Hola todos,
Our quick train to Sevilla took less than an hour, so our early travel morning meant that we made it to the city with plenty of time to put our luggage in a locker and head out before our walking tour. We had almost three full days to see what we could of the fifth largest city in Spain, and I took advantage of the extra time to just wander around and get a little lost (very easy with the winding streets in Sevilla!). On our last day, we did something totally different—a convent pastry tour. Six convents, five religious orders, thousands of steps, and dozens of cookies. (I’ll make a separate post on that, so stay tuned.)
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Tiny, Colorful Streets
Sevilla to me is defined by narrow streets, tight corners, and garnished window sills. Where the streets have sidewalks (though often, they do not), no more than one person can fit—and sometimes barely that. When a car goes by, it has to wait for pedestrians to hug the nearest wall or find a little spot of protected space to hop onto. The cars can barely fit down some streets to begin with. One of my mom’s favorite things to do while we were exploring was to take pictures of particularly bold vehicles fitting into seemingly impossible streets. If the house fronts in Córdoba were “pretty”, the house fronts in Sevilla are bold and colorful. Gone are Córdoba's nighttime string lights, and in their place sit lively and vibrant plazas packed with restaurants and their outdoor seating.
The pops of color—mostly yellow and orange/red—bring life to each street.
There are interesting architectural elements everywhere that you bother to look.
Tight, curvy streets abound. If you think you know where you’re going, you’re probably wrong.
Trees shade plentiful green spaces for cooler air and rest through the various neighborhoods. We weren’t there during peak summer heat, but it was warm and it was clear what a benefit these little parks provided.
These are quick photos my mom snapped trying to show how narrow the streets are here.
Catedral (& Giralda)
Surprise, surprise: another mosque-turned-cathedral. The Sevilla Cathedral is the third largest in the world based on square footage, and its bell tower dominates downtown Sevilla and the city’s skyline. (The top-most portion of the bell tower was scaffolded for restoration, unfortunately!)
The view of the Cathedral and tower from the courtyard.
Our tickets to the cathedral also gave us entry to climb up the bell tower. There were only 17 steps to the top… because you climb up most of it via ramps! That’s a first for me with European church bell towers.
The view of the cathedral courtyard from halfway up the tower.
Some views of the city from the top. It was crowded, but you can get a full 360 panoramic view of the city if you’re patient enough on each side.
The ramps we had to climb. (Way easier than stairs, in my opinion!)
The cathedral also holds the mausoleum of Christopher Columbus. In the sculpture topping his burial place, the four united kingdoms of Spain hold his coffin. (His endeavor to access India via the Atlantic Ocean—rudely interrupted by the American continental land mass—was approved the same year the Catholic kingdom of a united Spain, led by Isabel and Ferdinand, took Granada as the last stronghold of the Moors on the Iberian peninsula.)
As with all of the cathedrals we’ve seen before, there was a copious amount of beautiful artwork in the form of altars, paintings, and statues. The audioguide tour had us all wandering around for a few hours.
The vaulted ceilings are sky high.
Plaza de España
This plaza was made for the 1929 World Fair in Sevilla, which was a dramatic failure due to the international market crash that year. It’s a total shame the world didn’t get to see it then: it’s a stunning plaza. There’s a touch of the national, as each Spanish province is mentioned through mosaic maps and history-telling benches; there’s a touch of the local, with people paddling in the man-made waterways around the plaza. There is also a huge green space and park connected to the plaza, so it’s a general hub of walking and running and carriage rides and green space and sun and was just really lovely overall. (Also, I’m not a huge Star Wars nerd, but they filmed some scenes on Naboo in the Plaza if it looks familiar to you.)
Real Alcazar
The palace of the Spanish royal family, still in use today, was another site on the list. It was quite impressive: the walls have hand-painted tiles and hold priceless paintings and tapestries; the ceilings are beautifully decorated; and the gardens are really picturesque (swarms of Instagram-ers included for free). The audioguide and map were really confusing so we all got very lost and ended up having to double back at least once each, and because the grounds are so big, we spent about half a day there.
Peacocks were running around the back garden and getting very close to the visitors!
Tapestries (or paintings) with early maps of the world are so cool to me because they’re so wildly wrong.
Triana
The Triana neighborhood is across the Guadalquivir river. It doesn’t have as many of the historic and traditional tourism stops, but it is the home of a huge food market, lots of shops with hand-painted ceramics, and a slightly slower and quieter pace of life. We explored the market and ceramics shops and took a few walks along the river front during our time there.
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Because we had some extra time in Sevilla, it felt like we took this city a little slower (even though we certainly got our steps in). It had plenty to offer during the day and the night, and it was a great spot to conclude the city-exploration portion of our trip.
Next stop: back to Málaga for some beach time!
Besos,
Tina the Exploradora
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