Sevilla

 

Adios Sevilla! The city streets of Sevilla are passing by out my window as I’m currently on a bus – the “Comes” bus (yep, that’s the one) - out of the city and back to Chiclana and La Barrosa and the beach. I’m doing this leg of the journey solo because the rest of the gang is driving back to La Barrosa and there wasn’t room for six. I happily chose to be the one to do public transport. More adventure, is the way I look at it. In my many times to Spain, I really haven’t done very much of it on my own, so it’s a nice feeling to be a little independent, immersing myself in the action, and figuring things out for myself. Before boarding, of course I had time for what is fast-becoming my staple breakfast – café con leche and half an order of toast and jam. I’d do the full order, but, you know, carbs. Honestly, I have been trying to cool it on the carbs as of a few months ago, and making a few sacrifices while on vacation isn’t as hard as I had expected. A little less bread in the morning, take it easy on heavy lunches, just a few French fries instead of the whole plate. It’s not a big deal. It’s also pretty easy to eat fairly light throughout the day, and then when I do that, I allow myself to eat a guilt free, big evening meal.

So, Sevilla. It’s been pretty awesome. I arrived by train on Sunday, to meet up with my nephew and niece, Santi and Eva, and Eva’s boyfriend Kieran. The four of us had booked an Air BNB together, with Maria and David planning to join us at a hotel the final evening. Sevilla, I quickly learned, is this pretty awesome city. It’s one of those perfectly mid-sized European cities. Not a bustiling behemoth, a city of the sort that can sometimes be unruly and challenging for visitors, like Madrid, Paris or Rome. And not a too-small-for-its-own-good city that's become a Disneyesque picture postcard, tourist tramped place like Toledo or the Cinque Terre. It sits in the middle. A place accessible and welcoming to tourists, but a place nonetheless with an authentic, lived-in vibe. If you want to hang with the tourists, go to the cathedral or the Alcázar or Plaza España. If you want a stand-up only, walk-in-closet-sized bar, where nary a tourist group would even dare enter, go there and stand shoulder to shoulder with Sevillanos getting their morning coffee or enjoying a mid-day break. You can find the vibe you want. Easily.

Sevilla is also a city of beautiful green spaces and a city of much world history. It was here that the Spanish royals granted money and ships to early “New World” explorers like Columbus, Magellan and Vespucci. And it was here that those same explorers returned with their loots of gold and riches. There’s a place in Sevilla called The Tower of Gold. So much gold robbed from the indigenous peoples of Central and South America that they needed a huge tower just to store it all. On full display in Sevilla is also the evidence of how power in Spain has changed hands throughout the centuries, how Muslim and Christians battled things out, and how, for much of Spain’s history, Muslims, Jews and Christians lived peacefully together. There’s no better example of this than the Alcázar, a sprawling, opulent palace and fortress that's protected Sevilla and that's been home to Moorish governors and Spanish royals since the 10th century. The four of us, and Santi’s former roommate and friend, Jose, toured the Alcázar on Monday. I was blown away by the decorative stone and tile work, the sheer size and scope of the building, and most particularly by the many outdoor courtyards and gardens, complete with fountains, intricate stone floors and palm trees spiraling into the sky. For any Game of Thrones fans, go back and look at the scenery from Dorne. The Alcázar was where many scenes from that fictional kingdom were shot.

Probably the other top highlight in Sevilla -  in addition to ambles through winding, narrow back streets, cold beers enjoyed in outdoor plaza bars, piles of plates of tapas during evening meals, two solo, guitar accompanied, siestas in gorgeous Plaza España, and being together with family and new friends – was an evening of Flamenco music and dancing. For me, I didn’t want to leave Sevilla – the heart of the region of Andalusia and the home to Flamenco - without taking in this traditional art form. Kieran and Eva and I, with a recommendation from our Air BNB host, found our way to La Carbonería Tuesday evening with hopes for a memorable night. We were not in any way disappointed. La Carbonería is famous for their stripped down, classic, Flamenco performances. No big meal ahead of time. No floor show catering to tourist groups. This, apparently, was the real deal. The performance took place in a long, dark room – patrons sitting elbow to elbow at communal table, drinking pitchers of sangria and eating plates of olives and meat and cheese. And it was simple. A fierce young woman on guitar, and older gentleman wailing out the passionate tunes and a long, slender female dancer, spinning and stomping on a small wooden platform. It was mesmerizing. While the dancer is the focal point of any Flamenco performance, I couldn’t take my eyes off the guitarist. Flamenco is a somewhat improvisational art form so watching the guitarist keep her eyes glued to the movements of the dancer as to follow her lead, while aggressively strumming her strings, was a thing of beauty. She and the dancer also always knew exactly when to land that final strum and stomp, punctuating the latest dance move and guitar riff. Wow. I could’ve watched all night. As it turned out, the performances where just 20 minutes or so, so we stayed through a break and watched another. The three of us agreed that this was definitely “the” highlight of our time so far in Sevilla.

So that about wraps up things from here. Again, now it’s back to the beach, this time with the whole gang, which will make the time there even better. More sun and sand, more fish, more café con leches and tostadas and more cañas and vinos. More of everything! Let’s do this!