After my Austrian exploits with Dad in September 2023, I knew the next place I want to go would be somewhere warm over the Christmas break. Warmer compared to north Germany that is. South Italy? Lisbon? Barcelona? Mainland Spain was tugging at me – I hadn’t set foot there so far. Barcelona would be too full of Christmas travellers, I read. Why not Seville? How did I know of Seville? Most likely because of a friend who is half Spanish and hails from there.
A quick Google search and my mind was made up. Seville seemed unique with its mixture of Christian and Islamic background. On a whim, the flights and a hotel were booked. Over Christmas I was going to spend 5 days in Andalusia.
The intervening months flew by, in the beautiful company of the four amplitude parameters of continuous gravitational wave signals from a rotating neutron star.
On 21st December 2023, at 12 noon, a Lufthansa plane dropped me into Seville, the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. My ally on this trip, a friend from all the way back in my Physics undergraduate days flew in from Belgium. We were in for a visual, musical, cultural and joyous Christmas treat!
The first glimpse of Seville
Suggested Background Music (open in a new tab) : https://open.spotify.com/track/7I24BgfZnziNjnx1Hj5Uqq?si=b4524ffdb1284d5f
On entering the city in the Airport shuttle bus, the first thing that caught my attention was the phenomenon of orange trees. At first it was the, ‘look, is that an orange tree?’ which soon turned into, ‘wait, why are there so many orange trees?’. And finally the acceptance that orange trees are simply a fact of Seville. They were everywhere, claiming the soil with a confidence that comes from sheer prevalence. We soon stopped gushing over them and the bunches of oranges that hung untouched by people,
We left our things in the apartment where we’d be for the next days, and set out to understand Seville, walking towards Plaza de España. We’d hardly walked for ten minutes when the music of Flamenco lured us to our first experience of this very raw performance on the street. Flamenco was one of the top things on my list of things to experience here, and here it was, already presented to us in less than an hour in the city! Filled with sensuous grace and a charming smile on their face the two women swung in a Sevillana. We watched to our heart’s content. I learnt to say Olé!
Walking further, we arrived at the banks of river Guadalquivir, and decided to follow her a bit further to enter the park of Maria Luisa. The Plaza de España lies nestled in the park.
The Plaza de España is an impressive semi-circle whose beauty multiplied due to the time of the day we arrived there. The evening sun played on the walls and the floors of this red stone building, and we stayed on until the onset of the night, seeing it lit up by the yellow lights.
Every commune of Spain has a place in this Plaza that was aimed at showing off Spanish craftsmanship in a 1928 Iberian-American exposition. The stairways are adorned by coloured tiles and lone musicians sat at the landings playing melancholy tunes on their guitars. There is something about Spanish guitar that tugs at my heart and leads me into a deep pensive state.
We returned to our apartment, cooked and sloshed down some Pasta with Spanish wine and went to bed, ready for an early morning the next day.
The Alhambra of Granada
Our day trip to Alhambra started at 7 in the morning. The three hour journey from Seville to Granada was itself very enjoyable. It was quite something to watch the white villages enroute wake up to the orange sun. I listened to music, the song that especially hit the spot was ‘Yun hi chala chat’ from Swades. Other times I listened to Spanish guitar tracks on Spotify, rolled up my Strickjacke into a ball and slept.
In Granada, we started with a walking tour of the Albaicín district.
Suggested Background Music (open in a new tab) : https://open.spotify.com/track/636Z05102fzWgXuVfa5FOO?si=15e38465c9304744
Amidst the walk, you can catch a breathtaking view of the Alhambra and the city of Granada. The rustic music of gypsies here, elevated the experience of the Alhambra in front of us.
I first came to know of the Alhambra at the Pergamon museum in Berlin where they host a dome from the palace. I remember wanting to see the rest of it.
So here I was, in front of the complete Alhambra of Granada, a well-preserved hallmark of the Islamic era of Southern Europe, that I barely had any knowledge about but had clearly left a huge imprint on life here – on the music, the architecture and the evolution of Andalusia.
Just as the view of the Alhambra from the Albaicín is a sight to behold, the view of the city from Alhambra kept me absorbed for a while. Granada is all white and green and in winter, she already silently laments to you of her sufferings under the summer sun.
The Alhambra is a masterpiece of Islamic art, architecture, sensibilities. The name translates to ‘The Red Fortress’, perhaps due to the colour of the walls. The guide though told us that the construction workers, who had to work through the nights, saw the walls shine red under the yellow fire lights. And they began calling it Alhambra. The walls and pillars are covered in dense, intricate carvings of geometric patterns. Colours enter the scene in minimal but important ways.
I think I am, in general, saturated by palaces and scenes of luxury; I had already begun to feel that in Vienna. All these shows of wealth and glory that a few enjoyed due to the privilege of their birth. Of undisputed power over others. At one point in my travels, I’d enjoyed them for their aesthetics, but now I think I need a break from such places in general.
For me, the most interesting aspect of this visit were the carvings on the white walls combined with the realisation that I am in Spain, Europe and not in north India or the Middle East.
Back in the apartment in Seville, after a long hot shower I felt myself relax. Especially my feet, content with the places on earth they had carried me to that day.
Useful practical Information
- The EA Airport bus takes you from the airport to the city on a 4 Euro ticket in roughly 45 minutes.
- We stayed here : https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/a-los-pies-de-la-giralda-by-rentalsevilla-sevilla1.en-gb.html?label=gen173nr-1FCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaDuIAQGYAQm4AQfIAQ3YAQHoAQH4AQ2IAgGoAgO4Av6asKwGwAIB0gIkYjhmYzM4YTgtNjAxNy00Y2E2LWJlMTktNjVmNmJhNDViOTM42AIG4AIB&sid=f2a7caf259a9a6a1bad9a5f972955bc5&aid=304142 I recommend it if you are at least 2 people and staying on for a few days, it becomes economic. It is centrally located and very comfortable. We had to get used to the doors of this old building, otherwise it is a perfect apartment.
- We did this day trip from Seville to see the Alhambra : https://www.viator.com/tours/Seville/Skip-the-Line-Granada-Full-Day-Tour-from-Seville/d556-47960P1 It’s great, but if you can stay a day in Granada, I think it is worth it
All photographs in this post have been clicked by me. The photographs of me have been clicked by my friend.
More photographs related to this post in : https://alleysomind.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/andalusia-i/
Alleys 
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