1) My visit to Seville was ill-timed in that a) my one full day there was a Sunday, and b) Monday, my departure day, was the Feast of the Assumption, which is a big deal in Seville. So not everything I might have wanted to do was available to me.
2) After a big hotel breakfast, I sallied forth to the Playa d'Espanya, which a few people told me I needed to see since it had been used as a set in Star Wars. OK then! It appears to be a semi-circular building of the 19th century containing at its lowest level a series of niches, one for each principal town in Spain it seems, paved with ornamental tile sharing a significant event from the town's history. It's free, and attractive to tourists of all languages and the vendors who serve them with refreshments, souvenirs, and entertainment. And also those women with sprigs of rosemary. There's quite a lot to observe and assimilate here, including a moat or a canal or something where you could rent a boat to row.
3) The day was getting hot, and I continued through the spacious garden park that Google Maps said stretched to the river, from which I was going to turn right and go to the Torre del Oro. This park, too, was filled with shade trees and palms, rose beds, ornamental water pieces and fountains. This time, the bird life was more varied, encompassing swans, a flock of white pigeons, mallard ducks, and even Muscovy ducks, just like the kind that used to swim by our camp on the Toledo Bend reservoir in Texas.
Muscovy ducks!
3a) Sitting on a bench under a pergola, I was made aware without anyone actually saying anything that I was sitting in a photo op. How fortunate for me, as moments after I moved from that spot, a family of five with a guide passed through on their segways, and one of the young girls fell down nearly at my feet. So much for that photo op, Spanish tourists! I moved a little further away as the guide instructed them further about segway use.
4) My garden wanderings brought me to a slightly different spot on the river than expected, but I could still find my way up the Guadalquivir River. My next destination was the Torre del Oro, which has been around since God was a boy and is now used as a naval museum. This is not one of those super-high and narrow towers like Sagrada Familia, so I felt I could manage it . . . but when I came to the top, I didn't approach the parapet, nor continue to the very highest level.
Not getting any closer to the edge!
4a) It was also delightfully air-conditioned.
5) You can't love Carmen as I do and visit Seville and not go to a bullring. I, having planned nothing in advance for Seville, forgot this until the Plaza del Toros was just right there in front of me. So I bought a ticket and enjoyed a series of exhibits on the history of bullfighting, amusing ornamental tile, and a sun-blasted moment in the arena before departure. Not once was I tempted to say "Olé!" thank goodness.
6) Tile had been on my mind to seek out in Seville, and I had targeted a couple places on the other side of the river. Alas, being Sunday, the shops were closed, but the little tile museum was open, and they had a very interesting collection. But they didn't have a shop.
One of the mens room tiles at the bullring.
7) Besides Carmen and bullfighting, the other thing Seville is known for is oranges. Back on my side of the river, I sought out a little perfumer to try to take with me the scent of Seville. After a lot of wandering around, I found the shop, closed for Sunday.
7a) But I did discover that a lot of these narrow streets are roofed by canvas awnings to deflect the sun -- ingenious and elegant.
8) After a drink on the hotel terrace, my path to a recommended restaurant took me by the cathedral -- and its door was open! I'd already missed my chance for a guided tour the day before, and because of the Feast of the Assumption, there would be no tours on Monday until after my train left. So I joined the people entering and got my only look at this incredible house of worship.
I can take a hint . . . rumors to the contrary.
8a) But I did notice the sign on one monitor, in four languages, that read "The Holy Mass is being celebrated at this moment. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER if you do not intend to participate in the service. Thank you for your understanding." While I was clearly far from the only tourist who'd seized the opportunity, I took the hint.
Really, everyone wanted a look inside this incredible church.
9) A gin and tonic and tapas at a sun-blasted place near the river passed the time until the restaurant I had been recommended to for dinner, Taberna del Arenal, set out all its tables. It was OK -- I don't even remember what I had now -- but what I remember most was a family party of seven (one nonna, two young couples, and two toddlers in two very large strollers -- clustering around a table for four next to me, and the happiness exchanged between the nonna and her grandchild in the stroller nearest me.
I mean really, so many smartphones. But who am I to judge, as I was using my phone to take this photo?
10) Walking back to my hotel after dinner, I noticed people lingering in the street as though a parade might be coming up, and I did maybe sorta kinda hear some music or at least rhythm coming from some distant place, so I decided to hang around with a cup of raspberry sorbet. And I'm glad I did, 'cause it was the procession for the Feast of the Assumption next day. This went at a very Spanish pace (read: very, very slow) involving drums, dozens of brass players, and after a great deal of time, the lozenge-shaped banner of the Assumption, surrounded by a galaxy of smartphones on tripods recording every moment. Solemn, lovely, active.
No, oh neaux, I will not be danse-ing la seguidille, but I will be boirons-ing du manzanilla . . .
11) One cannot love Carmen as i do and come to Seville and not have a glass of manzanilla sherry. ("J'irais danser la seguidille, boirons du manzanilla chez mon ami Lillas Pastia.") So I headed up to the hotel roofdeck, almost entirely empty, stretched out on a chaise to contemplate the night sky, the continuing music and hubbub of the procession audible from the street, sipping on that excellent glass of sherry -- grateful for every moment of this amazing trip.
Crossing the Guadalquivir River near midday.