In June 2002 my lovely friend Sigal accompanied me on a trip to Seville to visit our other lovely friend, Tom. We were only there for about 5 days but fell in love with the place. The weather was gorgeous (although a little hot at times), the food scrummy (despite our difficulty in getting a salad which wasn't smothered in oil) and the people generally friendly and relaxed. A world away from London.
Tom and Sigal eating (oily!) tapas and drinking tinto con limon (again!)
Seville itself has much to offer the sight-seer, most notably the Real Alcázar, a beautiful royal palace and a fantastic example of Moorish architecture; the Plaza de España, a beautiful tiled plaza, developed in 1929 for the "Fair of the Americas", with open-air and covered promenades, a canal and fountain, an oasis of peace in the middle of the city.
Outside the cathedral. "Yes, you're right Tom, your hair has got very bleached in the scorching Spanish sun"
We were lucky enough to venture out of Seville and see how the locals spend their weekends at the beach, courtesy of one of Tom's students, Pablo, who took us out on his boat. This was just the most fantastic day which consisted of chilling at the beach, swimming, playing racket ball, then off to an excellent seafood tapas restaurant for muchas tapas and sherry whilst watching the Spain v. Ireland world cup match. Then we took the boat out and sailed around in the calm water before heading back to the beach for sunset.
You sure you know what you're doing there, lads?
This is most definitely the life for me!
Whilst we were visiting there was an 'urban' music festival (whatever that means) in Seville and one gorgeously warm evening we stumbled across a great band, who I'd never heard of and whose name I've subsequently forgotten but the crowd were going mental for them. It was a fantastic atmosphere and I could have stayed there all night but unfortunately the band stopped playing and the crowd dispersed so I would have looked a bit odd if I had.
Urban music festival
"Yes, Tom, I really do want to stand here all night!"
The evenings were spent downing tinto con limon (cheap red wine with lemonade for those that don't know. A fantastically refreshing summer drink - go on, try it, I dare ya. Go on, go on, go on) on the roof of the building Tom lived in, watching sunset and then firework displays, which Tom insisted were put on especially for us, but I suspect he was fibbing.
Good view.
Good drink.
