Life in Seville
SEVILLE IN JUNE

It's hot! We are now getting to summer and temperatures are reaching close to 40° C during the middle of the day. Laundry now dries on the rooftops in under a few hours. The siesta is in full swing as most Sevillanos choose to avoid the hottest part of the day, leaving the streets to tourists and visitors during the early afternoon.

Semana Santa and Feria are over and it's now on to high tourist season, El Rocío, Corpus and Real Madrid has won the championship of La Liga, Spain's 1st Division soccer league. Outdoor cafes and bars near the Guadalquivir, the river dividing the center from the neighborhoods of Triana and Los Remedios, are the place to be. In the street shade is at a premium and the toldos or tarps are now covering the narrower streets in the city center.

Above Photo: Decorating a Balcony for Corpus
Past home page photos


THE BASICS

I love Seville. After visiting several times and telling everyone I know for 10 years I wanted to live here I finally decided to do it. I sold most everything I had, packed up what I could and came here with all my savings. If you want to see what everyday life is like here (or at least my everyday life), check out the daily entries section below.

I began to research Seville tourism and travel information on the web. I found some good sites but none that mentioned the bars and restaurants I frequented nor the hotels and hostals where most people I know stay. And while these pages offered tourist information about attractions, sites and culture in Seville (certainly helpful) they often didn't offer travel advice or insight into how things really work here.

This is where I hope you'll find my site helpful. Along with some basic travel information and recommendations I've tried my best to offer advice about the differences in daily life you'll encounter and the obstacles or issues you may face during your stay in Seville. Why? So you can spend your time enjoying Seville and worry less about making all the little decisions that take time away from a great vacation, study experience or extended stay.


Photo of the Week
Helpful Information
Dining Out

 

Street Art
Past Photos of the Week

A change from some of the graffiti you'll see around the city, this is part of a small wall mural on a narrow street between the Alfalfa and Santa Cruz.

 

Some of these are still works in progress, but I'd rather show what I've been doing in raw form than keep it idling here while I drive myself crazy getting it ready for a "launch".

NEW: review of Spain and Sevilla travel forums.

Here you'll find some useful information about Sevilla. Some of my general observations have been put together to help you understand some of the quirks and differences of life here. Some conversion information on the Euro (€), kilos, commas and decimals should come in handy as well.

I've also included sections on transportation, shopping and nightlife (la marcha), as well as where to buy food when you're sick of eating out.

I know I can't cover it all when it comes to Sevilla, and with this collection of recommended books and some helpful links I hope to assist those of you looking for more information on some specific topics.

I frequent many bars and restaurants here in Sevilla hoping to find a few surprises, hidden in the back alleys. There are a few listed here that you'll find in guidebooks - they are quite good after all - but many you won't.

  • These are places where actual Spaniards eat, so don't expect a lot of English when you go.
  • Except for a few marked with "$$" these are affordable. I don't make any money with this page, so my dining out is generally on a realistic budget, not a guide book budget.
  • Every dish listed is a recommendation, and I have tried every one of them. I don't weigh 300 lbs. yet, but I'm working on it.
  • I'm not taking any advertising money (yet) so these are all fairly impartial.

Here you will find several reviews of restaurants and bars in Sevilla. This list will continue to grow as my stomach does.


My life here (some daily entries)

Sunday, June 29th

"Ghost town ; Online Hotel Booking"

So where did everyone go? That's what I'm wondering while walking around on a Saturday night in late June. Then someone smacks me in the back of the head and says, "¡Coño, todo er mundo está en la playa!". Everyone goes to the beach, and it will only get worse as we move into July and August. More than half the people I know are there every weekend. And if for some reason they're not at the beach you can find them by the river. The center is like a ghost town, and I'm learning the difference between summer and winter bars. It's all fine by me - the river is great when we want to see a lot of people or it's just plain hot as hell. Having the bars in the center to myself (and of course the tourists) works well on some nights, too.

Took a look at online hotel booking services for Sevilla in the hopes that someone might come visit me in the next 5-6 months. A confusing mess, really. A site with no secure server (please, someone take my credit card number), another with a total of 7 listings or a visitors nightmare when it comes to the process. Not to mention the translation - know the saying "it's all Greek to me"? Well, it's all something, but it ain't Greek, English or Spanish. My favorite, though, was looking for "hostels" on hostels.com, which is actually a pretty decent site. I put in Sevilla and what I just started laughing when the results came up:

The Hostels.com Worldwide Hostel Database

Welcome to the most complete directory of hostels in the world. Choose from thousands of hostels worldwide. Sevilla:

Sorry, no results were found.

Links for today:

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Editor: Jeff Spielvogel
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