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Seville, Spain

Well rested after our late arrival we headed out to find breakfast as we had no kettle or free breakfast with our 4 star but budget hotel. We could of course purchase a hotel brekky but at €12 euro each but we were sure we could do better; and we sure did.

Hotel Zenit is just around the corner of a plaza-street which has lots of small eateries and shops. It’s in a residential riverside suburb called Triana and is known for local eateries so is nice by local standards and not tourist prices.

First thing we noticed is the language barrier. Very few speak English here and those that do it is quite poor – especially compared to Holland. It’s not that we expect them to speak it as such, but with a struggling economy a smart vendor or person would do well with English to take advantage of those tourist dollars. We have noticed many other Europeans using English as a common language to communicate with other nationalities. Then of course we could learn Spanish if we were visiting!

Any how no worries we managed to get coffee, a toasted roll and Jamon for €2.50 each. Very cheap and mighty fine. We find pointing to someone else’s plate and indicating “I’ll have that” works quite well, even if at first you have no idea what it will cost.

It was around 11:00 when we finished breakfast and it was then that we noticed people were starting to appear and eat themselves. Often people just have the toasted roll with olive oil and a coffee. The oil is delish and you just pour it over everything at your pleasure and perhaps add a sprinkle of salt.

Back to the hotel to sort ourselves for adventure and exited our dark cool hotel to a lovely 26 degree non humid day. We made our way as far as the river and stopped for lunch which was a Tapa set 3 course menu for €9; we had tuna salad, gaspachio, tortilla, and meat somehow which was melt in mouth delicious, and fresh fruit. I chose an orange and OMG it was so sweet and fragrant it was heavenly. Note to hubby we will buy some for our snacks.

We continued our stroll toward town and were charmed by horses with jingling bells pulling carriages with ladies festively dressed in traditional clothes. This is all part of the April Fair that we timed our visit for. We passed a bull ring, and whilst fights are scheduled its not a thing that appeals to either of us, rather see steak on a plate then bleeding on an arena for entertainment. Clearly they are passionate about it and the ring is one of oldest if not the oldest in Spain.

We are struck by the lovely architecture here, so different and so Spanish its like being on a movie set. Colours of gold, paprika and white are set off with lovely blue and green detailed tiles everywhere. Wooden and iron carvings giving a wild west look, and church spires and domes punctuate the sky line.

The city smells warm and very horsey and then more horsey. We worked out that a strong smell was horse pee – its not so bad, but a bit yucky around the cathedral where they line up and wait for tourists. Makes a change from the pungent frequent marijuana clouds you walk through in Amsterdam!

We visited the cathedral which is the 3rd biggest gothic cathedral in the world. It also houses the remains of Christopher Columbus. We even climbed to top of the bell tower for some great views, thankfully its umpteen ramps and not steps, so my knee didn’t flare up. The tower is around 90m high. The cathedral is just so huge, it started off as a mosque around 1100, and then the Christians took it over around 1200 and completed the building around 1400! The photo of a painting of Mary dates to 1300. The main altar which is a 65ft high carving was being restored so we did not see that.

So far we have avoided gypsies and pick pockets so that is good; did see them, but didn’t get hassled. Early days yet though. Our journey back took us over the river to find dinner and the fair. We calculated that we must have walked around 8 to 10km today. We found a bar which had mini rolls filled with tasty treats and drinks all for €1 each. You place your order at the counter and wait amongst the noise and chaos for your number! It was yum, simple and filling. We befriended an Aussie girl who is a university student and she gave us the name of good tapa place to try. This was great as our other observation is that the Spanish here are very unfriendly, they won’t smile at you let alone talk to you or help you. Pooh.

It was getting quite late, after 10pm by the time we got to the fair and whilst there was a lot of foot traffic not much else happening. Families and businesses rent a tent, decorate it and party for a week. We did come across a couple of tents where people were dancing and one where a baby was all dressed and learning about what to do. She was so getting into groove it was adorable. She wouldn’t have been more than 10 mths and had little dance heels on and tried to stomp yet she could barely walk!

A decent 3km walk home again around midnight and to our bed which was very welcoming!

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