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SEVILLA TO GRANADA TO BARCELONA, SPAIN

March 24-31, 2019

HERMANAS EN ESPANA

I attribute my trip to Spain this year to a bit of luck and I have my sister to thank for it. She was attending a friend’s wedding in Bilbao and planned to tag on a vacation afterwards. However, her husband was unable to join her so I eagerly volunteered to accompany her. I had previously visited Spain during my study abroad semester in college and she had never been, so we ended up deciding on Sevilla, Granada, and Barcelona because I had not been to the first two and Barcelona is not to be missed.

SEVILLA

Our first stop was Sevilla, where we decided to stay in Triana, the neighborhood on the southwest side of the canal. It is known for being quieter and more residential as it is a little bit removed from the main attractions. It was still really walkable to all the places we wanted to visit on the other side of the canal and turned out to be a nice home base to retire to at the end of the day.

When I arrived at the apartment, I was exhausted from a long series of flights and immediately crashed while I waited for my sister to arrive from Bilbao. When she finally did, it was dinner time and we decided to go to a tapas place just a few minutes away, La Antigua Abaceria, one of my favorite restaurants we went to on this trip. It was super cozy, the food was delicious, and it turned out to be a perfect introduction to the charms of Sevilla.

The next morning, we grabbed a simple breakfast of bread, jamon, a large coffee, and orange juice, and visited the Mercado de Triana where we picked up some smoked paprika and saffron. Then we headed across the canal towards the Reales Alcazares de Sevilla, stopping in at a local artisan market on the way where my sister bought a necklace.

When we arrived at the entrance of the Alcazar of Seville, there was a huge line that snaked around the complex, but luckily it moved quickly. Built on the site of a Muslim fortress, the palace is the official residence of the royal family in Sevilla and is an example of Mudejar or Moorish architecture. We wandered through the various spaces, admiring the intricate stone and tile work and the peaceful gardens and courtyards. A highlight was the “Garden of the Galley”, which contained a grove of orange trees and beautiful canopy of purple flowers.

We were pretty spent so we decided to head back to the apartment to relax for a bit before heading out for some tapas around dinner time. “Dinner time”, by the way, took some getting used to. The custom in Spain is to eat very late so we had to learn to adapt our habits to the local schedule and I confess we were pretty unsuccessful. We ended up always famished around our normal dinner time and had to force ourselves to wait to eat.

We decided to walk to a street with many restaurants on our side of the canal and see what was appealing. We saw a place that had a big crowd and stopped in at what turned out to be one of the most unusual and confusing tapas experiences I’ve had. There was a long counter inhabited by mostly men and there was no clear menu. We looked around to see what people were eating, but ordering proved difficult as no one seemed to speak English. We decided to order a couple beers (dos cervezas por favor!) and realized this came with a plate of shrimp and crackers. We stuck it out for what I think was an admirable amount of time before deciding we needed to find another place where we would have more luck getting food.

We found a spot that also had a big crowd, Bar Las Golondrinas, and settled in at the counter. We agreed on some items and I ordered them from the friendly bartender. At this point I should say that either my middle school Spanish is appalling, or there is some disconnect from what is in my head and what exits my mouth. When our food arrived, we probably got only one thing that I had actually ordered. This, by the way, happened throughout the entire trip. Luckily, all the food was delicious so we didn’t care and felt full and happy when we left.

The next morning, we headed back over the canal and visited the Torre del Oro, a tower on the northeast side of the canal. We climbed to the top and got a wonderful view of the canal as well as the Seville Cathedral, our next destination.

The Seville Cathedral is arguably the largest cathedral in the world and has gone through a number of transformations over time. It was originally built as a mosque in the 12th century, was converted to a Christian cathedral in the 13th century, and then transformed into a gothic cathedral in the 15th century. As we made our way through the cathedral, gazing at the incredibly ornate architecture, we could clearly see the evidence of its many manifestations. We climbed to the top of the Giralda Bell Tower, which is 343 feet tall, and were rewarded with amazing panoramic views of the city below.

We left the cathedral and walked to our appointment at Aire bathhouse, where we spent a incredibly relaxing hour circulating through its multiple pools of varying temperatures.

To continue our journey of indulgence, we stopped in at a chocolate & churros bar, Bar El Comercio, and wandered around until it was the appropriate time to eat dinner. We then made our way to Sevilla’s oldest tapas bar, El Rinconcillo, which has been in operation since 1670. We took our place at the bar, ordered a manzanilla or Spanish sherry, and some food. We met a couple standing next to us from England who were thinking of retiring to Sevilla. The husband used to be a detective inspector (I watch a lot of British detective shows so this piece of information sparked some excitement) and the wife was a teacher. We were completely stuffed at the end of the meal and took a much needed night-time stroll back to Triana.

