Sevilla, Spain

We arrive to Sevilla in sweltering heat, straight off the bus and into another 25 minute walk dragging our bags – we could pay for a cab, but I feel like this walk is a great initiation ritual when you arrive to a new city, you get a good feel for a place on two legs and four wheels – and we give something back to the city that will house us as guests for the next little while, namely our sweat and shared embarrassment (the hideous sound of suitcase wheels on old stone paths draws many sour looks). It’s probably not that deep though, I just don’t want to pay for a cab. Hannah’s poor little leggies! We trade lines from a favourite movie of ours, Holes.

Hannah: “I’m tired grandpa!”

Jesse: “Well that’s too damn bad!”

We really loved Sevilla, it is bursting with Spain’s rich culture at every turn, and importantly, is dead flat. Happily, we didn’t find the tourist crowds here at all overbearing, maybe we just got lucky? In reality I think the heat and allure of coastal destinations kept people away… More Cruzcampo for us.

Sevilla has all the hallmarks of the cities that we love, it’s a place you can simply wander around and enjoy the diverse architecture and the bubbling atmosphere – so long as you’re back home by 2pm for siesta when it becomes a complete ghost town. Though we were much obliged to late lunches cooked in our apartment, lazy afternoons and a snooze on the couch.

It’s important to get your rest in because Sevilla is lively by night. We took in an evening Flamenco show that quickly rouses you from your post-siesta weariness with its powerfu and passionate mix of dance, acoustic guitar and stirring vocals. I particularly loved the singers, the Flamenco sound is so iconic and yet is clearly influenced by musical styles from around he globe. They pair their vocals with complex clapping rhtyhm's that seem to be almost improvised in response to the dancers movements – I spent the entire hour finding the beat, holding it momentarily, losing it and then repeating this all over. Flamenco is a highly rigorous dance and as the evening went on the bailaor really began to sweat. By the end his hair was sopping wet, and in his final dramatic routine he nailed a huge 360 spin and absolutely showered the front row with sweat – a visceral highlight of this amazing performance, particularly for those of us in the back rows.

We spent another fantastic evening along the Guadalquivir River in Triana where Sevilla’s oldest religious festival was taking place, joining the throngs of people enjoying a snack and cool cerveza as they watched kids playing around in the water. After this we headed to what quickly became our favourite spot, Bodeguita Antonio Romera. Set against the Sevilla bullring it has more charm than you can put into words, and while the food, drinks and vibe are great, we found the most joy in people-watching, particularly the six or so older gents that run the bar and front house, they are chaotic, loud and surly, but undoubtedly efficient!

Sevilla has beautiful sights in spades, including the Real Alcazar, Plaza De Espana and Catedral de Sevilla to name a few. To our surprise we found we liked the Catedral the most, it is stunning inside and out, and is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the 3^rd largest church overall – speccy!

As we leave Sevilla I think of home. At some point in history Australia's native Eucalyptus tree made it's way over here, and it is so surreal to see. It’s a joy to watch them whip past our bus window as Hannah and I tune into JJJ’s Hottest 100 Australian Songs to savour the bounty of amazing music our country produces. It gets me thinking, I wonder if anyone in Sevilla knows how to make gravy?

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Hannah's Thoughts:

I struggled with my anxiety during our time in Sevilla, and although this is a travel blog I think it’s important to share that life isn’t always glamorous and picture perfect like the photos may suggest. It’s good to acknowledge that travel can also be hard, exhausting and stressful, even if Jesse thinks he is doing all the work! That’s the thing with mental health it doesn’t discriminate or care where you are, you could be in a beautiful new town with an amazing atmosphere and unfortunately still feel like shit!  

Even amidst the busyness of our days, we still found time for quiet moments and siestas — something especially welcome in the heat, and even more so when you're not feeling your best. Traveling really is a luxury, and I’m reminded of how fortunate we are to experience it. Having a companion like Jesse by my side made all the difference — his support and encouragement helped me get over the hump! And while I wasn’t quite feeling like myself, there were still plenty of incredible moments to appreciate. The fact that you can get a bus for a couple of hours and you are in a different country still isn’t quite comprehendible to me. We made it to Spain! Sevilla was truly lovely, our accomodation was again spacious, big tick, and was centrally located. Our first night we had the true Spanish experience and tried to order some tapas, what we had noticed straight away is that very few people speak English compared to Portugal, it has been a challenge for us so far, but a welcome one.

We went to a famous bar called Bodeguita Antonio Romero, it was absolutely packed and everyone was dressed in their finest and carried little eskies. Jesse and I were trying to figure out what the hell was going on. We slowly pieced it all together and realised there was a bullfight happening that night, just as the matadors arrived in their amazing, colourful outfits, literally being treated like kings. We looked at attending but the fight was sold out, which was probably a good thing as after some research we learned that all the bulls are killed, which didn’t sit right with us. Fumbling our way through Spanish we ordered some food and drinks. This place was chaotic and cutthroat, if you didn’t yell your order quickly someone pushed in front and was already getting their drinks before you could yell ‘DISCULPE!?’ Once we gained our confidence we managed to order some food and get a spot. We ordered their famous Piripi which is pork fillet, bacon, cheese, tomato and aioli, basically a BLT. Piripi doesn’t look special but it was delicious, so much so we had to go back!

I had seen a few TikTok videos about convent’s that sell sweets and wanted to see it for ourselves. For 6 euro you choose which biscuit you want, yell it out to the nun behind a wall, place your money on the lazy susan which she then turns to retrieve the cash and to present you with the biscuits. It was a very cute and unexpected treat. The biscuits we got were delicious, and we are hoping we can recreate when we are home, however we know they’ll never be the same.