Well it seems like a long time since I’ve done a travel post. And I guess that’s probably because we haven’t done as much travelling this year as usual. But we did manage a short break in Seville over Easter, and it was wonderful.

We chose Seville because the Easter parades are famous. For the whole of Semana Santa (Holy Week) the different cofradias (neighbourhoods) parade through the streets, with a band and carrying paseos (floats) topped with religious images such as Jesus on the cross, the Virgin Mary and the saints. It’s a really amazing spectacle and atmosphere which I felt really pleased to be able to witness. We didn’t stay up for the parades all through the night but there was still plenty to admire and watch during the day.

Aside from the parades, there’s plenty to see and do in Seville. We took a walking tour on our first full day, so we could get an idea of the layout of the city as well as picking up some tips (top one that our fantastic guide Roxy gave us: book online in advance for the Alcazar!) The obvious places you have to visit are the Cathedral, the Real Alcazar (former Moorish palace), Casa de Pilatos (a former Spanish noble’s palace with simply stunning tiles) and Plaza de Espana (a tiled plaza built for the 1929 Expo), and of course, just wandering the beautiful narrow cobbled streets is a treat in itself, particularly in the Barrio Santa Cruz (the old Jewish quarter) and Triana district (the old working-class neighbourhood). We also took a boat trip on the Guadalquivir River which was a lovely way of seeing the city on a sunny morning.

And of course, we ate. My GOD, how we ate. Typical Spanish Tapas is one of my favourite cuisines to eat even here in the UK but it is sooooo much better in Spain (of course). I could happily eat jamon Iberico and croquetas for the rest of my life… to say nothing of sangria and cheap (but still delicious) Spanish wine.

Can you tell I loved it?! If not, hopefully the pictures will….

A paseo entering the Cathedral

La Giralda (the bell tower of the Cathedral)

Jamon Iberico, Manchego cheese and white Rioja. I could die right here, right now.

The nazarenos in procession

Plaza de Espana

 

Casa de Pilatos

The Metropol Parasol (no, I’m not sure what the point of it is either, but you get a nice view from the top)

Paseo passing through the streets (taken from the Metropol Parasol because we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time…)

Triana bridge

Inner courtyard of the Real Alcazar

Real Alcazar gardens

Christopher Columbus’s tomb inside the Cathedral

View over Seville from the top of the cathedral