Precioso Sevilla!

“Found the sea like the river at Seville, "thanks to God," says the Admiral. The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it”

Cristopher Columbus, Monday, 8 October, 1492

I apologise however, there will be no posts for the next few weeks as I'm off to Spain with three like-minded friends for our annual cultural immersion! We fly into Malaga, the main tourist hub for many Brits transferring on to the Costas we however, we will be heading in the opposite direction!

Our first stop will be Sevilla! It won't be my first visit and certainly won't be my last I can’t think of a better introduction to this wonderful part of this vibrant and exciting country. The region of Andalusia is the romantic Spain of yore — Moorish architecture and bullfighting and flamenco — and Sevilla is its astoundingly beautiful capital. I have the Irish disease, itchy feet, subsequently I’ve seen a lot of Spain over the years, whilst I haven’t seen every Spanish city renowned for its beauty — Toledo, Segovia, and Santiago de Compostela are a few notable absences — I feel like Sevilla is so, so much more beautiful than any other city in Spain. Sevilla is just insanely gorgeous from every angle. Just walking down the street, you could come across a stunning, intricately carved building, or a perfect Spanish plaza lined with brightly colored buildings and horse-drawn carriages, or an effortlessly stylish tapas bar on a street corner!

Little wonder that the most, aristocratic, glamorous, enigmatic, esoteric woman Spain has ever seen, La Duquesa de Alba, made her home in the beautiful Palacio de las Dueñas, one of Sevilla’s most iconic buildings! Never heard of her? Insanely rich, reputedly having more money than Queen Liz who incidentally, she used to play with when they were children! A serial marryer, she was married multiple times, collecting male members of the aristocracy like others collect stamps, finishing with a commoner of all things, twenty five years her junior!

She may have been royal, but it’s her kick ass attitude that makes her the ultimate glamour icon. Think, Liz Taylor meets Queen Liz meets Joan Rivers only with bigger jewels and pots more cash – I love her!!

The Palacio de las Dueñas was only opened to the public recently following her sad death at 88 in 2014, it is an eclectic treasure trove and number one on my must-see list! Another must see is the Plaza de España, another one of all the outrageously beautiful places to see in Sevilla. The plaza was built in the 1920s in preparation for Sevilla’s 1929 hosting of the Ibero-American Exposition’s World’s Fair. Sevilla was made over during that time, and Plaza de España is undoubtedly its most endearing aesthetic legacy. I especially loved the alcoves. There is an alcove for each province in Spain, and they are each decorated in the province’s style. It’s a Spanish tradition to come to Plaza de España and pose in your province’s alcove.

If you’re of the mindset that Sevilla’s beauty is all about the classical and traditional you have to check out the Metropol Parasol, locally as; “en forma de hongo”, loosely translated as “the mushrooms”!

A stalwart of Sevilla’s modern art scene, these infamous mushrooms loom over part of the city — but they do not detract from the rest of Sevilla's beguiling beauty, they simply remind us that art is a living, breathing thing that evolves into new shapes and forms as the years fly by. Sevilla became one of my absolute favorite places in Spain, for many reasons. It’s a perfectly sized city — not too large and very walkable, like York or indeed Dublin. Don’t miss the tapas is fabulous, I could go on but it would double the size of the blog so, let’s keep that in reserve for my return perhaps. It was also the warmest place I visited in Spain, with temperatures in the high 70s in early March, it served to defrost my cold Irish bones! I will be on my wat there this time next week, I’m so excited I could burst! One thing is certain, I know this will not be my last trip to Sevilla, I am absolutely positive about that. Now… how about you?