Seville to the English, Sevilla to the Spanish, however you call it is a wonderful place to go to escape the rainy season of Braga. Despite boasting over 300 sunny days a year, it rained the first day we arrived. Go figure. However we enjoyed beatiful weather the rest of the trip. We don’t like the heat so we waited until October which worked out well. And less crowds too.

 

Tapas reign in the Andalucía region of Spain. Many of the bars and restaurants offer only these small bites and serve them in three portion size from smallest to largest — tapas, media, raccion. When travelling we prefer to eat several small bites throughout the day instead of 2 or 3 large meals. We can try a wider variety of food and avoid the carb crash after eating too much. And because of the small portion size and small price point I am more inclined to be adventurous with my selections. We tried most of the popular local dishes — a nice culinary journey.

 

On the other side of the Guadalquivir River is the neighborhood of Triana and its popular Mercado. A great market full of vendors selling fresh produce, seafood, meat, as well as prepared foods, wines and much more. The fruits and vegetables looked so flawless and displayed impeccably that one would think they were filming a movie or commercial. We enjoyed some fresh fruit, olives, and washed it down with a nice glass of beer. Wine would have probably been more appropriate but hey we are just beer people by nature – don’t judge 🙂 The market even had some stalls of food cooking classes. While fun to observe, I’m sure the people on the other side of the glass felt like fish in a fish bowl.

 

The Casco Antiguo (Old Town) neighborhood is the gem of Sevilla — full of historic monuments and a vast network of super narrow streets and alleyways. It literally feels like a maze at times. I wonder how often people would wander lost for hours or days before the time of smart phones and Google Maps 🙂 Every day of our stay included some time exploring this wonderful area of the city.

 

One of the main monuments in Casco Antiguo is the Catedral de Sevilla, the largest gothic church in the world. The architecture is very unique because the different peoples that conquered the region and left their imprint by expanding or altering the cathedral — including both Muslims and Christians. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is inside. The artistry of the tomb is incredible, carried on the shoulders of sculptures representing the rulers of the four Spanish kingdoms — Castilla, Leon, Navarra, and Aragon. I know there is alot of controversy over the legacy of Christopher Columbus, but one cannot deny the importance of the age of the explorers and how they reshaped the world as we now know it.

 

Being fans of local craft beer, we are always on the hunt for breweries, brew pubs, beer gardens or anywhere local beer is sold. We stumbled upon a Craft Beer Map for Sevilla on a Facebook page. Ten or so locations, but unfortunately COVID and other struggles forced many to close their doors. However four are still going strong and of course we hit up all four during our visit. The northern part of the central district, or the Setas area, contained most of them. The Setas is a large, modern, flowing structure made entirely of wood and has the appearance of a network of mushrooms. A unique, striking landmark and built on top of another mercado that just so happens to have a cool craft beer bar inside 🙂

 

While we tend to shy away from touristy attractions, we sucked it up for a visit to the Royal Alcázar de Sevilla — a Moorish palace. I really enjoyed the complex geometric patterns common in Muslim architecture. The palace also contained a wing that hosted planning sessions for the explorer’s voyages. The anxiety-raising crowds inside the palace are in stark contrast to the zen-like vibes one gets from the vast gardens out back.

 

Earlier, I mentioned the neighborhood of Triana and its market. However, historically, Triana was known for its ceramics factories. The Centro Cerámica Triana is a museum built on the site of one of these factories. One of my hobbies is making ceramic pieces (mugs, vases, bowls) on a pottery wheel. I really enjoyed seeing the massive kilns, clay storage rooms, etc as well as photos and video of how the factory worked.

 

On our final day in Sevilla, we rented bicycles and rode out to the site of the 1992 World Expo. The route took us through the city and along the river. For an old city they have done a fairly good job of incorporating bike lanes and cycling routes. In some places, metallic disks divide a pedestrian walkway into a walker side and bike side. Many times, tourists don’t realize they are walking in the bike lane resulting in some near collisions. Once outside of the historic center, the bike lanes become easier to navigate. As a teenager, Emi travelled with fellow schoolmates to Sevilla and participated in the World Expo. Cycling around the campus brought back many memories for her. Today, it is eerie seeing all these structures and buildings built just for an event that now sit abandoned and slowly rusting and wasting away.

 

We experienced a bit of drama returning to the airport for our flight home. Since our flight was in the evening, we decided to drop our bags at a Pink Lockers location until the time came to head to the airport. They provide easy and secure luggage storage solutions with daily rates. However, when we returned to retrieve our bags, we found that the locker door was jammed. No matter how many times we attempted to unlock it or jiggled the door, it simply wouldn’t budge.

 

We called customer support, and they sent someone to assist, but it would take an hour for them to arrive. Fortunately, we had left plenty of extra time to get to the airport. So, while feeling a bit stressed waiting for the Pink Locker attendant, it turned out to be unnecessary, as we still caught the bus and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare.

 

Overall, we really enjoyed this trip, and traveling to Sevilla from Braga/Porto is super easy. The fall weather is excellent. Next time, we’d like to use Sevilla as a hub for day trips to places like Cadiz and Granada. There’s so much more to explore in this region of Spain. Bye for now!