mood for Spanish food and to try out a new cuisine.
San Gil is situated in La Macarena is the traditional and historical name of the area of Seville located north of the city centre. Nowadays, La Macarena is the name of the neighbourhood placed on both sides of the north city wall, but also a much bigger administrative district of Seville. La Macarena is known for its Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza Macarena (Our Lady of Hope Macarena), seat of the homonymous Holy Week brotherhood. The procession in the early morning of Good Friday is one of the largest, most popular, and fervent in the whole of Spain.
Long day at school, tiring flight to Spain and exciting day full of sightseeing ahead of us, we decided to head to bed after enjoying a nice glass of rose', offered to us by the hotel (thanks to the groupon voucher we had the night in Seville with).
Day 2 (Saturday)
In the morning we had a massive breakfast (can't miss that out when you get a 4- star hotel breakfast buffet) and, with our stomachs filled, we headed to Santa Cruz.
This is the first barrio (area or neighbourhood) tourists head for, and with good reason. It is the most picturesque and delightful part of the city, with narrow winding cobbled streets and whitewashed houses, where you can sit outside a bar, enjoy some tapas and watch the world go by, or wander through centuries-old gardens and relax on beautiful tiled benches.
It was formerly the Jewish quarter; some of the churches were originally synagogues
We particularly enjoyed wandering round the small squares lined with orange trees (especially Plazas Doña Elvira and Santa Cruz), getting lost in such incredibly picturesque areas, full of history and stories, with many old palaces, churches and hidden passageways.
The delightful Plaza Santa Cruz, with rose beds bordered by hedges and an intricate 17th-century wrought iron cross in the centre.
What to visit now? We took a look at the Seville booklet we brought from London and we decided to head to the Cathedral and Giralda, formerly a minaret (mosque's tower). These two buildings are so imposing you really cannot miss them!
Seville's Cathedral occupies the site of a great mosque in the late 12th century. Later, Christian architects added the extra dimension of height. Its central nave rises to an awesome 42 metres and even the side chapels seem tall enough to contain an ordinary church. The total area covers 11,520 square metres and new calculations, based on cubic measurements, have now pushed it in front of Saint Paul's in London and Saint Peter's in Rome, as the largest church in the world.
Sheer size and grandeur are, inevitably, the chief characteristics of the Cathedral, but as you grow used to the gloom, two other qualities stand out with equal force - the rhythmic balance and interplay between the parts, and an impressive overall simplicity and restraint in decoration.
The cathedral's minaret (La Giralda) is one of the most magnificent buildings in Seville and dominates the skyline.
For lunch and dinner we had tapas. Tapas in Seville is like coffee and croissant in Paris - it's a key part of life and integral to local culture, both gastronomically and socially. The selection and quality of food are both invariably superb, you can eat as little or as much as you like, and you can usually find somewhere serving food, whatever the time of day. The seafood and ham are especially good here.
Plaza de Espana:
This was truly one of the highlight and surprises of the whole trip!
Representative of much of the regional architecture, this magnificent construcion is highlighted with polychromatic ceramic tiles. The semicircular plaza is flanked by two spectacular towers and a bordering lake that are especially worth seeing. Between the two towers runs a network of galleries with an arcade of semicircular arches leading to exits in different parts of the square, where a fountain standsIt was built for of the Ibero-american Exhibition of 1929, held in Seville. Its creator was Aníbal González. He mixed a style inspired by the Renaissance with typical elements from the city: exposed brick, ceramics and wrought iron (worked by Domingo Prida).
In the evening, we decided we could not miss an authentic and passionating show of Flamenco and we opted for a place called "La Carboneria' in calle Levies 18 (Santa Cruz), after we went to another one where they asked us 30 euros to get in.
Famous from its mention in almost every guide book about Sevilla, it's still worth a trip. Free music, often flamenco, can be found in the back covered terraza, popular in the summer and winter. The front bar with a more rustic, winter pub atmosphere includes a piano, stone walls and floors, fireplaces and wooden tables and chairs. A mix of people, from pijo to earthy, spanish to every nationality under the sun, with plenty of Americans if here for only a day or two. Aside from it's reputation as a tourist bar, when there's a live act and I've got a friend in town they always come away liking the place.
Day 3 (Sunday)
On the last day we went to see the Iglesia San Salvador, the Calle Serpes and the Calle del torneo (nice walk along the river) and river boat, before taking the shuttle bus to go back to the airport and fly back to cold and foggy England (although the weather was quite generous the next day and we had sunny spells and the change from Southern Spain to Southern England was not too dramatic!)
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