When it comes to a few days away with your daughters, Seville has it all, culture, food and retail, what more could you ask for?
Two and a half hours on a plane from London offers many possibilities for a short break in Europe, where to go, and which city offers the best combination of culture, food and retail, that is the question that any trip needs to answer. The girls were happy to go along with whatever idea I came up with, our needs were simple. The overriding desire was to find some sun and escape this dismal winter we were suffering in the UK.
I’d seen a TV programme on Andalusia, and something stuck in my mind. The last time I visited southern Spain was about 55 years ago, I think I was 4 at the time and have zero memory of it, but whether it was the music, the architecture or simply the lure of the local cuisine, it looked so appealing. Seville was chosen; that’s where the Mummy Daughter winter trip would be.
We left the freezing temperatures of London and landed in the blazing mid-afternoon winter sun in Seville. Life all of a sudden seemed to be so much better. An intravenous dose of Vitamin D can only work wonders for your health, and it's better than any supplement you can take.
A tour of the rooftop bars was at the top of the list of priorities, and we set out to give them our best shot. Actually, the gin was the appeal; the Tanqueray orange-infused gin seemed like the perfect accompaniment to toast a town whose streets were lined with ripe orange trees laden with fruit. Seemingly, February is a good time to experience the blossom, so we were in luck.
We had pre-booked tours for the Cathedral and the Alcazar, the queues can be long, and admission isn’t guaranteed. The thought of a guided tour filled me with dread; I much prefer to wander around in my own time and see where the wind takes me. We had booked a tour in English, given my Spanish is non-existent so that prevented us from participating in a larger tour group having to follow the dreaded umbrella of a guide since English tourists were few in number. Instead, there were only four of us in the group, which meant, on the one hand, our absence would be noted, but on the other, we learnt a few facts we otherwise would have missed. On reflection, it would have been better to do these on separate days; the gardens of the Royal Alcazar were stunning, and we would have preferred to spend a couple of hours admiring what are believed to be the oldest gardens in Spain. From their Moorish origins, they have been transformed over the subsequent centuries through the Renaissance and beyond into a tranquil fusion of culture and nature. Furthermore, you can enjoy a glass of lunchtime wine in the café and sit under the trees and watch the world go by.
Instead, our back-to-back option took us straight to the Cathedral. The association with Christopher Columbus is evident, and at least some of his bones have been laid to rest there. However, if you had any thoughts about entering via the main door, it's only open once every 25 years, or when the pope visits or for the appointment of a new archbishop, I don’t think we timed our visit quite right for that one. But the climb to the top of the Giralda Bell Tower via the 35 ramps provided some stunning views of the city through the lead windows as we ascended, and at the top, a close-up of some of the cathedral's 24 bells.
We enjoyed the Casa de Pilatos more so due to the fact we just turned up; spontaneity has its appeal. We had arrived before the crowds early on a Sunday morning, so the wait to enter was only short. Whilst the scale was smaller than the palace, the charm of the courtyards and manicured gardens came from its more intimate construction. We wondered around what is, in fact, a prototype of an Andalusian palace.
A stroll around the old city lanes finally led us to the Plaza de Espana, the Venice of Southern Spain; the moat around the palace-like buildings draws the locals on a sunny weekend to boat around the square, watch and listen to the local street artists perform Flamenco or take a mosaic tour around the major cities of Spain each depicted in colourful tiles.
We ate tapas in abundance, and it felt like wherever we went, the menus were the same, but for a few days, that didn’t matter. We enjoyed eating outside and swirling down dinner with some Spanish Rioja. It all combined to make a memorable culinary experience.
Any girl trip needs some retail, and Seville's pedestrian-only streets made this an easy excursion. The range of shops was limited, and combined with our restricted luggage allowance, we saved ourselves a great deal of pain by not having to check our bags in on our return flight. Whatever we bought we had to wear.
We finished our trip with a walk around the Setas de Sevilla, shaped like a giant mushroom it is the largest wooden structure in the world. The views from the walkways were as good as any of the rooftop bars we had tried, what is its purpose? Who knows, but it’s a meeting place, a food market, an event space and most of all, shade from the sun.
We left Seville on a glorious sunny day, dreaming of a gentle pace of life and street dining; we landed back in London 20 degrees colder and the drizzle of a winter day.
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