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Seville
Travel Guide, climate:
Best: Oct-April
Avoid: June-Aug [extreme heat and no beach!]
Festivals:
March/April, Holy Week [Semana Santa] hundreds of parades, singing.
April, April Fair [La Feria de Abril], perhaps the city's best party
- traditional dress, parades, dancing and wild parties.
For
some precise dates or more information see: European
Festivals or Arts
Festivals.
Arts/Culture
guide:
Museums/Galleries: Second only to The Prado in Madrid, Seville's
Museo de Bellas Artes is a gorgeous old convent housing one of the
best art collections in Spain.
Archivo de Indias displays documents about the conquest of the Americas.
And don't miss 2 exquisitely crafted buildings and their contents
- Casa de Pilatos and Hospital de los Venerables [All in Santa Cruz
area].
Flamenco: a traditional Andalusian gypsy art, many flamenco clubs
[tablaos], are in Santa Cruz - and not just for tourists.
Try to get to Teatro Lope de Vega for big name falmenco stars.
Short
Trips:
Not exactly short, but if you are willing to travel a bit [on
excellent roads], two or three hours will get you to:
- other famous Andalusian cities like Cordoba and Granada
- Doñana National Park [wildlife, including flamingoes in
winter]
- rock-top Ronda and fortified hilltop towns known as the Pueblos
Blancos
- Malaga, Cadiz and Jerez [home of Sherry]
- Gibraltar
- various beach resorts, including Seville's choice of tatty Sanlucar
de Barrameda
- and sensational windsurfing on the Atlantic coast at Tarifa.
Shopping
Guide:
Seville is not a great shopping city, but the pedestrianized
Calle de las Sierpes and around there have good traditional shops,
as well as the always vital souvenir stuff. |
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Why
Travel to Seville?
The Spanish coast has mutated into a
hideous mish-mash of foreign owned skyscrapers.
So where is the heart of Spain now? Inland, in the Andalusia province.
And the largest, liveliest, prettiest, most interesting city of
Andalusia is the capital.
Want to see the glory of Spain? See Seville. Moorish? Definitely!
Sights/Activities:
Lovely walks around the old Jewish quarter of Santa Cruz, full of
tapas bars, picturesque alleys, glimpses of secret gardens, a Moorish
palace, a gothic cathedral and many more grand, ornate buildings.
Then there are promenades along the River Guadalquivir, buzzing
with cafes and social action at night, with sights aplenty around
there too.
And when you've done with walking, hop into a horse cab [discuss
the price first] and trot off to more sights in the north, headed
by the spectacular Plaza de España.
Or travel by water bus up the river...
In particular look out for Moorish architecture, bullfighting [most
Sunday evenings April - Oct], Flamenco dance/song [originally Andalusian],
and Andalusian cuisine.
Seville
cuisine guide:
Andalusian cuisine differs from the rest of Spain due to the enduring
Arab influence, using spices such as cumin, paprika and saffron,
rice, cured hams, sauces made with sherry, and lots of olives and
citrus fruit.
Gazpacho, a chilled raw vegetable soup originated in Andalusia,
as did Tapas - varied small dishes to go with drinks [grilled sardines
is a favourite], often enough to replace dinner, which is good because
the city lacks outstanding restaurants.
The Santa Cruz area has many Tapas bars and atmospheric little restaurants,
as has the opposite bank of the river [many outdoors].
And
if you plan to travel around Seville how about adding another city
to your trip? Check these tourist guides:
Madrid
Travel Guide | Barcelona
Travel Guide
Lisbon
Travel Guide | London
Guide
Paris
Guide | Florence
Travel
Venice
Travel | Walking
Tours - Spain
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