Spain Part IV: Sevilla

After the sherry tasting and a delicious lunch, we set out for our next stop, Sevilla. This is the capital and largest city in Andalucia, so we knew it would feel bigger than the previous cities. Our hotel was located in a neighborhood called Triana, which was about a 15-20 minute walk from the old town. This meant that every time we went to the old town, we walked through a local neighborhood with authentic tapas restaurants and bars and crossed the river on a bridge with good views of the city. 

We learned quickly that Sevilla is filled with quaint little streets that are easy to get lost on while meandering around. After some trial and error, we found the main cathedral and heart of the old town.

                                   

                                   

                                   

After dinner, we headed to our first flamenco show. Flamenco is a type of Spanish folk music that is mostly associated with Andalucia (think something like a woman in a red dress tap dancing to Spanish guitar). We had been looking for flamenco in the other cities so far, but every time it seemed to be a bit too touristy. A lot of bars have shows marketed directly for tourists, but we were hoping to find a show that locals would actually go to. Thanks to a good recommendation from a New York Times article, we ended up finding a club in a well-hidden back street that has flamenco shows two nights per week. The bar was an old coal yard before being turned into a flamenco club, which made it all the more interesting. It was a really cool experience!

The pictures aren't perfect, but we didn't want to be too touristy. Here you can kind of see what the club was like...

This is mid-performance with the singer seated in the middle and the guitar player on the right.

The following day we toured the main cathedral. While this cathedral, similar to many other European cathedrals, is massively large and impressively ornate, the most interesting aspect in this one was the tomb of Christopher Columbus. His body has been allegedely moved from where he died > Sevilla > Dominican Republic > Cuba > Sevilla, which is pretty crazy to be honest. Anyway, inside the cathedral you can see where his body is and this monument...

Afterwards, we went for lunch on a quaint side street near the main square. The weather was really perfect, so we sat outside with our gazpacho, sangria and tapas and enjoyed the afternoon. We finished off our lunch with churros, which are essentially fried dough that you dip in chocolate, sort of resembling a thick hot chocolate. They're served as a typical Spanish dessert throughout the country.

                                   

 

Later in the afternoon we wandered over to Plaza de España. Although the building is mostly used for government buildings and we didn't go inside, the view from the nearby park and the size of the square is really impressive. It was built more recently in the early 20th century, but the architect chose to stick with a new-age Moorish (Muslim) style. The detail on the bridges was especially unique.

Saving the best for last, we finished our second day in Sevilla at the Alcazar. The Alcazar was a royal palace in Sevilla that was originally constructed as a Moorish fort. By this point in our trip, we had really started noticing a theme - there's a lot of Muslim architecture and influence. This makes sense for sites built only by the Moors, but they haven't ruled in Spain for more than 500 years. What we learned is that the Christians continued using Muslim architecture even after regaining control of southern Spain, and this style is known as Mudejar. This might not seem that strange, but it's really odd seeing Christian religious buildings with Islamic styles. 

                                   

Here you can really see how much detail there is in the walls and the roof...

This building is called Admirals' Hall, and it's where Christopher Columbus planned his trip that eventually discovered America and where Magellan planned his trip around the world.

Inside of Admirals' Hall...

Overall, Sevilla was a huge success! Of all the cities so far, it definitely felt the biggest, and it also had the most to offer. It has some really ineresting history and culture, and the food was, as we expected, excellent.

Next stop - Cordoba!

Bis dann,

Matt and Kristin

Spain Part III: Jerez

We arrived in Jerez around 3:00 in the afternoon and were admittedly a bit tired from our drive and first few days of sightseeing. Our hotel had a nice pool on the roof, so we took the rest of the afternoon to relax and get some sun. After all, our main goal in Jerez was to try some sherry and take a tour of a bodega, so we had a pretty relaxed agenda for our visit.

Jerez is famous for being part of the "Sherry Triangle", which consists of three towns that produce sherry. Similar to champagne, all "sherry" must legally come from this area using these grapes, or it must be called something else. We chose a cool, modern tapas restaurant for dinner, which was a perfect opportunity to try some different kinds.

