Sevilla, Spain

My fourth weekend trip, while studying abroad in Morocco, was to Sevilla, Spain. (This was done in order to renew my Morocco visa.)  I had previously attempted to get a student visa directly from the Moroccan Embassy in D.C., but had been unable to get in contact with them. Technically one does not “need” the visa as long as the stint in Morocco is shorter than 90 days. Because my total stay would be just over 90 days this meant that I would need to leave the country during my stay and then reenter the country again. I could have simply visited one of the two Spanish enclaves in north of Morocco and then come back over the border again, but my friend and I decided we wanted to actually go to Spain instead.

The rest of this blog post is laid out in chronological order of what we did/saw/ate every day while in Sevilla. (My apologies in advance, this is a very long blog post)

Thursday

After our morning classes, we took an afternoon train from Meknes to Salé station (about 2 hours, just before the Rabat station). Then, we took a short taxi ride to the airport, it was fairly cheap, about 25 dirham ($2.50) apiece. We ended up getting to the airport over three hours in advance for our flight. Unfortunately the Ryan Air check-in desk does not open until closer to the departure time, so we sat around the airport for awhile.

Ryan Air

If you are unfamiliar with Ryan Air, it is a budget airline of Europe, think of it like Spirit in the U.S. We paid for the cheapest seats we could find and our roundtrip to & from Sevilla only cost us about $50 apiece.  I will say that we did get what we paid for though.  We were only allowed to have one carry-on bag and it had to fit underneath our seats.  They even made us squeeze our bags into a metal rendition of the space during check-in to make sure that they were the appropriate size. 

We also had to check-in online ahead of time, otherwise we would have been charged a large fee to check-in at the airport.  For some this may not be much of a problem, but for someone like me who NEVER checks-in online before a flight and AWAYS goes up to the front desk to get my boarding passes printed, I was a tad annoyed.  Maybe it was just me, but the take-offs & landings were a bit more drastic than usual; not only in the angles but also with the jostling. 

Arrival

Our very short flight from Rabat to Sevilla lasted less than an hour and we arrived around 10:55pm.  We attempted to figure out the bus from the airport to the center of Sevilla, but when the bus was supposed to show up according the schedule, it did not come.  Thankfully, unlike Morocco, Uber is used in Spain, so we went with that instead.  After dropping off our backpacks at our Air B&B, we went out in search of food. 

It was about 1:00am when we found a little middle eastern restaurant. (Desi Naan Kebab).  I ordered the falafels and it was pretty good for food in the middle of the night.  (Yes, the irony is not lost on me that we ate at a Arab restaurant after coming directly from Morocco-but that was the only place still open for food.) There were plenty of other restaurants that were open, but at this time of night (I guess morning technically) they were only serving alcoholic drinks. 

While I knew that people in Europe tended to stay up later I did not expect to see quite that many people out and about at this time, the streets were filled.  The atmosphere was completely different than Morocco though and was a bit of a culture shock after living in Morocco for over a month.  I felt one hundred times safer wandering the streets of Sevilla at 1:30am than I do walking during the day in Morocco. 

Friday

We began our Friday morning with a trip to Chök bakery.  This bakery is 100% gluten free which I quite enjoyed and they had many delicious treats!  My favorites were the croissant with jámon, cinnamon roll, and the carmel pecan rookie. (I ended up going back a total of three times!)

The Royal Alcázar of Seville

The Royal Alcázar of Seville is the site of an islamic-era citadel then palace first dating back to the 10th century. After the Castilian conquest in 1248 AD, parts of the palace & its grounds were changed. The architecture is in the style of the Iberian Peninsula with gothic and renaissance influence as well. In 1987 it was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and I have read that the royal family still stays in the top floors of the palace when they visit Sevilla.

We reserved our time slot/tickets online ahead of time which cost us about €8.50. I am unsure if you can buy tickets the day of, but I wouldn’t recommend it as there was a very long line to get in, even with the pre-purchased tickets.

One of my favorite parts of this palace was the Maidens Courtyard. “This courtyard was the center of the public area of King Peter I Palace. It is surrounded by poly lobed arches, one of the most characteristic decorative motifs of the Almohad dynasty, along with the sebka style. The central part of the Maidens Courtyard was covered with marble slabs, with a Renaissance fountain during almost 500 years. After the archaeological excavations of 2005, it was restored as established in the 14th century.” (information from an informational placard-the last photo)

In this amazing palace there is also a small gothic chapel with a wooden altar piece dating back to the 16th century. The depiction of the “Virgen de la Antigua” was painted on the wall when the mosque was converted to the Catholic religion in the 13th century.

