Tapar

Tapar.

To cover. 

One of the more poplar theories about the origins of tapas is that people used to be given something, like a slice of jamón, with their drink to cover the top of their glasses to keep the flies out. It sounds very plausible, but either way I'm glad it was invented as I had the best this year in Sevilla. Sevilla is the capital of Andalucía, and epitomises the bullfighting, flamenco dancing culture of the region. It has one barrio (neighbourhood) called Triana, which considers itself as separate from Sevilla. It is the flamenco hub and, traditionally, the heart of the tile making industry (lots of beautiful tiles over patios, walls and floors down here), a few matadors were born here as well. I was lucky enough to have Alex and Nikki, Sevilains for the year, as my guides to show me the sights! 

We began with Las Setas; a giant structure, like a waffle draped over some stilts, that was finished in 2011 and is officially called the Metropol Parasol and is supposedly the biggest structure in the world to be made out of wood. They found Roman remains while constructing it, and now underneath you can see them preserved. You also get a free drink with your ticket!

The path snakes round the 6 waffles.

We saw Plaza de España by night afterwards. This was built for the 1929 Exposition. It has a fountain in the middle, a river with rented boats and around the edge a series of tiled benches, each depicting how every province joined to form what we now know as Spain. 

View from our little row boat!

Asturias represented! The picture on the left is of Oviedo's cathedral and on the right, Covadonga. 

We visited the amazing Museo de Bellas Artes, whose patios and buildings are just as good as the art. In the evening we had time to locate all the England fans in the area in an Irish bar, watching half the England match. On the way home we had a fright when we saw a giant slow worm wriggling along the grooves of the pavement.

Bellas Artes

I had a mini-tour of Triana on the second day. On another occasion, Alex and I met a nice chap,whose greyhound I was admiring, from Bath who'd met his now wife on a return flight to London as she was visiting her banker boyfriend there; they now have a rescued greyhound and a daughter and he's lived in Sevilla for 10 years. Who says cuentas de hadas (fairytales) don't exist?! We peeped in some churches and admired the view of the Puente de Triana along the river Guadalquivir, the same river that Córdoba's Roman bridge stretches over. On the last day we risked our lives by renting a pedal boat on the river. This river is a proper river, with dead fish floating in it I may add; professional rowing teams practice along it and the big sightseeing river ferries glide through it. The only thing our boat possessed meriting note was a giant parasol, as well as a dodgy steering rod, 2 pedals and side 'rails' about 15cm high. I genuinely thought we were going to swim back after capsizing. 

We did, however, survive, despite me running us aground under the Triana bridge by some unimpressed ducks.

Brave faces, no life jackets: Alex and Nikki!

Lots of little houses lining the muro!

In the evening after tapas we got an icecream, which rapidly turned into an emergency of sticky hands and drips as it melted in the evening heat. The next and last day I was shown the Alcázar, which, as Nikki said it would be, was so much better than the Alhambra in Granada. There were no queues, no timed visits, but all the rooms open were decorated to the same standard as the special visit ones in the Alhambra and the gardens were just as beautiful. There's even a maze (that was sadly shut when I went)! The gardens also contains one of only 4 hydraulic organs preserved in the world; air is pushed around inside to create different sounds. Of course, the only craftsman in the world able to restore the machinery within it, Rodney Briscoe, is British. We're an eccentric island bunch us Brits aren't we...

In the Sala de Embajadores (Hall of Ambassadors) with a gold domed ceiling!

Some beautiful tiles from the gardens.

Later in the day we visited the Cathedral, where Christopher Columbus is, supposedly, buried; as no one was sure where he was from he couldn't be 'buried' in Spanish soil, so his tomb is held aloft by 4 figures, each representing the kingdoms of Spain of the time. We climbed the 35 ramps up the Giralda, the Cathedral's bell tower.

View over the Cathedral!

We also had time to check out the Archivo de Indias, the archives documenting Spain's trade through Sevilla with the New World. Sevilla was originally the big port and merchants conducted business in the Cathedral to make it honest as they were in God's house, but they were told not to, so a trade building was constructed, with a cross outside. However, the channel became built up with silt and, with ships unable to navigate it, and trade moved to Cádiz on the coast. Very interesting history, told by Alex and the informative video.

I was also dressed up (again), this time as a Maja, with a mantilla (the lace cloth) over a giant hair comb.

A final note on Sevilla, you should obviously visit, it's full of tourists for a reason, but make sure you bring the right companion (and forget Paris), as it's rather romantic too... 

Nighttime stroll over the Guadalquivir, under the moon.