                                 

    

Considering how much sherry is produced in this town, there's no shortage of bodegas to visit. The bodegas are where the sherry is produced and stored in the typical large, black casks to be aged. The following morning we went to tour Sandeman's bodega. The tour was really interesting, and we even got to look inside a cask to see what the aging process looks like. After the tour, we got to taste three delicious glasses. 

Following the tour, we explored the small city center for a little and grabbed lunch. We wanted to get on the road as we were moving on to Sevilla (don't worry - Matt didn't drink his full glasses of sherry!), so we found a quick place for lunch near our hotel. It seemed equivalent to a Panera for tapas, which was pretty cool!

After a great morning in Jerez with nothing but blue skies again, it was time to move on to Sevilla...

Bis später,

Matt and Kristin

Spain Part II: Ronda and the Pueblos Blancos

Our second stop on our journery across Andalucia was Ronda. Ronda is the largest of the "Pueblos Blancos", which are a series of "white villages" that are located in the Grazalema Mountains in the south of Spain. These villages also date back to Moorish rule, meaning they have narrow, winding streets typical of Islamic architecture. Every year, inhabitants of these towns whitewash their buildings creating a striking collection of white houses sitting in rolling hills of green landscapes. Many of these villages, including the two that we visited, sit dramatically atop steep cliffs for protection against attackers. The combination of these two characteristics make them well worth a visit!

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea...

After a short drive from Granada, we arrived in Ronda around noon. The weather was a bit cloudy and rainy, so we took our time grabbing lunch and wandering through the tiny streets. After a while we reached the main bridge, which has views down from Ronda into the gorge and out onto the distant mountains. It's really steep!

             It's really impressive how the backs of the houses are essentially flush with the cliff!

                                   

                                   

This is the famous bridge connecting the two sides of town. The drop is more than a football field long, and it is said that during the Spanish Civil War, prisoners were routinely rounded up and thrown from this point...

                                   

   

                                   

   

                             This was a view from the gorge back up at the bridge.

                                   

After admiring the views for a while, we walked across town to tour Plaza de Toros, the oldest bullfighting arena in Spain. We didn't actually see a bullfight (and I think we're glad we didn't) but it was really cool being able to walk into the ring and explore the tunnels where the bulls are kept. There was also a museum inside, so it's safe to say we know way more about bullfighting than we thought we ever would...

This is a spot where the matadors can quickly duck into for protection...

During the rest of our stay at Ronda, we had our best tapas yet at a local restaurant and really enjoyed strolling through the streets. Hemingway said the following about Ronda and he couldn't have been more right:

"There is one town that would be better than Aranjuez to see your first bullfight in if you are only going to see one and that is Ronda. That is where you should go if you ever go to Spain on a honeymoon or if you ever bolt with anyone. The entire town and as far as you can see in any direction is romantic background."

                                   

We saw this full rainbow on our walk to dinner!

We stayed in Ronda that night and then continued our drive west the following morning. The drive was not that easy. It only took a little over an hour, but we had to drive our tiny, manual rental car through the essentially one-lane roads of the mountain. This, along with a mountain-biking race, tour buses and motorcycles, made the drive a bit stressful. 

Our view from the road...

The next village we were going to was Arco de la Frontera. This town still has "of the frontier" in it's name, which is a reference to it being a Christian-held town during the conflicts with Muslim rulers. Again, this white village was built on really steep terrain, which makes all the streets quite a hike. We only stopped by for a few hours to walk around before grabbing lunch (yes, tapas again) and getting back on the road.

                                   

                                                      Not a cloud in the sky!

                                   

A guy had owls that he was letting people hold on their arm. A bit strange, but we found it entertaining. Kristin couldn't be convinced...

Leaving the Pueblos Blancos, we continued west again to Jerez, which is one of the towns forming the "Sherry Triangle". We'll check back in soon!

Bis gleich,

Matt and Kristin