FEMALE

Sunday, Jan. 29

Wah! I miss Paree! Well, I'm sure we'll be fine here in Seville once

we are more familiar with it. But the change in food offerings alone

is a huge takeaway. Tried to find some good cheese in a small

supermarket, and the best I could find was an inferior French brie...

snore. However, it's Sunday, and most stores are closed. Cafés are

thronged with Sunday celebrants drinking the excellent local Cruzcampo

beer, children are running amok, and the tapas scene has yet to get

going. Everything is astonishingly cheap--Paul says we're in reverse

sticker shock. (But what is there to buy?) It's 55 degrees and the

sun's out, which is more than Parisians are experiencing.

Our vrbo rental is just $67/night for a full apartment, well located,

nice landlord. However, we're still trying to heat it up, and it's

pretty dark... a cave, actually. I plan to buy stronger light bulbs

tomorrow, and maybe an entire lamp. The decor is fairly strange--our

landlord says a decorator was hired. Hmmm. See photo.

I'm having more trouble (so far) with the different Spanish here than

I expected. Vamos a ver, but they do use the lisping "theta" of

Castille, which combined with rapid delivery makes their discourse

hard to follow. I suspect they find our Spanish equally odd.

Tuesday, Jan. 31

All is forgiven: we love Seville! Yesterday it was sunny and warm

(68ºF), and we walked ourselves silly. In part because we went in

circles most of the time. I swear it's easier to get lost here than in

Venice! NO right angles, constant name changes on the same short

street, no sense of compass points: even our taxista from the airport

said he had no idea where north was!  One older man, practicing his

English, tried to help us with directions by saying, "You go to a big

building and turn left down a little street." I had to laugh; that

could describe any corner!

We are well out of the touristy area but within walking distance: that

central part of town is almost unbearably cute, apart from being

peppered with huge, gorgeous castles and churches. I'm sure you'll be

skimming through our photos saying, "Ho, hum!," but we couldn't

resist. Our late risings are out of synch with the hours here: there's

a long siesta about the time we get out, then shops open again around

5 until 9 or so. And no one (except tourists) dines before 8. We were

urged to arrive at a recommended restaurant last night at 7, and were

almost the first guests. Then it filled up with a few gringos and

mostly hoards of Koreans... the locals would arrive much later.

Castillian Spanish comes easier to my ear now, and although people

don't greet you in the street, once you enter into conversation they

can be almost as fun as Mexicans. And I found some killer pastries

down the street from us. Last night's meal was a tad nouveau for me,

but tasty... and again, cheap! Oops—almost forgot to mention that most

streets are lined with bitter orange (for marmalade) trees, looking

like Xmas lollipops. And of course the ubiquitous tiled entryways and

courtyards... the place is lousy with tile!

What am I doing here?

El Rinconcillo (1670), Pamela (70)

Those are hams hanging overhead

Our tab @ El Rinconcillo

Sevilla Cathedral by night

Giralda by night

Giralda

Bar Estrella

Late-night dinner w/Toros (and strangers)

Más Toros

Church in our 'hood