Swingin' in Seville

  Seville, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

We woke up early in Faro (well, it wasn't really early but for our current average wake up time it was early) and headed to the bus station for the four hour ride from Faro to Seville. We had the wonderful pleasure of sitting behind some American and one Australian exchange student who's conversation provided no end of annoyingly stereotypical amusement.

When we finally arrived in Seville (phew, made it and didn't throttle anyone) we proceeded to get thoroughly lost on our way to our hostel. This was partly due to the extensively complicated directions and partly due to the lack of obvious street signs, which we found was a common theme in Seville. Finally finding a street name we got ourselves oriented and found our way there. Once at our hostel the directions all made sense...

Streets of Seville

Settled in to our lovely bright room with a wee balcony, we took some time to re-organize and see where we wanted to go. On checking in, the hostel staff told us that their first ever Flamenco (Spanish dance) night at the hostel was that evening at 9:00 pm. Expecting to have to do a midnight search throughout the cities tiny bars and cafes to try and find some sort of cheap flamenco going on we were so excited by this, as most tourist flamenco shows start in price around 40-50 Euros.

Seville Town Hall

We spend the first part of our day wandering Seville's streets and stopping by the info centre, which was inside the old town hall. The hall was decorated in incredible detail, with carvings climbing up the pillars and reliefs stretching along the walls. We were surrounded on every side by brilliant architecture that makes everything feel... European.

Ornate Entrance

Heading onwards we came across Seville's giant cathedral, marked as the third largest cathedral in the world (The first is the Vatican and the second is St. Paul's in London). The cathedral was originally a mosque in the 1100's, of which only the minaret (tower) and garden remain. In 1248 it was consecrated into a cathedral and they expanded on it in the 1400's in a sprawling gothic design. Apparently some very zealous Spaniards had a hand in the design and wanted to make it so enormous and ornate that people would see it and think they were crazy.

Cathedral Minaret

The mix of Islamic architecture and gothic cathedral were striking on the exterior, with the interior of the cathedral proper containing solely the gothic style. Pillars reaching skywards holding the vaulted ceilings, endless nooks and crannies holding 44 separate chapels and alcoves, multiple treasure rooms, and art wings. The treasure rooms held various gold, silver, and gem encrusted 'religious' objects. and Christopher Columbus' tomb held aloft by four large statues of crowned men. The carved organ was only dwarfed in design by the main alter, an entire wall covered in gold gilded carvings, which left us reeling from the elaborate glitter of it all.

Cathedral Wall of Gold

We stumbled out from the dark cathedral into the garden. The back gate and walls still contained the islamic design, as well as the construction of the courtyard, save for a large fountain pool on one side. We sat down to rub our eyes before heading up the 35 ramps of the minaret, used instead of stairs due to a former Islamic leader who was apparently disabled and needed to ride his horse up the tower, to the top for fantastic views over Seville and the cathedral. Music from buskers drifted up from the streets below and we savoured the views out to the streets and to the nearby palace, feeling like all of our hard work to travel to Europe again was worth it.

View from the Minaret

That evening we arrived back early so that we didn't miss the flamenco. Outside of our room window we could hear them doing their last preparations on the street, brief spurts of Spanish guitar, singing and clicking heels. When they finally came in to perform, the tiny hostel foyer was crowded with backpackers and local supporters who had gathered in for this premier performance. The performers were from a nearby flamenco school who had agreed to perform for the hostel for free, allowing the students the experience of performing in front of a crowd with a small tip basket set on the side if anyone should feel so inclined.

Flamenco Strings

The performance started with just the guitar. Obviously the most comfortable of the performers, the Spanish sounds he pulled from his instrument left everyone riveted. His fingers picked up speed and blurred before slowing down again and allowing everyone to catch their breath. Next the singer featured with rough and haunting tones which left us feeling raw despite being unable to understand Spanish. Last of all the guitar picked up speed and the woman stood up. Her feet started slowly and would vary between an elegant pace and the furious speed and passion that has made flamenco so famous. Throughout the whole performance feet stomped and hands clapped to add percussion to the music, and while the woman danced her entire body became an instrument, raising her hands to clap over her head before swiftly bringing them down on her chest then hips as her feet moved, her red dress flying outwards.

Flamenco Dance 1

When we finally arrived back in our room we just kind of sat there, heads spinning. That was about all we could take in for a day so we called it a night.


The next day took us on more city wanderings and through the palace. We came across random churches of stunning architecture, squares filled with cafe's and monuments to heroes of the past. The palace was mainly a series of rooms and gardens with the upper rooms still used as the private quarters of the Spanish Royal family. One area of the lower rooms was constructed of the ancient Moorish design, with incredibly intricate geometric patterns covering floor to ceiling, arches and columns. The remainder of the palace was of simpler design, but the gardens were extensive and well kept with many alcoves for meetings long ago.

Palace Garden

We finished off our day with Churros y chocolate, thin loops of dough, deep fried until golden and crispy. This was served with a mug of hot thick chocolate, like a cross between hot cocoa and custard. Dipped and soaked in the chocolate, the churros were sweet, crunchy and artery-clogging good. We waddled off for a bit more wandering to earn our churros before settling on the rooftop terrace of our hostel, watching the sun set. We ended up chatting to some other backpackers for a few hours and found out one of them was going Morocco the following day as well and agreed to travel together in the morning. Still needing to pack for the morning we headed off, the sun having long gone down by this time.

Churros!

Tomorrow will be an epic day of travel, and maybe a long time without internet. wish us well!


All our best from Spain


Dan and Gabes