Eating, Drinking, & Exploring in Seville

Day 5: April 22
I, unfortunately, had to send some emails for work while my friend went for spa treatments. I spent most of that time actually talking to our host and his 11-year-old daughter, attempting to speak Spanish along with them and learning a few things about their culture. The little girl's favorite subject in school is English, which I thought was very cute.

By the time Bella got home, we were both starving. I quickly got ready, and we went a place called Taberna Coloniales for tapas. The restaurant is always busy, and this was our third attempt at eating there! After about a 15 minute wait, we were seated upstairs. It was much more tame than the lower level, and the staff were very friendly. We had wine and ordered papas a la brava, tabla ibérica, spinach croquettes, and quail eggs with chorizo. The potatoes were my favorite, but the tabla ibérica has salmorejo in it, which as a native food, is definitely worth trying.

Tabla ibérica: quail eggs over ham and salmorejo on toast

After lunch, we did our usual wandering and ended up at Plaza de España, a gorgeous, picturesque building, full of history. While we were walking down a set of steps, a flower drifted on the ground right in front of our path. There wasn't a tree or anything above us, so I decided to designate it our lucky flower. After leaving there, and heading back towards our apartment, we walked through a few narrow streets, and saw a pretty secret garden behind iron gates. We ended with refreshing cocktails on a rooftop bar and later had a yummy pan of paella.

Vibrant Seville

Day 4: April 21
Our five hour train journey from Barcelona to Seville (Sevilla in Spanish) was full of chatter and drifting in and our of sleep. We were happily awoken by the liveliness of Seville, riding in a taxi through narrow streets full of people outside of bars drinking and laughing. My friend, Bella managed to find a bright, lovely apartment right in the center on Airbnb. Our host was so funny, and he made both of us feel incredibly welcome. He recommended a number of places, marking them on a map, and setting us free on our quest.

We eventually set out on our search for food, but found that at 5:30pm, most tapas restaurants weren't serving food until 8pm. We grabbed a bite at a random place, and headed towards an area we were directed to find something a bit more substantial. Bella and I took our time, wandering around hoping that the later it got, the more likely it would be to find a good place to eat. We walked past stunning architecture, and through a little outdoor market, where I found a leather tobacco pouch for my boyfriend, which I've been searching for forever. We made our way towards a shopping area, finding an adorable vintage shop along the way. Bella bought a beautiful long, flowy dress with light pink flowers against a nude background. Walking farther down the street, we saw a sea of people standing outside of a bar and realized the Barcelona v. Real Madrid football (soccer) game was on. I'm not a fan, but my friend was jumping with excitement. We ordered a pitcher of sangria and tried to blend into the crowd of t-shirt wearing men, with our girly outfits. I was more interested in watching the intense reactions of the crowd than the actual game.

Bella and I left just in time to make our way to the flamenco show our host recommended. It was in a bit of a hole in the wall in a sketchy area, but in my experiences, those places are always the best. The performance was at a bar where people practice the art before going professional. It was 5 to enter, and the place was a bit cramped, with rows of wooden chairs lined up before the stage, and people filling just about every seat. We found two empty ones in the corner, relieved that we wouldn't have to stand on our aching feet any longer. The show started with a solo guitarist, who later played alongside a woman who literally sang with her soul. It was incredible. But, it was the dancer that amazed the crowd the most. She danced with such strength and passion, and the swiftness of her feet kept me mesmerized. A video of part of her performance is below. My battery died before I could film any more, but you can see how amazing she is. Great way to end our night.