Seville

Spain

Cordoba, Spain, 18 November 2006

We just found a great little plaza, with black iron benches, age-smoothed cobblestone, and the smell of roasting chicken. The sun warms us as we sip on cold cans of Amstel beer just bought from the corner store. We have yet to get a good feel for Cordoba, though so far it seems like a fascinating little city. After all, this was the center of the Muslim world some 800-1000 years ago. There is still an enormous mosque, which is considered one of the world's greatest, as well as things like Arab baths and almost as many tea rooms as bars (almost!). The influence of the Arab past is certainly more present here than in Seville.

Speaking of Seville, we were very impressed by that city. We spent only three days there, but already we know it's a city we'd like to spend more time in, perhaps even as residents. The architecture is a mix of Arab and Gothic, which itself is quite beautiful, but the crowning feature for us was its people. The Sevillians are open and fun-loving, while also intelligent and sincerely polite.

After finding a hotel to stay in, Andy made his usual reconnaisence mission -- walking the streets in search of sights, affordable restaurants, supermarkets and internet cafes. Immediately, we were struck by the clean streets and well dressed people, though no supermarkets were found and the restaurants all looked expensive and aimed at tourists.

Later that night, we went out to get something to eat and find something to drink. Naturally, we found a drink first, as the kitchens of all the restaurants were still closed -- they seem to open no earlier than 8 p.m. Eventually, though, the kitchen opened and we had some reasonably priced, but very tasty, tapas right near La Giralda Cathedral.

Then, we went to another tapas bar near the cathedral where the tapas were even better and even more affordable. Soon, we were off to yet another tapas bar (that seems to be the way in many parts of Spain -- never staying long at one place) and we found something called vino de naranja (orange wine), which is made by adding orange peels to wine as it ferments. It was really sweet, but quite delicious. One of the guys who worked in the bar was quite a character -- he liked to ask people where they were from/tell where he was from, and then try to write the name of the place upside-down on the bar in chalk. Actually, this turned out to be more of a challenge than expected! When Liza wrote her name (with some difficult, too... the orange wine was sure good!) a guy came up to us and said he was with a friend from Brazil. We went out to meet the person, and in no time we were all the best of friends. The other group consisted of Antonio from Seville, his girlfriend Rose from Rio de Janeiro (though she's lived in Spain for 7 years), and Sara from near Barcelona. Antonio asked if we'd join them for a trip to El Rocio the next day, and we said 'sure'!

The next morning, we met Antonio, Rose and Sara, and indeed went to El Rocio, where we spent a beautiful day of sight-seeing, tapas, and great conversation. Andy even found a hat to substitute one of his favorites, which he left in the States. Our thanks go out to our new friends for everything, and we can't wait to meet them again!

That night, we caught a Flamenco show at a place called La Carboneria, which was as full of Spaniards as it was foreign tourists. The show was excellent, although it could have lasted a little longer, as we only caught the last set. Seeing live Flamenco in a more “authentic” setting was an experience we'll cherish forever.

Seville, all in all, is a place we hope to spend much more time in. We can only hope that we find such great places further down the road!