City Post: Sevilla

Sevilla! What a gorgeous city! We're not really sure what we expected, but Sevilla certainly exceeded all of our expectations. At its center is a beautiful, massive cathedral and the Alcazar, a former royal residence (which still serves this purpose when the King of Spain is in Sevilla). The historic city center holds onto its old architectural roots, and the city has clearly made great efforts to preserve its history. This post is much longer that intended, but that's just a testament to how much we loved the city!

It was a long travel day for us. A 2 a.m. wake up in Vienna, 4 buses, a plane, a train, and 14 hours later, and we finally drug ourselves into Sevilla utterly exhausted. We only had one thing on our minds when we arrived: tapas. We jumped on ye ol' Google and found a place not too far from us (listed as the #3 best in Sevilla). The directions took us down a narrow alleyway (always a good sign), and we were not disappointed! Pelayo Bar had some amazing food at unbelievable prices. We recommended it to everyone we met wanting cheap, good food (and we recommend it to you!). The decor was also cool, with the alley-side dining area decorated with bullfighting, the middle area with film paraphernalia, and the back dining area celebrating comic books. After a long day on the road, Pelayo Bar gave us exactly what we needed.

Our first full day, we did our customary walking tour. We found ourselves in alleys largely free from tourists as we explored the old Jewish quarter, kissing streets, and tucked-away courtyards and gardens. We HIGHLY recommend the Rick Steves audio tour for Sevilla. For lunch, Jo was craving some paella, so we found a place right off the square to indulge in some Valencian-style paella (the Valencians will tell you this is the original version).

Then we made for the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla, aka the bullring. We were in Sevilla to see our favourite torero take on six bulls in one night, and visiting the Sevilla bullring really hyped us up for it. It had a free guided tour you could download to your phone which made the experience that much better. We explored the museum, which contained paintings of bullfights, memorabilia from famous bullfighters, taxidermied bulls who had fought in the ring, and much, much more. We found ourselves rewinding the audio guide to take everything in! The tour also took us to parts of the ring we didn't know existed. One that fascinated us was the chapel. Every bullring has one. It is the last stop for the toreros before exiting into the ring. There were prayers on tiles on the wall, which we learned were for the toreros to use if they couldn't find the words. We both commented that you could feel the nervous tension of over 140 years of corridas in the room. Seeing the chapel really impressed upon us how revered, and dangerous, bullfighting is in Spanish history and culture.

From there, we made our way into the ring through the same gate the toreros use, and WOW! We can only imagine what it must be like to walk through those doors to a full audience! We both thought the ring would hold about 5,000 people, but it's actually 12,000! After hearing that, we wondered what it would be like to be in the 3,000 person ring the next day in Cazalla de la Sierra. "Intimate" was the word Jo used. We also got a good look at the barriers the toreros use for protection from the bulls. We both thought after Pamplona and Madrid that these were regularly refurbished, but no. They simply paint over the damage done by the bull. Up in the stands, you can see the bull digging into the barriers, but seeing the damage up close drove the point home! (Pun intended). After surveying the ring (and taking a lot of pictures and selfies), we climbed into the stands to sit and take it all in. Jack commented that we should have brought our Kindles to sit and read in the shade of the tendido for a bit, seeing as we could stay until closing.

We grabbed some silk handkerchiefs for Cazalla de la Sierra on our way out, and continued around the ring to take photos of the statues that were all around. We even visited a nearby tourist shop. To say we were hyped to see el Unico Espada the next day after this visit would be a complete understatement!

Now, we have to say, Sevilla in mid-August gets hot. We were regularly topping out at 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit!), so we spent the hotter part of the days safely tucked away in the hostel getting some much needed work done (not to mention some much-needed siestas). We intended to grab dinner at the #1 tapas place in Sevilla that night, but it was more than we wanted to pay, so we went to this place we found on our walk back from the bullring.

The next day, we went to Cazalla de la Sierra for Borja Jimenez's Unico Espada. We took one of our roommates with us. We'll capture that day in a separate post, because it was AWESOME!

Our final full day in Sevilla, we went to both the cathedral and the Alcazar (Jack also got a massage and Jo was supposed to get her Spain tattoo, but they messed up the scheduling). We got in late the night before, so we got a late start, which put us exploring during the hottest part of the day. We learned a lot of the cathedral's history from the audio tour, and we had limited time in the cathedral because of the day's itinerary, so we breezed through the inside decently quick. It is massive. Hard to believe it was built more-or-less by hand centuries ago. The oranges in the courtyard weren't ripe at all, but we can only imagine what it looks like when they are in season! We bought the audio guide, but didn't use it much simply because of the time constraint we had imposed on ourselves. The Alcazar has some beautiful, expansive gardens. We both thought that the informational displays in the palace were lacking, but we found some peacocks for Jo to photograph, so, you know, you win some, you lose some. Jack was astounded to learn peacocks meow like cats. We went to a flamenco show that night. If you haven't seen one, it's a bit hard to describe, but there is a guitarist, a singer, and dancers who dance in a sort of tap dance style.

On our back-end travel day, Jo got her tattoo and Jack explored a shopping district he found. Then we headed off to the Plaza de Espana. It is huge and set in some beautiful gardens. We found an impromptu flamenco show to watch for a few minutes before heading back to pack our bags and leave for Valencia. Again, it was hot, so we needed to cool off a bit before trekking to the train station with our packs.

As is typical, let's talk food. We focused on tapas in Sevilla. We both like the variety, prices, and smaller portions. We went to a different place everyday, and avoided the main tourist drag where the prices were much higher. Just a block or two away, we found some great food. We had flamenquin (one of Jack's favourites), various versions of patatas bravas, and different kinds of chorizo, bocadillos, and solomillo. We also had cola de toro (bull's tail) on one occasion (after trying to find it three different times). If you're ever in Sevilla, get just outside of the main historic square, and you will find some amazing food and drink for unbelievable prices.

Now, let's talk alcohol. At the local market, we found ridiculously cheap beer and wine. Like, 2 euro wine and 50 cent cans of locally-brewed beer. Well, we definitely partook (both at the hostel and for the Unico Espada), and we enjoyed our cheap drinks after the bullfight in the hostel's movie room while we watched The Sun Also Rises (just call Jo Lady Brett Ashley, because she fell in love with a bullfighter!).

Where we stayed: TOCHostel Sevilla

Jo's Favourite: La Maestranza

Jack's Favourite: La Maestranza

Top Lesson Learned: Sevilla gets HOT, so plan your day to be early and late, and use midday for a siesta or work

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