Seville July 13

Had a great last couple of days in Seville! We of course did more eating and drinking, and in between made an effort to see the sights.

Our favorite neighborhood so far here is Triana.  There´s no particular reason really – it just has a nice vibe.  It´s on the other side of the river, and a lot of the ceramics and tile you see around the city are made here.  From what I read the neighborhood  has a long history of fisherman, sailors and Flamenco.

One of our first nights in Seville we stopped in a Macarena neighborhood place called Doctor Bar for a drink, and made friends with a British guy who had moved to Seville a couple of years ago to teach English. We met up/ran into him a couple more times while we were in Seville and he was a source of a couple of great recommendations.  The first was to see an evening performance in the gardens of the Alcazar. Sounded good, so we booked our tickets for Tuesday to see a performance by two cellists. I was REALLY bad about doing Seville research so I had barely heard of the Alcazar, never mind had any expectations about what it would be like.  Azish and I got there, and right away it felt like a special night. We got there right before sunset (which here isn’t until after 9), and wandered through these beautiful gardens. It felt like something out of an exotic kind of renaissance fairytale with lush greenery, labyrinths, fountains, peacocks and castle walls. I had no idea!! We sat down to a great evening of music, and I made a mental note to come back for a visit during the day.

The next day we got up early and had big plans for the day.  To start we were going to pay a visit to a closed convent to buy some candy.  Strange right?  I had done about an hours worth of research on off the beaten path types of things to do in Seville, and had read about how a couple of closed convents sold candy as a way to make money.  Never one to pass up an opportunity to try new candy I was all over it. We circled the convent for a pretty long time before we even found the door. So the way it goes is – you walk into this unmarked entry-way.  There is no one in there of course because it is a “closed” convent, so the nuns don’t have contact with the outside world. You walk up to this big wood cupboard looking thing and ring the bell. Then you wait for the nun to say “Ave Maria Purisma”. You respond “Sin pecado concebido”. (Of course I looked up what all of that meant online before to make sure I wouldn´t be saying something inappropriate to the nuns. Apparently it’s part of a roman catholic rosary so I was safe.) Then you put the money onto the turning-door-tray, and it gets turned back around to you with candy!  I was super nervous walking up there, but it went exactly like they said (except the nun corrected my pronunciation). I got a little wooden box full of “yemas”. Which were reaally sweet, and after all that I ended up not eating them.  But it was worth it for the experience! Although I’m still feeling a little guilty about not liking them….

After that we walked to the Cathedral which is the biggest Gothic Cathedral in the world, and supposedly where Christopher Columbus is buried. It’s definitely big and impressive. But ultimately it was too much, and we took a lap around the block before deciding to appreciate it over a drink on the rooftop of the EME hotel across the street.

That afternoon I decided to give up my siesta in order to go back to the Alcazar and find out a little more about it. I was so happy I did!!  It was originally a moorish fort in the 10th century, and from what I can piece together some version of it has been a palace since the 12th century.  Different additions have been added over time, so it´s a mix of Mudejar, Gothic, Renaissance, etc.  There is nothing I could really say to do it justice. Posting a couple of pictures below so you can see for yourself. And it’s even better in person!!

Thursday was our last day together before Azish left to go back home. We felt like we had a pretty good feel for Seville, so we hopped on the train to Jerez de la Frontera for a day trip.  It´s safe to say Azish is fond of wine, and apparently sherry can ONLY be made in this area, so it made sense to make the trip and learn more.  After a tour of the Gonzales Byass Bodega I found out I don’t really like sherry. So like yemas, the experience was a lot more fun than the product!  Gonzales Byass is a pretty commercial place, but for some reason the only pictures I liked make it look like a very small old timey kind of place.  Don´t be fooled – it´s not!

After lunch we capped off our day in Jerez by a visit to the Hammam Andalusi (an Arabic bath).  It was a great, and clean way to wrap up our visit to Jerez!

Azish left this morning to go home, and I had to get out of the heat! I hopped a bus for Tarifa this afternoon – second suggestion from our friend from Doctor Bar.  I am spending the evening at a cafe/bar with free “wee-fee”.  (That´s how they pronounce it.)  Tarifa is a touristy surfer town on the southern most coast of Spain. It sits in between the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and looks across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco.  THE thing to do here is kite surf, so I plan to spend the next couple of days learning. Wish me luck!