Sevilla!

Sevilla the bellissima Andalusian capital. 

Hmm.. where do I start.

Well let's start with the boring stuff, airport was again convenient and lots of taxis were waiting outside when we reached. Taxis had big boots and our 2 big luggage, pram and hand luggage had no problem fitting in.

To go to city center was a standard cost of around 20 -30 euro as there is surcharge for being outside of town.

Again we didn't hire a car. We heard Sevilla is a city to be enjoyed on foot.

Now the not so boring Part.

The stark contrast between Barca and Sevilla was apparent.
Sevilla has this old world charm, but that's not it. The architecture is half Moorish, with all its colourful mozaic.

Nothing like we have ever seen before.

Most people who have been to Sevilla will tell you that 2 or 3 days would be more than enough.

But not if you're going with your little ones.

For us, 5 days 4 nights was just nice.

On the first day, we stayed at an apartment at Triana (across the river from the old town).

It was the first time I booked an apartment through airbnb.com after my friends recommended.

Yes, it would be more convenient if we have kids, as there will be place to wash clothes. boil hot water and prepare his breakfast.

The apartment was nice. Here are some pics.

It was also nicely located next to the market.


However, in the end, we didn't have a chance to buy any raw materials from the market as the food in Sevilla should be savoured every single moment, you shouldn't be cooking anything at all!

Triana was a lovely but quieter area. More laid-back, nice wide roads and pathways, easy for pram to roam about. And there were no worries about unaccessible apartments. I was worried about having to carry our huge luggage and a pram and bouncy toddler along pebbled narrow pathways, as that could be the case if you were staying in the centre of the Seville old town.

Triana is famous for its tile makers, but we didn't visit any though. Somehow didn't get to.

I would like to recommend this amazing tapas bar in Triana that we went to.

Sheldon ate the rice, the meatballs, the potatos, the cod fish, the green noodle! There were lots that he liked too! And we were spoiled for choice.

The place was non-touristy at all. It was so local that they don't even have an English menu.

So, thanks to google translate, we found our way around the Tapas menu.

We basically ordered almost everything on the menu. We were greedy yes, but each dish was only 2.90 Euro anyway. =)

That was probably the best tapas bar we visited during the whole Spain trip.

Albahaca. Don't miss it!

We also checked out another Tapas bar the next day. This one was listed as #3 in Seville by the tripadvisor. It's called DeO.

But alas.  the food was not quite nearly as impressive as Albahaca.

But if you would like to have a variety, you may want to check it out too. They open from 1 pm onwards. The Spanish eat very late. 

DeO was probably in a more commercialized part of Triana. But there were still few tourists here. The tourists in Sevilla are crowding around the old town.

We also walked across the river from Triana to visit the old town when we were staying at Triana. It was a 15 -20 minute walk,

I must say it was a little far and a little tiring though. I would suggest taking a cab.  However the view and charm we found were worth the walk.

We visited the Plaza de Espana, a huge compund with amazing architecture. This place was used as expo but me and hubby agreed that this was the most beautiful building we have ever seen in our life.

We went at night and the lights from the fountain make the whole place even more beautiful.

Sheldon was utterly excited about the fountain and we did mark our territory while we were there.

We changed Sheldon's pampers at the fountain. So that was memorable:)

Around the plaza, there were many lovebirds romancing under the moon. We suspected one of the guys just proposed to his girlfriend at one of the towers, they looked jubilant! So romantic right! I wish my hubby proposed to me at Plaza de Espana and not Sengkang! hahaha

We also managed to stroll along Calle Betis one evening in Triana.

This is probably the boat quat of Triana, but it is not quite as crowded of course.

Some interesting bars, like blues bar and a piano bar. 

Probably we would have visited if Sheldon wasn't sleeping.

At the end of the Calle Betis, we found a chichi restaurant that had the most magnificent view.

The restaurant is called Abades - Triana. 

We were quite skeptical about their food at first. But we didn't regret giving the place a try at all.

Sheldon was asleep in his pram. So we did have our dinner in peace. I missed him by morning and couldn't wait to wake him up by then. haha

The food was surprisingly pretty good. But the view and the ambience was just priceless.

Priceless.

Seriously.

It was our candle-lit riverside romantic dinner for the trip.

And for the view, the food, the experience, it was really cheap- around $50 plus per person in total.

Check out the view across the river. The picture tells it all.

So that's Triana. 

We booked 4 nights in Triana. However, we didn't end up staying there til the end.

There was a turn of event.

The problem is that airbnb.com apartments could be empty or holiday apartments, where the owners hardly come back and occupy. 

Tenants may not be filling up the calendars either.

So It could be rarely occupied.

Hence, perhaps a tad dusty.

Sheldon developed a bit of rashes on the first day at the Triana apartment.

He kept scratching his calves and initially we thought they were just mosquito bites.

But then by the second day, we found more "pimples" all over his back and stomach, so by the third day, we were worried they were bed bug bites as the rashes didn't go away!

We decided to move out on the third day, forgoing our paid reservations. Just in case there were indeed bed bugs,

However we found out it was his eczema flaring up so they weren't bed bugs, perhaps just the heat, the dryness and the dust.

Oh yes Sevilla is hot. In daytime it could go up to 32 degree just like Singapore but without the humidity.

The downside of booking an apartment through airbnb.com is probably this. We can't get them to give us a replacement room, as a hotel would. 

There were no concierge or reception to speak of. So, not taking any risk, we just booked another hotel in the old town, Las Casas De La Juderia through hoteltonight.com ( for last minute bookings) and got a nice offer.

