Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Seville

Seville – Iglesia de San Julían

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

What a lovely name for a street and also for the church which is located on it.

Hmmm, I’m not going to win any awards for this lop-sided little effort of the church’s exterior. It’s an impressive doorway though and the church itself dates from the fourteenth century.

The city had serious problems in 1932 with a group of locals who sought to cause damage to the Catholic church. They looted and damaged churches, including this one and numerous others, and they also attacked congregations and holy processions.

This attack on the Catholic church was intense during the 1930s, with over 20,000 churches and cathedrals attacked (I got this figure from Wikipedia, but it sounds a little high to me) with many being destroyed. Substantial amounts of artworks, sculptures, tombs and books were damaged or entirely lost because of the attacks.

This was the best photo that I could given that mass was about to start and Clive and I felt it best to leave. But for anyone who likes photos of pews, this is a pretty decent shot….

Some nice tiling around the church walls. This was a lovely church which is just a little off the main tourist area, and we visited just before mass started so there weren’t really opportunities to explore the building. But I particularly liked it since it had the same name as me. I’m easily pleased…

August 14, 2025
Seville – Hops and Dreams

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity…. NB, I had forgotten that there was a time that I was a craft beer beginner…..]

We visited this craft beer bar last night and were impressed by the quality of the beer and the interesting food menu. We had already eaten yesterday, so we thought that we’d return again today to sample the food. This bar is a little hidden away in a back street, but it’s on the Seville Craft Beer map, so we visited it after seeing it listed on there.

I’m not very knowledgeable about craft beers, but Nathan said that this was a decent selection.

It’s not that common in Seville to see craft beers and certainly not often that they’re so clearly listed above the bar. I very much liked the style of the bar and there were some interesting beers available, although nothing darker which I’d have personally liked. I tried numbers 2 and 5 and both had a refreshing taste with plenty of flavour, certainly a substantial change from the Cruzcampo I’ve had this week.

The interior of the bar is on-trend, clean and well maintained. It was a shame that during our lunch visit today that we were the only two people in there, as a place of this quality deserves to be busier. It is possible to book tables on-line though for those who want to visit the bar at what might be busier times during the week.

The food menu, with plenty of interesting options listed.

Chicken with a wasabi sauce, which was well presented, served as a generous portion given I ordered the tapa size and was at the appropriate hot temperature. They had used dark chicken meat which is a little unusual, but it was of a good quality and tasted freshly made. The wasabi sauce also added just a little heat.

The Spanish style fish and chips. I’m not entirely sure what the Spanish style means, but the batter was soft and had a rich flavour. The fish flaked away and was tender, with the chips appearing to be triple fried. It was a light dish and both this and the chicken went well with the beer that I’d chosen.

For the non beer drinkers, there were some premium soft drinks to choose from. The prices generally were towards the higher end of the scale, but they weren’t unreasonable.

Some of the past beers which have been served at the bar. Overall, I very much enjoyed both visits and I would come here again if I were to revisit Seville. The service was efficient, fast and helpful, with the food and drink both being of an excellent quality. This is very much my sort of bar and I hope that it continues to thrive.

August 14, 2025
Seville – Basílica de la Macarena

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

This church was constructed between 1941 and 1949, which is much more modern than the interior might otherwise suggest. The brotherhood behind the church moved to this current site after their previous building was badly damaged by arsonists.

The above two photos are of Esperanza Macarena de Sevilla, a beautiful portrayal of the Madonna, which dates to 1680. Her tears are made of crystals and the figure itself is made from wood.

The above two photos are of figures which are in the side chapels.

The church is a well known attraction in Seville because of the Madonna statue, which is also carried around the city during a saint’s weekend.

August 14, 2025
Seville – Bar Oliva

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

Whilst searching for food earlier in the week, we found that the well reviewed restaurants in the Triana district were rather busy. So, we settled for Bar Oliva, a simple restaurant a little further away from the river. There was no air conditioning inside the restaurant, so we decided to sit in the street. I mean that we sat on chairs on the pavement, just for clarity…

The service was warm and friendly, although we struggled just a little with the ordering process. The staff member seemed to think we were ordering just a couple of items between us, rather than ordering pretty much the entire menu between us.