The gardens outside of the complex were also beautiful as well and had many neat things to see! My personal favorite was the maze that was started in 1914!

Plaza de España

After Alcázar we walked to the Plaza de España which is just a short walk to the south.  The Plaza de España was built in 1928 for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition World’s Fair.  The plaza is absolutely incredible!  Along the edges are mosaic representations of each of the provinces of Spain from that time.  On either side of these provincial artistic alcoves are bookshelves that are supposed to hold books about those specific regions; however, when we were there there were none.  Throughout the plaza you can also find street flamenco performers.  We were able to sit for a few minutes to watch and listen to flamenco dancing & music.  Just as we were leaving they started playing “Volaré” by the Gypsy Kings, which is one of my favorites of theirs! 

If this plaza looks familiar to those who have never before been to Spain, this may be because of a famous movie that was filmed here: Star wars: Episode II, Attack of the Clones. The scene that was filmed here was when Anakin and Padmé arrive on Naboo. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo in the exact location, but there are plenty online that you can view here.

Evening & dinner

That evening we went out to find dinner which proved to be a little difficult for us as most of the restaurants do not re-open until 9:00pm.  (They are usually closed from around 4pm-9pm)  So, while we waited for dinner we did a bit of wandering and ended up at the Torre del Oro. This tower was constructed as a military watchtower in the first part of the 13th century. Because we had to wait for dinner, we grabbed a little snack during our walk. Throughout the streets of Sevilla you can find little shops selling jámon. This may be a niche reference, but the jámon came in little paper cones just like the candied nuts you buy at fairs.

For dinner we ate at a 100% gluten free & lactose free Spanish restaurant and while the meal was a little on the expensive side it was definitely worth it! The name of the restaurant was “Postigo 10.” We had decided that that night would be our tapas night, so we ordered croquetas, papatas bravas, and fried squid.  It was all very delicious as Spanish food usually is! 

When our waiter came to take our order he was very incredulous that I did not want any wine/beer/sangria…he was completely taken aback and it was hard not to laugh 🙂

Dessert unfortunately was not as good as dinner had been.  We ordered the “Leche frita flambeada con helado de vainilla” (milk pudding).  When it came out the waiter poured what appeared to be alcohol all over it and then lit it on fire.  It definitely looked neat, but tasted awful.  Maybe it was that the milk pudding had the texture of flan/raw egg whites and the flavor was of some sort of strong alcohol.

Saturday

Monasterio de Santa Paula

In the morning we headed to the Monasterio de Santa Paula. This monastery was built towards the end of the 15th century, and has for the past five centuries been inhabited by a group of cloistered nuns from the Order of Saint Jerome.

When we got there, the doors were all closed, so we rang a doorbell and a nun came onto the speaker and then buzzed us in.  We walked through a courtyard and were met by a sister who told us that to see their little museum was 5.50 Euro apiece.  We paid the fee and then were directed up a set of stairs where were met by another sister.  This nun was probably in her eighties and was shorter than my younger sister, but she was very sweet.  She took us all around their museum and was telling us about some of the different items as well making conversation with us, all of which was in Spanish.  The sisters have so many beautiful pieces of art including paintings and statues of Mother Mary, Jesus, Joseph, and some saints, most of which dates back to the 17th century or earlier. 

After we were done in the museum we went to their little gift shop.  They make marmelada (jam) and other sweets.  I ended up purchasing the “Turrón a la Peidra,” which came in a beautiful wooden box. This is a Spanish nougat made with toasted almonds, sugar, lemon zest, and cinnamon and I can’t wait to try it!  Next one of the sisters took us to the other side of the monastery to see their church.  At that point the sister took leave of us and we were free to explore the church.  There was not another soul about and the lights were off in the church.  The inside was absolutely gorgeous and this was probably my favorite experience from my time in Sevilla!

Morning & afternoon

After we were finished at the monastery, we headed to “Casa de la Memoria” to pick up our pre-purchased tickets for that evening’s flamenco show. At this point we decided to take a reading break and so we stopped in at a cute little cafe called “Panadería Crustum” where they served hot drinks & many different types of empanadillas (empanadas in South America) and galletas (cookies). Unfortunately, they did not have any gluten free food, but everything there looked delicious and my friend said the empanadillas were very good.