We purposely left our last day in Sevilla pretty open and after a satisfying brunch, made our way to visit the Metropol Parasol, a large wooden canopy designed by architect Jurgen Mayer that has been a subject of some controversy due to its cost and appearance. On our way to the canopy, we passed by a store called “Taste of America” that was embarrassingly filled with various types of American junk food. After hanging out at the parasol for a bit, we decided to visit the Archivo General de Indias, which was the cause of much excitement for my sister. The archive houses all types of historical documentation of Spanish history in the Americas and the Philippines. We spent some time perusing the various exhibits, then walked back to our side of the canal where I visited some shops in the ceramics quarter of town. That night we ended our time in Sevilla with a energetic and fiery flamenco show before retiring early in anticipation of a 6am train to Granada.

GRANADA

We arrived in Granada about four hours later and decided to walk to our apartment, stopping to have a traditional Spanish breakfast of Pan con Tomate, or Spanish tomato toast. We were a bit early for our Airbnb check-in time and left our luggage in the apartment while we took a stroll through the city to wait until it was ready.

We then decided to make our way through the Albaicin, a district in Granada containing a series of narrow streets, a remnant from its Moorish past, to reach a scenic viewpoint where we could watch the sunset over the Alhambra. The viewpoint was filled with people with similar notions and we were serenaded by some local musicians while we waited for the golden hour.

The view of the sun setting over the Alhambra was breathtaking and it felt surreal to be so close to something that I had only read about in books.

Our reservation to enter the Alhambra was early the next morning before our flight to Barcelona, and due to my ignorance and naivete, we were unable to visit the Nasrid Palaces (!) because I had failed to get tickets months in advance. Actually, we were almost unable to enter the grounds at all, which would have been a tragedy of epic proportions, but miraculously we were able to get tickets to visit the Generalife gardens, the Palace of Charles V, and the Alcazaba. The Generalife, or “garden of the architect”, is a 14th century villa that has undergone multiple restorations. The Palace of Charles V was built to be a residence for the Holy Roman Emperor, and was designed in the styles of the Renaissance. However it was never completed and only received a roof in the mid twentieth century. The Alcazaba is a military fortress built by Mohammed I and one of the oldest parts of the Alhambra.

We made our way briskly from location to location, allowing ourselves only the minimum amount of time to enjoy our surroundings, before getting a taxi back to the apartment to pick up our luggage and head to the airport.

BARCELONA

We arrived in Barcelona around noon, checked into our apartment, and then took the subway to make our appointment to visit Gaudi’s Casa Batllo. It was undergoing a restoration at the time and it was interesting to see restoration experts working on it. We then took a stroll through the streets of Barcelona, the bustling city a stark contrast to the quieter and less metropolitan cities we had just arrived from. And all around, you could see the influences of its most famous architect, Antoni Gaudi.

We then found a lovely restaurant, Llamber, to have the fanciest dinner of our trip. The food was delicious and I only wish I had a second stomach to allow me to try more items on the menu.

The next morning we took a walk through the gothic quarter, or Barri Gotic, which is the center of the old city.

We eventually made our way to the Parc Guell, a public park built in the early 20th century and also designed by Gaudi. As we wandered through his organic formations and honed our action photography skills, I reminisced about the last time I had visited the park during my study abroad trip in college.

That night we went to a fun, rowdy, and very crowded champagne tapas bar, El Xampanyet. The bartenders were super friendly, the food was super tasty, and the champagne was flowing.

The next morning, on our last day in Spain, we had the perfect post-champagne-drinking breakfast, consisting of delicious eggs, grains and bread. I think they created this dish for this specific purpose. Then we visited a couple more Gaudi masterpieces, La Pedrera, an apartment building, and finally, his Sagrada Familia. The basilica has been under construction since 1886 and is still going, slated to be finished in 2026. I visited with my classmates during my study abroad trip in college, and it was amazing to see the progress that was made over the years. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to see it again when it is finished.

My sister had to make a short stop in Amsterdam (for work) while I returned to San Francisco the next day. Our time together in Spain was on the shorter side, but as our trips together always are, it was filled with fun, relaxation, and joy. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to share one of my favorite things to do, to travel the world, with one of my favorite human beings in the world, and I only have one question. What’s next?