I’ve never had cuttlefish, so I felt that now was the time to try. Apparently it’s a relatively popular catch for British fishermen (and fisherwomen no doubt) although it’s not a popular dish in the UK, so it’s heavily exported. It has a taste similar to squid, and I rather enjoyed it, with the batter adding a little extra flavour to the dish. The cuttlefish was quite tender and it has a pleasant and interesting flavour.

The cod in a garlic sauce was tender, although I felt that there was simply too much sauce and it drowned the fish both literally and in terms of the taste. I would have perhaps been better to have this as a tapa choice, rather than as a racion (or full plate).

A photo of our happy group.

Here’s the menu, with an English one also available. Overall, this was a really pleasant meal and the staff member made an effort to help us order and checked that we were enjoying the food.

The bill came to around €12 each, which meant that everyone got around three tapas items each, plus a drink. Andrew golloped down four tapas items, although he did pick some interesting food options. I wouldn’t say that the quality was exceptional, but it was a perfectly pleasant location and the food met our expectations.

August 14, 2025
Seville – Badulaque

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

We’ve had a morning of culture today, so our pre-lunch coffee is at this little cafe. This sitting outside continental thing is quite nice, although there are a lot of flies about….

Clive, rested and looking forward to his afternoon in the specialist area of the rooftop terrace at the hotel….

And I’m looking forwards to a little nap this afternoon… It’s getting steadily hotter at the moment.

Another little bonus was that the coffees were just over €1 each, very good value indeed.

August 14, 2025
Seville – La Mafia

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

Clive suggested that we go for an Italian meal, which sounded a most lovely idea. This restaurant was nearby and well reviewed, so I booked a table.

The restaurant doesn’t open until 21:00, which seems rather late to me, but when in Spain…

We were the first customers in, with the interior being bright and contemporary. The restaurant was rather busy by the time we left, so it seems a popular location.

Clive was given an English menu, whilst I had the one in Spanish with two pages missing. I must have impressed them with my “hola” when entering…

I went for the calzone, which looked appetising and I was pleased they hadn’t spoiled the presentation by adding random salad leaves.

The calzone was at the appropriate hot temperature and had a pleasant flavour. There was beef, which was a little plain, but the pepperoni and cheese added extra taste.

Clive went for the lasagne.

Chocolate orange ice cream for dessert, again, it was perfectly pleasant. We were also pleased to discover that the white wine we ordered was only €2 per glass.

Overall, a rather enjoyable experience with friendly staff. The prices were reasonable, with a main, dessert and glass of wine costing just under €20 each.

A photo of Clive excitedly waiting the meal 🙂 There was much chat about Andrew at this point of the meal…

August 14, 2025
Seville – Summary of Day Four

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

The morning after the night before proved to be a challenging one for some members of the group, particularly Andrew. He looked like something resembling the living dead, with a dazed and confused look in his eyes. The expected visit of cultural highlights in the morning was rather postponed as the group went to look for coffee to make themselves feel better.

I’d add that Andrew should feel particularly pleased that I have decided not to use the photos of him from the previous night on this blog. It was a decision that took me a little while to make, but I didn’t want to sully this publication and risk it being marked by Google as for adults only. Needless to say, Andrew was very near to the Daily Mail purchasing the photos for their article “gardener disgraces Britain”.

The plan for the day was that Bev, Andrew and Sarah were getting the bus to the airport and then returning home. That plan worked out pretty well, marred only by the one hour delay that they faced at the airport. They had a lovely lunch of a Burger King and they then sat feeling ill waiting for the aircraft. Clive and I really didn’t envy them.

Andrew was obsessively worried about whether he might be over the alcohol limit 19 hours after he finished drinking. So he asked the police officer (by police officer, I mean the armed officers at Stansted Airport who are more focused on national security) to tell him whether it was safe to drive. I’m not sure that the police are particularly well equipped to decide such things in that manner, but Andrew was very safe and he, and the others, got back safely.

Also, as mentioned, Andrew hasn’t pro-actively sent me £1 for the power adapter of mine that he left in Seville. The group is still livid about that, and some very rude words were used about him by Bev. Our priority though was making sure that Andrew wasn’t sick everywhere, which would have marred the entire morning if I’m being honest.

Clive and I struggled for some time to get over Andrew, Sarah and Bev no longer being here. We spent a good minute or two getting over it, and then we realised how quiet it was, and we quite liked that. So we went to McDonald’s before returning to the hotel.

