Viva Espana

Location:
Spain

History, flamenco, Sevilla

By Marie Mabin

Spain is one of the most exciting countries in Europe. I highly recommend the city of Sevilla or Seville. Sevilla has so much to offer from sightseeing, to a wonderful nightlife, music, culture, and most of all gastronomy. During the day, a list of ‘must see’ places is endless. Different ways to tour Sevilla are by tour bus (I recommend the open double-decker tour bus with comments through headphones in 9 languages), by renting a car, or touring o your own by walking. The good thing about these double-decker tour buses is that you can get off at a place where you want to spend more time and take your photos, and then you can hop back on when the next tour bus comes along. Make sure you save your ticket as proof that you purchased a tour with that particular tour bus, or you will end up walking. If you feel comfortable traveling with maps as your guide, you’ll do fine. But for those people such as myself, who gets lost even with a map, it could get frustrating. But then again, getting lost is the best way to have an adventure. You’ll never know what you’ll run into. Some of the best-kept secrets such as best restaurants, or best coffee houses are found on an adventure.

If you decide to walk and tour on your own time, start your day with a visit to The Cathedral, located along Avenida de la Constitucion. The Cathedral is gothic style cathedral built in the 15th and 16th century and the largest cathedral in the Christian world. The Giralda tower was the minaret of the 12th century Muslim mosque. If you climb up to the top of the tower, you can see the whole city of Sevilla. After your climb, directly across the street along Avenida de la Constitucion are boutiques and shops to buy your souvenir t-shirts, shot glasses, colorful Spanish fans, Flamenco dolls, etc. Also along this avenue is a popular bakery and cafe that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and ham sandwiches. They also make some of the best pastries and baked goods like empanadas and desserts. You can order coffee or some 'colacao', their version of hot chocolate, not to be confused with 'chocolate caliente'. If you happen to order 'chocolate caliente', what you will get is a small cup of hot thick, pudding-like chocolate drink. Unless you don't mind having some hot chocolate pudding with your breakfast, that's ok too.

After breakfast, you can continue on to see Reales Alcazares, a royal palace. The word Alcazar is from the Arabic word al-qasr, meaning 'palace'. It is located on Plaza de Contratacion. This Alcazar was built over Moorish ruins for King Pedro of Castile in 1364.

Next on the list is Plaza de Espana, which was featured in the movie Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. It was used as the background for Planet Naboo. This was built in 1929 when Sevilla hosted the Spanish-American Exposition. The Plaza is a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge. These buildings were built for the exhibition in the Maria Luisa Park, with beautiful bridges and a large fountain in the center of the Plaza. The best entrance to see this Plaza is on Avenida de Isabel La Catolica. The view is absolutely spectacular!

For lunch, head back to Barrio Santa Cruz where rows of cafes and restaurants are located. This area is the most popular place for both the locals and tourists love to hang out and people-watch. Food prices vary from expensive to affordable. If anything, you can always go to a Chinese restaurant. Outside of China, Europe’s Chinese restaurants have some of the best and most authentic Chinese food you can experience. It’s good and cheap-my 2 most important categories when it comes to food when traveling.

After lunch, take a nice leisurely walk along Paseo de Cristobal Colon with the view of Guadalquivir River on your right. If you’re brave, you can take a nap on a bench under a tree along the river and enjoy the cool refreshing breeze. If you do so, mind your belongings. Make sure your wallet, money, and most importantly your passport are all out of sight and tucked away. The little Gypsy pickpocket kids are pretty fierce and they are pros. By 2:00pm, all stores and most restaurants are closed until 5:00pm or 5:30pm. This is the siesta time. If you happen to miss lunch, your meal choice narrows down to either MacDonald or Pizza Hut. There is a MacDonald’s on the corner of Paseo de Cristobal Colon and Santander de Carbon. Pizza Hut is located on the corner of Paseo de Cristobal Colon and Reyes Catolicos street. Both of these ‘fine’ dining establishments does not close for siesta. They cater mostly to local young adults and to tourists.

If you are into architecture, there are several photo opportunities along Paseo de Cristobal Colon. There’s the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza or Maestranza Bullring, where bullfighting is held on Saturdays and Sundays. You will also find Museo Taurino or the Bullring Museum, Teatro de Maestranza or Maestranza Theatre, and the Torre del Oro or the Golden Tower.

To end a perfect day, you can’t go wrong with some paella and a night of Flamenco show. Keep in mind that this could be quite expensive. If you want to save money and still see a good Flamenco show, go to a tapas bar and order finger foods, or appetizers which could be filling, then go see a Flamenco show. There are several venues for Flamenco shows. There’s El Patio Sevillano along Paseo de Cristobal Colon and Adriano on the same side of Plaza de Toro, or El Arenal located in an alley called Rodo off of Paseo de Cristobal Colon, or Los Gallos Flamenco, located at Plaza Santa Cruz on Calle Santa Teresa. The cost of flamenco show includes one drink of your choice.

Further Information

Travel tips: The best time to travel to Seville, Spain is early Spring or early Fall. Try to avoid going in the month of August. Almost everything is closed around the month of August. Majority of Europeans take the whole month of August to go vacation.

Must see/do at this place: A 'must see' are The Giralda, the Alcazar Reales, Plaza de Espana to name a few. The most popular thing to do or see in Seville is Flamenco.

You should avoid here: Avoid going through alleys in the dark or late at night. There are lots of trained pickpocket Gypsies.