Early morning in the Barrio Santa Cruz.

Mornings in the old city are very special. The restaurants are opening, the Common Swifts are wheeling overhead, having left their nests on La Giralda, the carriages are lining up looking for clients for a morning paseo, and tens of thousands of tourists are lining up at the gates to the Alcazar and the Cathedral for a morning entry. While we can’t be sure, it seems to me that the crowds here are bigger than in the past, particularly noticeable when you get behind a tour group that’s clogging the narrow lanes in the oldest parts of the town. As the sun rises, you appreciate why those lanes are so narrow – they give the least exposure to the sky and provide shade on at least one side of the street save for midday when the Sun is directly overhead. In this climate, the weather decides the architecture. It’s a pleasant time for a stroll so after coffee (where the barista now knows me by name) that’s what we did.

Things you might see on your perambulations.

Following our Circuit de Santa Cruz we headed towards the Rio Guadalquivir. One of our local friends was taken aback when I told him we lived a short distance from the Rio Grande. It turns out that this local river translates to “Great River” in the original Arabic that lent it its name. The Conquistadors who named our river sailed to the Americas, departing from Sevilla on this river and carrying the name across the ocean and many miles north from Mexico City to “El Norte,” in search of gold and glory.

And speaking of adventure, parked alongside the Torre de Oro (the original treasure house from that time) was the Nao Victoria, the only ship among Magellan’s Armada de la Especiería (spice fleet) to complete the first circumnavigation of the globe. The fleet left Sevilla in August 1519 and the Victoria returned 3 years later in September 1522 manned by only 18 of the original 245 seaman who departed. The boat we saw was a replica, built in 1991 that has sailed all over the world. The original was lost with all hands in 1570 on a sail from Sevilla to the Antilles.

Belles Artes Museum.

We visited the Belles Artes on our first trip here in 2013. Housed in a convent that was converted in 1839, today it is the second most important Spanish art gallery, second only to the Prado. It prominently features paintings in the local Baroque style, as well as a nice collection of paintings by Murillo, Sevilla’s most prominent artist. It leans heavily toward religious art, of which I am including my two favorites below. The building itself is worth the 1.5€ entrance fee due to the interior gardens. You can spend the day sitting on a bench in the shade, listening to the birds and smelling the orange blossoms.

Sevilla then and now.

There were a few paintings depicting Sevilla of the past, one of which really caught my eye since we’d just walked by that spot on the way to the museum. Triana lies on the far side of the river, a neat little community known for its tile works, trim pastel buildings, and romantic spots for a tapas dinner. What a difference between today and 1880.

Bodyless Flying Baby Heads.

Flying baby angels, known as “Pitti” (thanks Barbara) are well known in religious art. But unique to the Spanish Baroque are Pitti that are nothing more than a head and a pair of wings. We may have seen one another time, but they are scarce, and they have stuck with us all these years.

Cool Storefronts.

Sevilla is a feast for the eyes when it comes to storefronts. We’ve taken a lot of pictures in the past of them, and they probably deserve a blog of their own. Between bakeries, candy stores, and a host of shops catering to Flamenco, you could easily spend a morning taking nothing but photos of shop windows.

The only Buckskin in Sevilla.

Yesterday afternoon while I was fighting with Xfinity customer service, MLW was enjoying her afternoon sitting on the balcony watching the world go by. Our plaza is on the route for the carriage rides and we get to see every manner of horse clip-clop by. Dappled grays and bays are the typical colors, but yesterday a single buckskin went by 3 times. This morning, it passed us during our Santa Cruz tour and MLW said, “We need a picture” and I said, “After him!” We went down one street, across Constitución past the Archivo de Los Indios, and took a turn by the cathedral where thankfully he joined the line of carriages for a rest. Winded, we managed to get an intimate portrait for our favorite Buckskin Mother, Mary. These are for you!

La Vuelta de Carrillada.

As the day wound down and the temperature started to drop, we went out looking for dinner. Choosing a restaurant we’d patronized in the past, we ordered wine and three tapas – tomatoes with tuna, pork loin in whisky sauce, and pork cheeks in sherry. It became clear that we were now in the middle of an unplanned culinary grand tour – of Carrillada (pork cheeks) and Solomillo (pork loin.) Three nights, three Carrilladas, two nights, two Solomillos. In terms of the former, tonight’s was the best, a nice middle ground between heavily sherry-influenced (1st night) and fairly mild (2nd night.) Tonight’s Solomillo was different but about equally as tasty. The meal was great, and once again the house wines surpassed anything we would have had at home. But the special treat of the night was the music – a wacky tape of Elvis, Credence Clearwater, Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Pretenders, and a handful of 80’s 1st Wave hits. Not what you’d expect in a rustic wood-paneled bar in Andalusia, but nice foot-tapping diversion while enjoying a meal.