Clive was very brave and went to his hotel’s rooftop terrace for some sunbathing, in their rather exclusive area, the details of which I won’t post about here. However, as Gordon mentioned on-line, he hopes that Clive remembered to put his sun-cream absolutely everywhere.

The remaining two of us then went to some bars and found a rather nice Italian for our evening meal, which I’ll post details of separately at some point. I’m unfortunately getting just a little behind with posting about all these visits, but I shall endeavour to catch up later today.

We were pleased to find that there’s a craft beer trail leaflet, so we went to a couple of pubs on that list before a relatively early return to the hotels of just after midnight. Clive and I have one more day here before he returns home and I go on my onward journey to Madrid.

There weren’t many quotes of the day unfortunately, just the two from Bev, and both are a little out of context here…

“I can only just remember that parrot, it’s all a blur” – Bev

“Has Andrew got enough blood left for that?” – Bev

August 14, 2025
Seville – La Cueva

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

Bev and Andrew had chosen this restaurant as they liked its general ambience. We checked the reviews and to be honest, they weren’t the best, but we decided that we’d book a table anyway because the dining environment looked comfortable and welcoming.

There’s an indoor terrace area, as well as extensive external seating.

Warming up.

OK, the bread roll wasn’t a very good starting point. Ideally there would have been a side plate available, but of more important, it was still very slightly frozen in the middle. The restaurant doesn’t really need to use frozen rolls, it was a rather clumsy short cut I thought.

Andrew and Clive getting ready for their meals.

Sarah and Clive shared a paella, which looked colourful and interesting.

Andrew ordered some interesting dishes this week, and this one was no exception.

The paella which Bev and I shared. Again, nicely presented and the portion size between us was perfectly adequate. There were a range of ingredients which meant a variety of textures, with the seafood all tasting of a good quality. I’m not entirely sure how fresh the seafood was, and perhaps it was brought in frozen, but it met our expectations.

What exceeded our expectations was the friendliness of the service. The restaurant has received a fair number of poor reviews relating to the service, and it’s just perhaps the size of the venue means that it must be hard to provide an attentive service. The staff member that served our table was though pro-active, friendly and he made a real effort to engage with us.

Here’s Bev enjoying her paella.

No-one can deny that Bev is a classy lady.

Sarah talking to the parrot. I had thought that there was a child in another room, but Sarah mentioned that this parrot was happily talking away. This photo was taken before Bev noticed it, and Bev was able to tell us that it was a young parrot in training. I have no idea how she knows that….

Anyway, Bev shouted “hola” at the bird hundreds of times, which was a real delight for the whole restaurant to hear. Eventually Bev came back to her meal, whilst occasionally shouting to the bird in the other room. The staff covered the bird up, in an attempt to prevent it from becoming exhausted, but Bev went to stick her head under the cover to wish the bird goodnight.

Overall, this was a perfectly reasonable meal, with a pleasant dining environment and a polite and friendly service.

August 14, 2025
Seville – Sarah’s Balcony

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

Sarah decided that she’d kindly host a mini party on the terrace of her accommodation. We thought that this sounded a marvellous idea before our evening meal, and we got a little collection of food and drinks together.

Andrew helping set things up.

Bev decided that she wanted to rearrange the entire balcony. I just sat down and let her get on with it.

This church is located next door to the property that Sarah was staying in and so we had this view of the tower and its bells from the terrace.

Here’s Sarah, enjoying Andrew’s company.

Bev, enjoying one of her many drinks.

August 13, 2025
Seville – Mesón el Serranito

[This is one of a series of posts about a group trip in 2018, which was rather designed for a specific audience at the time. However, I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links and to ensure that the trip is preserved for posterity….]

There are three restaurants in this Seville operation, and we visited the C / Alfonso XII, 9 location which is near to the coach station. The purpose for the visit was for those taking a flight to get a coffee to help fuel themselves for the day. They certainly needed it.

We’ve had a biscuit with our other coffees this week, but no such treat today. It’s rather hard to comment on the quality on the food and drink of a restaurant when only having a coffee, but it was perfectly adequate. The staff were also polite and friendly, meaning that this was a convenient little stop for us.

Andrew, looking as fresh as a daisy. Albeit a dead daisy.

Bev with her banana. She wasn’t happy with it.

Here we are leaving the establishment, with Andrew at the rear looking all refreshed and ready to go. Bev is trying to hide her darkened and tired eyes behind the glasses…

August 13, 2025