She was in Sevilla (Pt.2)

Day 3
Triana (Alfareria, Castil San Jorge, Santa Ana)
Plaza Espana
Sevilla LowCost - Flamenco Show

It's not smart to go holiday on a public holiday. Everything is not opened. A mistake I made because I knew it was a public holiday on the back of my mind but it just didn't occur to me the consequences. Thus, we didn't manage to go to the Triana market, where all the stalls were closed. So be smart people! The bridge to Triana is officially known as Puenta Isabell II or Isabel II's bridge but commonly known as Triana Bridge because it connects the Sevilla city centre with the town of Triana. The view of Guadalaquivir river/canal is gorgeous from the bridge especially in good weather. We wanted to go to the market, but as I've mentioned, it was not opened. Heck, the town had a lot of people walking around but shops were mostly closed save for the eateries. First we went to Alfareria street where it is famous for ceramic items. Note that Triana is part of Seville but they differentiate themselves, perhaps due to the differences in class last time where Triana is mostly made up of fishermen and dockmen plus gypsies thus coming from a lower economy class. Anyway, though most of the ceramic shops were closed, we did manage to buy some souvenirs.

 The riverside walk

 View of Guadalaquivir river from Triana Bridge

 A street in Triana

 Puenta Triana/ Isabell II

Then, it was on to visit the Castil San Jorge or St George's Castle, most famous as the residence of the Inquisition Committee. This committee was formed to ensure that reformed or converted Catholics remained discipline to their faith and not practice anything outside of it. Anyone found doing otherwise was tortured when found guilty by this committee. It was also the main reason for the disappearance of Jews from the Santa Cruz quarters. It was quite cool to visit the ruins of the old castle found beneath a market, and to read some stories of the Inquisition and their disrespect of human rights. Next, we headed to Santa Ana convent hoping to buy some sweets, but it was closed. As our guide had mentioned a day earlier, it was probably only opened on Easter week.

Part of the ruins

Took a riverside walk back to the Sevilla side towards Plaza de Espana. It's a really gorgeous square which was intended to be an open air university by its designer but is now mostly offices of various political ministries and famous for tourists and wedding photos, haha. Very beautiful place and you can climb to the first floor for a nice view.

 Maritime university on the way to Plaza de Espana

 Plaza de Espana from 1st floor

Front view of Plaza de Espana

At night, we took a package with Sevilla LowCost again for a flamenco show that includes a history of flamenco and a "manzanilla" tasting session, a drink resembling sherry. Altogether 20 euros, which is quite typical of most flamenco shows. We took it because we prefer to know about the history of flamenco, plus our guide was really sweet to stay with us during the show and explained important parts of the show. No, it's definitely not because of the inclusive drink, haha. Thoroughly enjoyed the show despite not understanding its lyrics. Basically we had 3 different "stories" that was expressed, one with just a singer and the guitarist and the next two includes a flamenco dancer. The spirit of the show was amazing, and the guitar tunes were awesome!

Flamenco show

Day 4
Casa de Pilatos
Museum of Fine Arts

On our last day, we had a whole day, again because our flight is late at night. So we started a very rainy morning by heading to Casa de Pilatos or Pilatos' castle. It belongs to one of the Spanish nobility family and is rarely used except for its private wing. There are different prices for visiting the ground floor and top floor with the latter being slightly higher (6 euros VS 8 euros) but you get a 20 minutes guided tour. And I would say it is quite worth it, especially when you finally get to see a place with furniture, haha.

Our last stop for the day was the Museum of Fine Arts which I absolutely love. Not so much the type of art since I'm not very good with appreciating art, more so Spanish artists which I'm unfamiliar with. But the building it was situated in was gorgeous, I could stay there! It was what I expected an art gallery to be with separate gallery rooms, large spaces, and proper garden patios inside. Especially the Murillo gallery, where it houses the paintings of Sevilla's most famous painter's works. The hall was huge and so peaceful! Probably my next favourite museum to the Borghese Gallery in Rome. Unfortunately we did not take photos because we were told that cameras are not allowed, so we left it at the locker. When we were at the entrance then we were told that taking photos are allowed, just without flash. pooh. We ended the day walking from the other end of the city to the city centre, long walk that one.

Main patio of Casa de Pilatos - no photos allowed on 1st floor

I love Spain. It's gorgeous with its architecture, and so alive with people! Plus the food is amazing, I haven't had a too bad meal, and I didn't get bored of the food despite a week of gluttony. Definitely recommended to visit!

Do try:

- Cathedral + Giralda; you have to climb up a tower that has ramps, it is just the coolest thing in the world

- Alcazar; best visited with a guide. I find the audio guide for most of Sevilla's monuments a bit long-winded so it loses my attention after a while. Anyhow, the palace is gorgeous, GO.

- Metropol Parosol; cheap lookout point, and still pretty. Plus its design is definitely worth a visit.

- Walking tours; with Sevilla LowCost. It's affordable and it gets you to the most important places with locals telling you its stories. Particularly the Legends tour because it's different from most other tours.

- Triana area; go in the morning or night, I think it's beautiful place to be. Slightly different from the city of Sevilla, and while we didn't go at night, I am guessing the riverside view would have been gorgeous

- Eat tapas. Lots of it. Again, Sevilla is big on siesta so the meals don't start till 1.30pm for lunch or 8.00pm for dinner. Eat a few times if you have too, and always wash it down with some good alcohol - Tinto de Verano, Orange Wine or draft beer, YUMS.

- Walk around, morning or night. There's much to shop in the morning with a mix of high street brands and independent shops. At night, it's just beautiful with all its lights - just be careful not to get lost in the alley ways, haha.

Streets at night; lined with tapas bars

Tips:

- Always match your time to the siesta hours. Perhaps you can even take a siesta yourself. The good thing about this is that most attractions open till 7 - 8pm so even if you didn't make it in the evening, you can make it at night

- Wear proper shoes. I wore heeled boots, and it killed my sole especially when walking at the cobbled areas, not smart.

- Beware of gypsies at tourist areas. Their MO is to give you a rosemary stalk for luck, then try to read your palm and then ask you to pay them, not in coins but in bills.

- It's really affordable to visit Sevilla. We didn't spend much on transportation (though our taxi from the airport cost a bomb!), but mostly on attractions which mostly cost less than 5 euros (with student card) and food was cheap, especially if you hog on tapas (average 2.5 euros - 5 euros per plate). The Sevilla card was quite expensive in my opinion but it does cover all transportation and includes unlimited tourist bus hop-on-hop-off and a river cruise. Those weren't in my itinerary so we didn't do it.

- Sevilla is huge, and there are plenty of places to explore so a good 3, 4 days may be needed depending on your pace. We would have gone to the Bullring museum if not for realising it at the last minute.