The beautiful city of Sevilla
After months of deliberation and anticipation, on Friday 25th April 2014, my friend Katya and I boarded a train at Estación Atocha headed south to the wondrous city of Seville. Why you may ask? Well apart from Seville being a gorgeous city that we wanted to visit, our friend Grace that we went to Voronezh with is currently living there and teaching English. So not only were we lucky enough to fit in a little holiday down in the south of Spain, but we also had out own little (literally!!) tour guide to help us get the most out of our whirlwind trip. We left Madrid on Friday morning, and didn't get back until late Sunday, but in those few days we got a hell of a lot done, so much so that I'm going to have to split this into three separate posts! So, I hope you enjoy the tale of our trip down south...
The Journey:
At precisely 5.45am, my alarm began to beep, and I knew it finally time. I'm not usually one to be seen up before 9am, so you can imagine how much of a shock to the system this was! Luckily, being my organised self, all I had to do was get up, get dressed and head out the door. Strolling along the streets of Madrid at 6.15am is different... so quiet and still so dark! Anyway, after a quick stint on the metro, I was met by Katya at the main train station in Madrid, Atocha. After a few mishaps (it isn't the easiest station to navigate) we were finally onboard an impressive looking train, and were settled in for the journey ahead. The journey itself was a little over 2 and a half hours, and was travelling at an impressive 270km/hr for the majority of the time. Being the intelligent girl that she is, Katya spent most of the trip sleeping, but every time I tried to nod off, I couldn't help but be amazed at the changing landscape outside the window. I must have taken 50 or so photos - which trust me isn't easy at the speed we were going! By the time 10am rolled around, we were pulling into Sevilla Santa Justa train station, and off on our way to meet Grace...
The train station in Madrid as the sun came up.
Snazzy train for only £23!
Tired but excited to go!
The sun rising over Madrid
Some of the stunning scenery we saw along the way...
After only 50 minutes we had travelled so far!! The train was going 270km/h after all.
Bienvenida a Sevilla!
Trying to find a bus to somewhere where Grace could meet us.
Lunch and wandering:
We couldn't actually check into our hostel until 12pm, but luckily we were able to drop our bags off and go for a wander. By this time, we had met up with Grace and she gave us a quick tour of our surroundings. Somehow, we had managed to pick an amazing location to stay in, nestled right between the Alcázar, the Seville Cathedral and the Plaza de España. We had a quick wander to get our bearings, and then quickly headed to refuel. Right under the Metropol Parasol (another fascinating site in Seville that I'll talk about in a later post) there was one of my favourite tapas places, La Sureña. This time, however, our visit to La Sureña felt rather more appropriate as it actually means 'The Southerner'! After the obligatory glass (or two) of Tinto de Verano, and plate of Patatas Bravas (amongst other yummy plates of tapas), Grace had to head off for a couple of hours to teach. So, Grace went to catch her bus, and Katya and I headed back to the hostel to check out our room, promising to reunite in time for evening drinks and a spot of tapas later.
Jewellery market stall
Beer and Tinto de Verano
Tortilla de patatas
The hostel was interesting to say the least, but frankly amazing for the price we paid (about €40 each for 2 nights). We were on the ground floor, and after we entered the room and went to open the only window, we discovered that it in fact opened out into the lobby! Katya and I luckily found the whole thing pretty hilarious, as we could actually open our window and casually chat with the receptionist, but it did mean that we didn't get any fresh air!
The lovely lobby, with our window at the bottom centre of the photo (little did we know...)
Our room
Katya 'casually' browsing the brochures available, oh, and the receptionist in the background!
The Bus Tour!
Now if you know me well, then you know that I don't visit a new city without going on a bus tour (I've even been on the one in Bath... more than once!) Before we made our way to the bus stop, we had to pop into Starbuck to grab some coffee to enjoy on our journey! We then proceeded to wait at the bus stop for about 45 minutes, the whole time being told it would be only 5 minutes (typical Andalusians!) Luckily, the bus stop was right next to the extraordinary Torre de Oro, which was used as part of the city's main defence when it was one of the major ports of Spain. We can't really complain about waiting either, because we got to take in some sun and comment on some very interesting outfits that passed by! Seville isn't huge, so it was one of the shorter bus tours I've been on, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable as we got to take in our surroundings whilst catching (perhaps a few too many) rays. Once we had done a full circuit, we got off and met Grace at the Plaza de Toros for the next leg of our journey!
Obligatory caffeine stop before touring.
The Torre de Oro (Golden Tower)
The gorgeous river bank
The Torre de Oro from the bridge over the river.
Some random fake spaceship build for the '92 Seville World Fair.. strange to say the least!
A view from a bridge crossing the river
Much more artistic graffiti than here in Madrid!
Plaza de Toros / Bullring
La Macarena and Dinner:
Once we had reunited with Grace, we headed to (yet another) tapas bar to grab (yet another) glass of Tinto de Verano in order to decide our next move. Our options; take it easy, walk uptown and go to see 'La Macarena', or go to see one of Grace's favourite flamenco show. Initially we decided to head to the flamenco show, but it was so popular that it was sold out, so instead we purchased tickets for the next day and headed uptown. La Macarena is actually a neighbourhood in the north of the city, but it's known for housing the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza Macarena (Our Lady of Hope Macarena). The procession in the early morning of Good Friday is one of the largest and most popular in the whole of Spain, and they parade La Macarena down the streets of Seville. We visited said church ourselves to see the ever-so-famous lady in all of her glory, and boy was it spectacular. After that, we headed back in the direction of the centre, and stopped for dinner. Grace took us to this fusion tapas place which was delicious. You can see from the picture that we enjoyed some more sangría, but to be fair, we had walked a lot and all of our drinks were very spread out. Well that's my excuse anyway! Before long I could hardly keep my eyes open, so Grace headed back to the bus station, and Katya and I headed back for a well deserved snooze!
La Macarena
Soaking in the sun
Tapas galore!
Sangría anyone?
The Seville Cathedral at night.
I told you we got a lot done, and that was only day 1! How I managed to stay out until after dark is beyond me, but the numerous sangría stops along the way must've helped! The day two should be up in a couple of days, so keep your eyes peeled!!
Until next time,
Isobel x