We sat in the cafe and read for awhile before heading out to explore the city once more. This time we ended up at the Plaza de Toros or “Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla,” (a bull fighting ring). While we were not able to go into the ring, we did walk around the outside, and it was a very beautiful sight to see. This 18th century amphitheater can hold up to 13,000 spectators making it the largest bull fighting ring in Spain.

For lunch we ventured across the Guadalquivir river to find a paella restaurant. It was a lovely walk, but a bit difficult to find a restaurant with an open table for us. We ended up getting a table near the entrance of “Restaurante de Triana.” The paella we ate at this restaurant was pretty good, but it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. (The rice was undercooked and there were peppers in it, which I feel overpowers the saffron flavor.)

After lunch on our way back to the other side of the river we did a quick walk through of Mercado de Triana (Triana Market) which dates back to the 19th century. They sell all kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish in this indoor market. In addition to this, they also have a few booths that sell tapas.

Catedral de Sevilla

The full name of the cathedral is “Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See.” Part of the cathedral dates back to the 12th century when it was constructed as a mosque. As akin to Alcázar, it was converted to a Catholic cathedral in the 13th century. When the gothic cathedral of today was finished in the 16th century, it displaced the Hagia Sophia Cathedral as the largest cathedral in the world. While it is no longer the largest cathedral in the world, it does hold the title of largest gothic cathedral in the world. Another intriguing fact about this cathedral is that it holds the remains of Christopher Columbus which were confirmed by DNA testing the exact weekend I was in Spain!

In all of my travels this is the only Catholic church I have ever visited that makes you pay to visit. It was my hope that by going to a Saturday evening Mass I would be able to explore the inside of the cathedral without having to pay for a ticket. By telling the guards that we were there for Mass, they let us enter. Mass was held in a side chapel but unfortunately the other areas of the cathedral were blocked off and the only way to enter them was to buy a ticket. Sadly we decided against buying tickets as they were upward of 18 euros apiece. The chapel that we were able to see though was very beautiful and I greatly enjoyed the change of pace with the Spanish Mass instead of my usual French one in Morocco.

Flamenco show

While we were in Sevilla we knew that we wanted to see a flamenco show and upon overhearing us, a student from another study abroad program said he would do some research for us. He ended up coming up with a list of different possible options based on show quality & pricing. We decided to go with the 1 hour show at Casa de la Memoria. The tickets were €18 apiece and, as I mentioned, had to be picked up at the box office prior to the show.

There was seating at the stage level as well as a row of chairs on the balcony above. The seats were not assigned, so I would recommend getting there early that way you can have a choice of where you would like to sit. We ended up in the balcony which gave us a good view of the stage. Since there was no air conditioning in the building it came with the downside of feeling like you were in a furnace. The show was very nice though and I greatly enjoyed the guitar music.

After the Flamenco show we were feeling a bit peckish, so my friend and I decided to make a run to a nearby grocery store for a snack. It was 10:30 at night and we bought Manchego (a type of cheese) and Jámon (two of my favorite foods!) from a Carrefour store down the street.

These cured meats such as prosciutto, chorizo, and jámon were so cheap as compared to Alaska!

Other thoughts & conclusion

Weather

When we had checked the weather prior to our trip to Sevilla we had been very concerned that our flight might be canceled. At this time Spain was getting the tail end of hurricane Kirk and there were several weather warnings for Sevilla to include heavy rain and lightning.  Fortunately for us our worries were for nought.  Most of our time there ended up being partially sunny with a slight drizzle at times.  During Friday night though a big storm came through. The rain and thunder were so loud that I woke up and had trouble going back to sleep.  

Catholicism

Another neat & interesting fact about Sevilla is the presence of Catholicism everywhere. In fact, I don’t think one could walk down a street and not see either a Catholic church, a Catholic store, or a at the very least wall iconography/paintings. Sevilla has more than 100 neighborhood churches! It was super neat to just be walking down the street and come across a church and then less than five minutes later come across another one!

There were stores with religious statues, rosaries, medals, priestly vestments, and even entire stores dedicated to the selling of baptismal and first communion garments.

I don’t know if there are other cities in Spain or Europe that are like this, but I really enjoyed visiting a place where the Catholic religion was imbued in the culture and architecture.

Conclusion

Even though we spent less than three whole days in Spain, it has easily become one of my top 10 favorite countries! I hope to visit it again in the future!