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.
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.
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".
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.
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:
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. 