Under the Andalusian sun
After four action packed days in the Spanish capital, we jumped on a bullet train and headed south to the Andalusian capital of Seville.
Upon arrival, we surveyed our trusty custom map, only to find that we really hadn’t put too much on it for Seville, now wondering what the next couple of days would hold for us.
What it held was us basically wandering the entire city, weaving through mazy streets, hitting dead ends and enjoying every minute of it.
Our first evening found us grabbing drinks at Cafe Hercules, before finding Alamenda de Hercules, an area full of cafes, restaurants and bars. We enjoyed amazing tacos at Mano de Santo and capped the day with ice cream from one of the endless options.
Our second day found us doing some tourist-ing. After coffee and pastries at the delightful La Creme de la Creme, we meandered south into the Santa Cruz barrio, where all the famous spots are, including UNESCO sites Catedral de Sevilla and Real Alcazar of Seville.
Eventually we arrived in Naboo (from Star Wars) better know as Plaza de España. Many a photo was captured as we walked the hallowed halls. As the high point of the day, and thus the heat started to set in, we strolled through the beautiful Parque de Maria Luisa.
Plaza de España – aka Naboo
Arriving back to our apartment, we decided to cool down with a drink at the bar next to our spot before retreating into the air conditioning to cool off. In the early evening, we rebounded and simply wandered some more before stopping for more cold drinks and a light snack.
As the sun set, we headed in search of food, but we were both so drained that we were stuck in that loop of indecision. Eli settled on pizza while I continued to flounder on making up my find, before finally choosing a poke spot.
Per usual we capped the night we another round of ice cream and called it a day.
Our last day in Seville found us in similar straights, with no real plan. We were able to agree on breakfast at the return worthy La Creme de la Creme.
After fueling up on croissant de creme and cafe con leche, its was time to meander. As we walked we debated where best to end up for sunset, eventually deciding that the Setas next to the apartment would have the best view.
This gave us a bit of direction and so we headed to cross the Guadalquivir river, after I’d read that the river walk had nice views of the old city.
Maybe we were too far north when we crossed, but what we found a sad reality. Seville had hosted the Universal Expo in 1992, and we found ourselves in the area where it all happened. That probably sounds really cool, but unfortunately the city has let the expo grounds fall into extreme disrepair.
As we continued south, the sun really started to take its toll on us, and I’m not sure either of us was having the best time. I also seemed to have grossly misjudged the distance and our walked started to really drag on.
Torre de Oso
Eventually we made our way back across the river, got a nice view of the Torre de Oso, and made our way into the wonderful Torch Coffee. We enjoyed a little pick me up and the AC, and then headed back into the afternoon sun.
Back at the apartment. as the afternoon drifted into early evening, my travel fomo (fear of missing out) started to really kick in. I left Eli to chill while I again headed out to wander.
Turned out to be a great decision! We both needed some “me time” and as I wandered, I was reminded that everyone travels differently, and rather than forcing him to do something he didn’t want to do, it was better for me to just do some exploring on my own. This ended up yielding some of the best photographs of the entire trip as I wasn’t worried about annoying anyone by stopping every 10 steps.
After about an hour, I returned and we walked across the square to head up to the top of the Setas and catch sunset. With the Setas situated in the center of the city it gave us beautiful 360º views of the entire city!
Andalusian sunset de Seville
Stunned by the Andalusian sunset, we watched as it slipped below the horizon. With food now on our minds we headed through the maze to Lobo Lopez, and its Asian/Spanish fusion tapas.
As with all travel evenings, the night cap was ice cream. Eli landed us at Holy Roll, where the roll the ice cream across cold stone before placing it inside a freshly made waffle!
If this post has you thinking we didn’t enjoy Seville, you’d be so wrong. The city felt small and cozy, full of charm, brightly colored buildings, small, mazy corridors that seem to go on forever and a vibrancy all its own.
Our complete lack of planning was no match for the wonders of the town, and we both know that Seville with forever be in our hearts.