Una noche en Sevilla
Fri 22/8/14
A night in Sevilla
We arrived at the Prado de San Sebastian bus station in Sevilla at 7pm after a 3 hour journey from Tarifa. It was not dark yet at 7pm in summer. There are 2 bus stations in Sevilla, but Prado is the smaller of the 2 which serves Andalusian cities such as Algeciras, Almeria, Cadiz, Conil, Cordoba, Gilbraltar, Granada, Jerez, Marbella, Ronda and Tarifa. When we asked the taxi to take us to our Hotel Dona Manuela (EUR 36/room/night or RM 155), we were laughed at and told to walk. We didn't know how far it was. Apparently it was only 650m away or about 10 minutes walking along the pleasant Paseo de Catalina de Ribera park.
After refreshing ourselves (last shower was at a different country and continent!), we ventured out to see what Sevilla has to offer. Although it was already 8pm, there was still day light as dusk was only at 9 pm! We didn't have to venture too far to instantly fall in love with this city. After about 10 minutes walking back to the direction of the bus station until the Plaza Don Juan de Austria roundabout, and following the tram line, we discovered the historical and happening Calle San Fernando (street). Just following the tram line, we stumbled upon the 17th century Universidad de Sevilla and the exquisite Hotel Alfonso XIII (completed in 1929, room starts at RM 1265/night)
Walk further into Avenue de la Constitucion, we found the beautiful early 16th century Cathedral of Seville (a Unesco Heritage Site) and La Giralda, the bell tower of the Cathedral which was originally intended as the minaret tower for the chief mosque. Outside the compound of the cathedral, street performers were performing various form of arts -beautiful music of the classical guitar, double bass and violins; flamenco dance or being downright static - disguising as a statue. I said we 'discovered' all these gems because we didn't do any research walking out the door of our hotel and just walked following our instincts.You could also discover the old quarters of Sevilla by taking the horse drawn carriage to really immerse yourself into the bygone era.
There are also plenty of restaurants and cafe along the Avenue de la Constitucion, so there is no worry to replenish yourself, although we didn't find any halal restaurants here. Since it was summer, the restaurants close late until the wee hours of the morning. After all, Spanish people take dinner late in the night, at around 10pm while watching football, one of their favourite pastime. That night, there was a derby La Liga match between Real and Atletico Madrid. We caught the game at one of the cafes while enjoying a set of chips, sandwich vegetal (the vegetable tasted good!) and Coke.
We'll discover more of the exciting Sevilla in the next post
A night in Sevilla
We arrived at the Prado de San Sebastian bus station in Sevilla at 7pm after a 3 hour journey from Tarifa. It was not dark yet at 7pm in summer. There are 2 bus stations in Sevilla, but Prado is the smaller of the 2 which serves Andalusian cities such as Algeciras, Almeria, Cadiz, Conil, Cordoba, Gilbraltar, Granada, Jerez, Marbella, Ronda and Tarifa. When we asked the taxi to take us to our Hotel Dona Manuela (EUR 36/room/night or RM 155), we were laughed at and told to walk. We didn't know how far it was. Apparently it was only 650m away or about 10 minutes walking along the pleasant Paseo de Catalina de Ribera park.
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| we are here in Sevilla! |
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| inside the Prado de San Sebastian bus station |
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| Paseo de Catalina de Ribera park |
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| Hotel Dona Manuela |
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| view of the park from our room |
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| our hotel room |
After refreshing ourselves (last shower was at a different country and continent!), we ventured out to see what Sevilla has to offer. Although it was already 8pm, there was still day light as dusk was only at 9 pm! We didn't have to venture too far to instantly fall in love with this city. After about 10 minutes walking back to the direction of the bus station until the Plaza Don Juan de Austria roundabout, and following the tram line, we discovered the historical and happening Calle San Fernando (street). Just following the tram line, we stumbled upon the 17th century Universidad de Sevilla and the exquisite Hotel Alfonso XIII (completed in 1929, room starts at RM 1265/night)
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| Plaza Don Juan de Austria roundabout |
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| Universidad de Sevilla |
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| Hotel Alfonso XIII |
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| fountain near Hotel Alfonso XIII |
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| tram line along Avenue de la Constitucion |
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| the tram |
Walk further into Avenue de la Constitucion, we found the beautiful early 16th century Cathedral of Seville (a Unesco Heritage Site) and La Giralda, the bell tower of the Cathedral which was originally intended as the minaret tower for the chief mosque. Outside the compound of the cathedral, street performers were performing various form of arts -beautiful music of the classical guitar, double bass and violins; flamenco dance or being downright static - disguising as a statue. I said we 'discovered' all these gems because we didn't do any research walking out the door of our hotel and just walked following our instincts.You could also discover the old quarters of Sevilla by taking the horse drawn carriage to really immerse yourself into the bygone era.
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| Sevilla Cathedral |
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| musicians performing |
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| street flamenco |
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| historical buildings along Avenue de la Constitucion |
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| Banco de Espana |
There are also plenty of restaurants and cafe along the Avenue de la Constitucion, so there is no worry to replenish yourself, although we didn't find any halal restaurants here. Since it was summer, the restaurants close late until the wee hours of the morning. After all, Spanish people take dinner late in the night, at around 10pm while watching football, one of their favourite pastime. That night, there was a derby La Liga match between Real and Atletico Madrid. We caught the game at one of the cafes while enjoying a set of chips, sandwich vegetal (the vegetable tasted good!) and Coke.
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| cafes and restaurants open till late |
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| enjoying dinner / snack with football |
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| sandwich vegetal with chips and coke |
We'll discover more of the exciting Sevilla in the next post
Labels: Travelogue
posted by aiyda at 9:41 PM
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