Unmounted mounted police at Plaza Nuevo
I woke up at 6.00 and couldn’t get back to sleep so decided to write some of my blog.
When we were both ready we had some breakfast and decided to explore some of the shops. Many shops in Seville are of the big chain variety you will find all over Europe: Mango, H & M, C & A and the likes. Of course there are also many independent stores and we saw quite a few of them! And just to show not all women are the same: after a good few hours of shopping we had bought exactly one t-shirt, and it wasn’t mine!
Today we also finally saw the Catedral y Giralda by daylight.
Wall painting at Plaza Nuevo
We decided not to go inside as there is an €8,- entrance fee and we thought we should make the most of the gorgeous weather instead. So we walked around, had a look at the many statues around the cathedral and Plaza de Triunfo and got hassled by some palm readers who would not let go. First we were offered a sprig of a plant (for free) and then they grabbed our hands and started reading them. We kept insisting “no” and trying to pull our hand away but they did not give up that easily! They just kept on talking (in Spanish, and my Spanish is not that good so I only understood about three words out of the whole thing), and then had the nerve to charge me €5,- for that! I ended up giving her €1,- and she got quite upset. I wasn’t going to give her anything but I thought the fact that she told me I was going to be lucky in love was worth something… J When I caught up with my sister again she told me that when she was going to give “her” lady something the “lady” saw the €20,- note she had and tried to charge her that…
After we finally freed ourselves we had some lunch at a little café called Tiberna Belmonte in one of the back streets in the Santa Cruz area.
Rent-a-bikes at Plaza Nuevo
The food was nice, the décor interesting with all the bulls heads on the wall with plaques underneath describing the names and when and by whom they were killed in the bull arena.
After lunch we headed back to the hostel to have a siesta, or a rest at least. Whoever invented siesta’s had the right idea! Just relaxing in the middle of a (working) day is my idea of having fun… We stayed in the room a couple of hours, checked internet, wrote a blog, read a little… This holiday has the right amount of active stuff and relaxation, just what I needed.
After all this we decided to go out again to see if we could score any more at the shops. However my sister asked me if I would mind if she asked if it would be possible to change rooms in the hostel, to a room with a window. That was fine by me, some fresh air would be nice, so we asked expecting to be very lucky if we could move the next day.
Avenida de la Constitucion (courtesy of Barbara)
We were even luckier than that though as they had a room available straight away! We moved immediately and the new room is much bigger (although also with more beds), and on the first floor. This has several advantages: no running up and down the stairs as much, and I can get on the internet in our own room with my laptop for free! After the move we went out again but in the end we got quite tired (not used to all the walking…) The shops closed at 20.30 so we went in search for a place to have a drink and some food. We ended up at Mesón Cinco Jotas, where we didn’t really eat that much as we were just too buggered…
Back to the room and more blogging and online activities, and before I knew it it was 1 in the morning!
Centrally located cafe with little variety
This cafe is part of a chain that is located throughout Spain. They are mainly known for their ham, so we tried the house speciality: ham croquettes. These were delicious, but quite expensive. There wasn't really anything else on the menu we got excited about but we also had some Manchego cheese as the croquettes hadn't filled us up. We had some red wine to wash it down.
The waitress must have been one of the least appealing looking people I have come across in Spain, and she didn't seem to enjoy her job much either. It was also the slowest service we had in our week in Seville. Maybe it was the language barrier because I did see her smile at some Spanish people.
Exterior
Well located taberna with interesting decor and average food
This small taberna is located in Santa Cruz, the area most famous for tapas in Seville. It is within 5 minutes walk of the cathedral but a lot better priced than the places with a view of the cathedral itself.
The taberna has an interesting decor of bull's heads on the walls. These bulls were all killed in the local arena and have specifics listed on plaques underneath.
We had red wine here (what else) and as it was lunchtime we ordered half portions (which are standard on almost every menu in Seville) of food. I ordered a tortilla de patatas which honestly was a little bland. My sister ordered the espinacas bacon (spinach with bacon) which was very nice as long as you like garlic!
Service was ok, friendly but no more than that.
Total bill came to 19 euros.
Decor of Taberna Belmonte