Really lovely hotel made up of old Jewish houses, put together with typical Sevilla courtyards, Moorish architecture, colorful mozaic and of course the old world charm again.

Moving to the old town ( across the river from Triana), proved to be a very good thing too. As we could explore the other side of town, that was older, more bustling and more touristy

A change of scene indeed.

We took a cab to move accross the river and it cost less than 10 euro.

The old town was very different from Triana. The paths were narrow and winding and pebbled. So they were not pram friendly at all. Sheldon had lots of bumpy rides this side of town.

The first thing you need to see will Giralda. The 3rd biggest cathedral in the world. But the most special thing about Giralda is that it used to be a mosque so the architecture was special. The cathedral was built around the original Minaret.

Next to Giralda is Alcazar. Another must visit site. 

A apa lace with lots of history.

The interior was laced with a lot of moorish and Arabic art. Colorful mozaic and tiles adorned its intricate fixtures.

Hubby said that palaces in India are just as pretty but lesser known. But I wouldn't know that as I have never been.

After having been to Versailles and Buckingham and all the European palaces, Alcazar was a fresh change.

Thank goodness for Wikipedia, we can go back and google the history of Giralda, Alcazar and plaza espana so we didnt to queue for your guides and what nots. The place was crowded.

But Sevilla is really not about the touristy sites only. It was abut absorbing the old world charm you cant get elsewhere.

The narrow and winding back alleys had interesting shops.

Sheldon found something else interesting though. 

He was busy charming up Spanish girls and a little puppy. 

It was a joy to see them playing together Eventhough they cant even speak each other's language.

Very cute sight.

Again, just like other Spanish cities i reckon, night life is very vibrant.

The city came alive at night just like Barcelona.

Locals and tourists were crowding the tapas bars having their tapas, sangria and beers. 

We didn't join of course, Sheldon wouldn't appreciate the crowd and the smokes. By the way, people smoke everywhere in Spain. So different from back home.

The next day we took the tram up to plaza Nueva to check out the chi chi-er shopping belt in Sevilla but alas it was siesta time so the Loewe etc shops were closed. All we could do was have more Paella. Sadly we haven't found really good Tapas bar this side of town.

A little more packed with tourists too.

The best one was still in Triana.

How about shopping?

Well I couldnt get enough of factory outlet shopping. That's normal for Singaporean right?

Sevilla has one too. Albeit slightly out of town.

We tried taking the free shuttle bus from near Plaza Espana. 

The description on the website just said : 

1 Av. Portugal, Prado San Sebastián

it's horrible. When we reached Avenue Portugal, the road was long and there were many huge coaches parked. 

Many buses passed by and there were a few bus stops around.

We didn't know where to wait at all.

No one knew about the bus either, maybe they were tourists too. But the taxi drivers and the local at the bus stop didnt really know about the place either, so perhaps factory outlet shopping is not that popular a past time there either. 

The website said 10 am for first pick up so we arrived early at 9.45. No sign of such bus waiting. 

So we waited at one side of the road. Perhaps the bus has not arrived yet. At around 10 am, we then saw the long black extended bus with sevilla outlet written all over it, but it was on the other side of the road. Our heart sank. The bus just drove along the whole stretch of Avenue Portugal and left. 

I was adamant we had to go by the bus.

So I crossed to other side and waited some more. I cant believe it just passed and left. It didnt even stop. 

So at 10.10, it appeared again. At that same side the road it previously drove on. So I suppose he was just making a big round but didnt find parking? I really don't know what it was doing. 

But this time, we were on the correct side of the road, so we ran towards it and flagged.

It stopped! Thank goodness. So we managed to catch it after all.

The website for the outlet is :

http://sevilla-aeropuerto.thestyleoutlets.es

Check out its list of brands, mostly high street like MNG, Pull & Bear but it has polo, bimba&lola and Massimo Dutti too.

I dashed for Massimo Dutti and shopped like a mad woman there. So cheap so cheap!! Men Shirts were only 29 euro so hubby bought whichever one that has his size.

Belts (20 Euro), blouses(15-30 Euro), scarfs, everything was so much cheaper than Singapore.

We also visited Desigual again. I just cant get enough if this quirky brand that claims to be desigual ( unequal!).

It was quite a challenge keeping Sheldon entertained during our shopping time.

So we had to get him his favourite drink and snacks so that he will sit in his pram. 

But once we had time and shopping is done, we will let him run about again. 

We decided to leave early with the 1 pm shuttle bus back as The next one is at 5 pm.

But we regretted afterwards as we later on realised that we haven't shopped enough! 

I also just found this local brand Flamenco in town that had an outlet there, but i didnt visit at all.

That day I went back to the hotel, packed my luggage and realised there's still space!!!!! ( of course after buying another travel bag).

So we came again the day after!!! 

Alas! This time, the shuttle bus experience was even worse.

We stood on the side of a Avenue Portugal and waited at one of the bus stop as we presumed that buses would stop at bus stop.

At 10 am, we saw the bus coming our way we were so happy.

We flagged but sadly, the driver waved his index finger at us, gesturing a "no no!".

So he didn't stop for us at all. Until today i still don't understand how the pick up system works. Why did he pick us up the other day, at the other side of the road, and why he wouldn't that day, at the bus stop.

Anyway, we decided to give up in Shuttle bus. 

we took a an there after lunch instead.

It cost us about 20 Euro to the style outlets.

But We happily shopped more. Hubby bought Camper shoes at a steal. So the can ride was definitely worth it.

^_^

So that was Sevilla. Eating, seeing, walking, embracing and shopping. 

We were gonna go back to barca for one last day before flying back to Singapore.

So i already planned out a 1-day itinerary for us. 

Las Arenas!!!