I am sitting on my bed hearing the sound of the rain falling, the same rain that made me come back to the hostel and  finally find the time to write about our days in this lovely Andalusian city.

We arrived last Monday fresh and rested from the Alpujarra. The first impression of the city was the contaminated dense air and lots of traffic along the Paseo de las Delicias, a road along the Guadalquivir River, I guess a pretty normal reaction if you are coming from the country side. 😉 As soon as we arrived to the hostel we started falling in love with Sevilla, the interior patio was peaceful, warm and colourful and the staff was welcoming.

The neighbourhoods of Sevilla are diverse and there is a lot packed in one block. When you see the map of the city you think you can walk it in an hour but there is so much happening in each one of those little streets that you can get lost and start following your intuition instead of the map. The destination that you have as a plan can change easily since there is a lot of entertainment and noise. From one street to the next one the transition is fast, your whole view can change drastically and that quiet, extremely narrow street that you are walking can become a boulevard, a square or a whole road full of restaurants and movement.

We have been staying here while for the Holly Week preparations are going on. Sevilla is probably one of the places where you want to be if you ever decide to come down to Spain for this celebration. Band rehearsals and religious events are already happening all around. Even shoe stores are decorated with Semana Santa figures. Churches are crowded with people, band members are rehearsing on the street, workers are piling chairs along the roads, setting up fences to create paths for the processions.

At times I seem to forget we are in the south of Spain and actually had to stop a couples of times to look with my eyes wide open at the religious shops. Being in beautiful Plaza de España I saw a girl getting ready for her photos after her communion, wearing an old fashioned dress that made me imagine the Cuba of the 50´s. The bright side of it is that I managed to see the great churches that the city has, almost in every block, with a broad variety of architectural styles.

I have walked also to the other side of the river to go to Barrio Triana, a small but active neighbourhood famous for its bars and relaxed ambience. The area is full of bars and terraces and tons of shops for flamenco dresses, really fancy dresses and accessories, by the way. The Triana Market is also a good place to go if you want to buy bread, olives or any other products to satisfy your appetite after a long walk.

One more thing that it is worth to mention about Sevilla is how nice it is to walk its green spaces. I passed by Maria Luisa Park a couple of times and also the Alcazar  Gardens, I bet both of them are fantastic spots to be in the summer. At this time of the year most of the town smells like azahar (orange blossom flowers). First time I noticed the smell I thought it was coming from a parfum store across the street.

I am taking good memories with me. I will miss seeing their NO8DO motto everywhere. Sevilla is another awesome Spanish city.