Kiwi Roaming

We have thoroughly enjoyed our travels around Andalusia but it’s time to return to Portugal. Transport routes to Lagos are easiest via Sevilla (in English we call this city Seville for some reason) so we decided to stay a couple of nights and look around. I was flush with Accor points so we got 2 nights in a lovely Novotel for $50NZD per night, and they still upgraded us to an Executive room with free mini bar etc, there really is something lovely about staying in a flash hotel occasionally.

Location wise the Novotel is about 25-30 mins walk from the old town and all the main tourist sites. It’s right next to the Football stadium and a huge shopping mall with restaurants and cafes in all directions, a Carrefour (supermarket) right across the road with bus and tram stops right outside, so a great spot to base ourselves from.

Sevilla has retained it’s character through keeping the buildings about 8-10 stories high, our walk to the old town took us through residential streets with apartment blocks and university campus blocks where all of the streets are lined with Orange trees keeping it cool and looking lush. There is one skyscraper visible from the river but otherwise it’s all low, green and open feeling city.

We did our own self guided walking tour and hit as many sites as we could. The Alcazar is on the flat and the old town is built around it. We didn’t buy tickets to go in but did walk around the walls and wandered through the narrow maze of wonky streets designed to deter invaders. You don’t have to walk more than a few minutes before hitting a square with restaurants and bars, with a canopy of orange trees that look like they’ve been there for hundreds of years. Lots of lovely looking boutique hotels and gorgeous shops selling fans, flamenco dresses and hats.

One highlight of Sevilla for us was Plaza de España a spectacular site of grand proportions where, in 1928, each region of Spain created a mosaic representation of their points of difference for a world trade fair. We loved finding everywhere we have visited on this trip and the tiles themselves. There were horse and carts travelling around the extensive gardens and grounds, buskers everywhere and people galore.

After our city tour we decided it was time to eat so for lunch we found ourselves a tapas bar in a wee square which turned out to be fabulous. Steve’s Revolut card (debit card) expenditure breakdown tells us we have spent 80% of our trip expenditure on our stomachs (excluding accommodation) and Sevilla was another wonderful destination for yummy food. As we were leaving Spain we focused on tapas and I focused on Sangria but we did go to a Dragon Ball Z place for ramen our first night (yum).

Since we weren’t going to Cadiz we decided to book ourselves a sherry tasting in Sevilla which started at 4pm and went for 2 hours. It was a wonderful way to spend a few hours, our group consisted of two whānau groups (three generations), a German couple and Nick from Melbourne. Our host was fantastic, we learned so much about sherry, tried 6 different ones and experienced food matches to bring out the best in each. Steve was very happy when we left there with the tasting ending on his favourite Pedro Ximénez.

The old town was heaving by the time we left, every bar, restaurant and cafe was open and there were people everywhere. Google maps tried to take us home a very practical way but we just wandered the streets, finding new sites at every turn.

We stopped at a wee tapas bar for fried aubergine and goats cheese (yum) then carried on wandering. I decided we still needed another tapas or two when we came across a takeaway shop where you buy deep fried seafood yumminess or croquettes or chicken nibbles by the kg which had queues of people. So we stopped there and sat at one of their outdoor tables below a row of orange trees to eat our portion of chicken nibbles. Within a minute of sitting down waiters appeared offering drinks so we ordered a Sangria and Tinto de Verano (well two in the end) and sat watching the world go by including a couple of children (it was 10pm by then) placing oranges on the road hoping cars run them over – great entertainment which we found hilarious.

We only really had a full day and few hours in Sevilla so barely scratched the surface but we loved the vibe, it’s a big city but didn’t feel like it. The temperatures there were a little cooler when we arrived (19C) but it got seriously hot while we were walking around – Steve’s watch said 25C but we passed a pharmacy sign that said 29C! but the trees and parks everywhere meant you don’t feel the heat like in Rome and other stone cities. There is loads of street art to look at and lovely paving as well making it a very pretty city.

We’d definitely go back if the opportunity presented itself again.