15.04.17 — Travel

Seville

Part two of four of my tour of Spain began as I got on the train from Córdoba to Seville, whereupon I met a guy called Paco who proceeded to get chatting to me, and as I alighted in Seville I had been given three tips on how to live my life:

  • Sé una buena persona (Be a good person)
  • Sé preparado (Be prepared)
  • Ama lo que haces (Love what you do)

After a lovely chat for the couple of hours it took to roll into Seville I alighted, said my goodbyes, and headed through the city late at night to find my hostel. After bedding down for the night I awoke hungry and in the hunt of some breakfast, and after stopping for some fresh orange juice, a lovely coffee and a napolitana (chocolate pastry), I grabbed my camera and headed out to get my first look at the infamous city of Seville.

Colours of the city

I began by wandering down one of the main streets from the north of the city towards the river, alongside which I found some lovely gardens which I dipped into to carry on towards the Plaza de España, a large square built in 1928 for a large exposition. It turns out that these gardens were actually used to film in the land of Dorne in Game of Thrones! Wild.

Entering the gardens
Strolling through the tiled gardens

I then crossed over the main road and soon discovered the Plaza de España in all it’s huge, colourful and intricate glory. The sheer scale of the huge semi-circular structure isn’t apparent in any of my photos after my panorama turned out to be a disaster, but a quick Google search will give you a bit of an idea.

Entering the plaza
The centre of the Plaza de España

A little bit of trivia for those Sci-Fi fans amongst you all who may recognise some of the architecture here – it turns out that the Plaza de España was actually used for some exterior shots of the fictional land of Naboo in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Seville is such a beautiful place that it is quite easy to see why location scouts for such big names in film and TV have come along and had a field day.

Detail on the tiling in the plaza
A gorgeous Seville scene

After mooching around to take plenty of photos (some of which will wind up on my travel section soon) and catching a spot of flamenco, I then headed towards the centre to grab a bite to eat and begin exploring some of the amazing sights in the heart of the city.

Heading into the city

I was pleasantly surprised by the pedestrianised streets and the amount of people cycling around the city as I began to head towards the centre, but I decided to first wander down to the river for half an hour relaxing in the sun and to grab a burger at The Good Burger, a Spanish chain which I became familiar with the first time I ever visited Madrid back in 2015!

Architecture in Seville

After this I once again headed towards the beating heart of Seville, where I’d been advised by my friend Kevin to visit La Giralda, a bell tower built on top of a Moorish minaret and now attached to the city’s huge cathedral.

It should be pretty obvious from all the photos I took, but the colours in Seville are stunning.

The pretty colours of Seville
Heading towards the cathedral

Once in the city centre I began to explore some more, stopping for lunch and coffee along the way, before heading back in the direction of the river to check out some of the architecture along its banks.

Seville Cathedral
A square in the city
A curved courtyard
Heading away from it all

Once back along the banks of the river I stumbled on the ridiculously named Plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla, which is the fancy Spanish name for the main bullring of Seville. To my dismay it turns out that it is still used for bullfighting, and not wanting to contribute to the industry, I instead opted to circle the building and take some photos of its vibrantly coloured exterior.

The facade
A funky door
A pretty street nearby

After this it was time to head back to my hostel, freshen up, and then head out for the evening to find something to eat. After a quick FaceTime call to my mum to show her the city in the evening, I wandered around until I found a lovely little restaurant near my hostel where I ordered a few tapas and una cerveza (naturally).

Leaving my hostel in the evening

Seville by night was beautifully lit and bustling with activity.

La Giralda by night
The illuminated cathedral

After my nighttime exploration I headed back to the hostel in order to prepare for the next day where I’d have to carry my full bag around the city before grabbing a bus to Granada in the afternoon. The next morning I realised my camera had somehow changed to a lower quality image mode which made me quite cross, but I calmed down with a coffee and pastry breakfast once more before meandering the city’s gorgeous streets once again.

Contrasting architecture
Contrasting architecture
Old and new
Textures of Seville

Once I’d stopped for yet another café con leche, I headed for the bus station where I boarded a nice comfy coach and began my journey eastwards to Granada, which will be the subject of the next blog post!

In the second city of my tour of Andalusia I was once again charmed by the people, the sights, and the atmosphere of Seville. I have to admit that it was my personal favourite of the three new cities I visited on my trip, even if the local accent stumped me and the clouds kept me on edge through the occasional bouts of heavy rainfall!

I would say that Seville is the perfect place to go and spend a good few days exploring, and I am glad that I managed to squeeze a visit in before Semana Santa (Spain’s Easter celebrations) and before the heat of summer made wandering around unbearable. Once again this will be added to my travel page pretty soon, and hang fire for my next blog post where we pick up the action as I arrive in Granada…