During our week in Portugal we decided we were so close to the Spanish border, we should have a quick trip to Seville, for one final fix of European big city culture.
We'd used the trains successfully to get to Faro and Tavira, so surely the train would be the way to go to Seville? Not so. It seems Portugal and Spain don't cooperate much when it comes to border crossings, so there are only three places in the entire country where the train lines actually continue from one country into the other. So it was the bus. However, that wasn't quite so straightforward either....we easily bought the return ticket in Olhao and our seats were booked for the trip to Seville, but we were then told that we had to book the return seats once we arrived in Seville. Different country, you see. Impossible to do that from Portugal. But what happens if we get to Seville and then find out there are no seats left on the bus back to Olhao the next day? Shoulder shrugs all round. Oh well, going with the flow, we got to Seville, enjoying the coach trip past the orange orchards, strawberry fields and more tiled houses. According to our bus driver, with his limited English, he said we didn't need to book the return seats at all. Being slightly doubtful, and wanting to ensure we got on the bus the next day, we then spent some time in Seville bus station "communicating" our situation with the non-English speaking non-cheerful non-helpful ticket lady, who eventually took our return tickets off us completely and swapped them for a one way ticket back to Olhao. Sorted. The only problem being that these new tickets showed they had cost zero euros, as we had already paid in Portugal, so the bus driver didn't like that at all, indicating that it had confused the whole system and why did we give the ticket lady our return tickets at all?!? Well, why don't you improve your international relations and stop confusing the tourists?!? He let us on the bus. Just.
Travel issues aside, the intervening 24 hours were great. Like so many European cities, Seville is vibrant, beautiful, friendly, and in November the weather was still sunny and warm, with not too many tourists around. The usual maze of tiny streets, interesting buildings, stunning doors opening onto lovely inner courtyards
Complete with medieval doorbell....!
We stayed in an excellent hostel, bang in the centre about 100m from the cathedral. 50 euros a night for a big double room with bathroom, and breakfast - certainly the best bargain we've found all year.
The cathedral certainly dominates the centre, and is really impressive from the outside, with lots of turrets, buttresses and twiddly bits, we spent quite a while just sitting in the square looking up at it from various angles.
Inside wasn't quite so impressive, but we enjoyed climbing up the bell tower: instead of the usual countless steps, the ascent was a very graded slope going up 34 levels. It was bizarre how easy it was to gain height, and noticeable how many overweight/old/unfit people were making it to the top, who never would have managed it had it been steps. You can just make out the bullring in this photo from the top - Seville is one of the most important bullfighting cities in Spain, and shows no sign of joining some other cities like Barcelona where they have given in to public pressure and banned it.
Lew and I don't often go into museums, castles and houses when we're visiting cities and towns, preferring instead to walk around getting lost in the streets, just looking at the architecture and watching the people. However, Lew overheard a conversation in the tourist office which resulted in us getting into the Alcazar Palace for free, which we couldn't really ignore! This is a collection of buildings which house the Spanish monarchy when they are visiting Seville, and has been added to and "re-decorated" over hundreds of years depending on the current monarchy's interior design tastes!
Inside and out, the decoration and plasterwork was amazing, and once again, our camera doesn't do it justice. (I can feel a duty-free purchase coming on during our homeward trip.....!)
Food and drink always takes high priority for us when we're travelling, so we try and do a bit of research beforehand, and ask the locals where they eat. According to the hostel owner, there was only one place to go for tapas, and we needed to get there early as it is so popular. So we set off with the map in search. Took us a while to find it, so it was after 7.30 when we arrived. No-one there at all, all looked decidedly unpromising. We went for a wander around the block and came back at 7.45 - two tables outside had people looking at the menu, so we decided to give it a go. Managed to get a couple of glasses of wine from the sole person behind the bar, who told us the kitchen didn't open until 8.15. At 8.00 three other staff suddenly appeared and launched into a frenzy of preparing cutlery, glasses, bread baskets....things were looking much more promising. People began appearing from the darkness and by 8.15, every table inside and out was full, and everyone was poised with menus at the ready, waiting to order! The waiter in charge of the outside tables where we were sitting set off around the tables, taking multiple orders, serving drinks, and writing names on a blackboard hung up outside - eventually we realised that was the waiting list for a table. The pavements were soon full of people hanging around, glass in hand, waiting to pounce on a table when their name came up!
But what about the food? Predictably, Lew and I over-ordered in a big way, but it all sounded so good. Salamenjo - a type of gazpacho soup; Iberian black pork; cheese and asparagus fritters with red pepper sauce; fried courgettes; papas bravas - potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce; chicken and bacon rissole in almond sauce; spinach croquettes; aubergine cooked in honey.......
Four glasses of wine, enough food to feed us and probably the table next door too - 27 euros. Amazing value and really good food. Next time we'll order a couple of dishes to start with, instead of everything at once!
The place we really wanted to see in Seville was the Plaza de Espana. In 1929 Seville hosted the Iberico-American Expo, and spent 19 years preparing the city and constructing the exhibition buildings. The purpose was to showcase Spain and improved international relations with the attending countries. All the buildings were designed to be used as embassies, offices, museums and consulates once the Expo finished.
The tiles and ceramics decorating the bridges were beautiful
Around the periphery of the semi-circle were alcove seats, each representing a city in Spain, in alphabetical order.
The tiles depicted something about the history of the city
And the final photo? Not sure who he was, as the statue was in the middle of a very busy roundabout, but he had obviously been given a make-over for the coming winter, and was sporting a very fetching lycra number to keep him and his transport warm....
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