Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 54: Torremolinos to Seville

It was a fairly easy drive from Torremolinos to Seville, heading up through the mountains of southern Spain, which look an awful lot like southern California.

But I was not being random when I said it was easy from Torremolinos to Seville.  Once I got to Seville, things got REALLY complicated.

My hotel is located in the historic district, a warren of streets that are way too narrow for just about any automobile, much less a Volvo SUV.  Google Maps kept sending me down walk can generously be called passageways.  Look at the photos – those are practically boulevards compared to what I was navigating.

This resulted in more than a few scrapes on Plucky Mobile 2’s wheels, making me very glad I got every single damage waiver I could possibly sign up for when I got the car.

Google also kept trying to send me down streets that were closed and/or one way going the opposite direction of the way I was going.  I did this for about an hour, trying to figure out how to get around it and get to the hotel.  I finally got to within about 200 meters and simply couldn’t go any further – I was stuck.  So, I called the hotel and a very nice bellboy came down and rescued me.  We left the car blocking a road and took my bags to the hotel then he went back and drove the car to the parking garage.  I gave him a very big tip.

Once I got into the hotel, I felt a lot better.  It’s the Querencia de Sevilla, a Marriott Autograph Collection resort and both the hotel and my room, with a sweeping view of Seville from the terrace, are fantastic.  I may never leave.  I may not have a choice because I have no idea how I’m going to drive out of here on Sunday.

This area of Seville is flat-out gorgeous, with historic buildings, shaded pedestrian walkways, old churches, and architectural detail that is endlessly photographable. 

Upon the recommendation of the staff at the hotel, I stopped for a late lunch at La Favorita, a tapas restaurant, and had the roasted chicken, juicy and bursting with flavor, and a drunken pork tenderloin (done in a whiskey gravy).  Both were excellent.

My first official stop of the day was the Seville Flamenco Museum, a small facility that traces the roots, culture, and history of the dance that is a part of this area’s fabric.  There are lots of videos and audio recordings, some costumes, an art gallery, and several performance spaces where they do live Flamenco shows.

Inspired, I made my way back to the hotel and immediately started Googling Flamenco shows.  There are about a billion, but some research drove me to Tablao Flamenco Las Setas.

Oh, by the way, on the way back to the hotel, I saw a place called Chok, as in chocolate, and I got a brownie and a massive chocolate cake like thing with fruit on top.  Very happy.

But I had some time before the show started, so I went to get some hidden nun candy.  Okay, I should probably explain that.

Convento de San Leandro is a 17^th century convent with cloistered nuns who make candy and cookies to help support their habits (so to speak).  Because they are cloistered, they can have no visual contact with the outside world, so you go up to a wooden carousel in a door. There is a menu on the door but you will not be greeted – no Spanish cloistered nun says, “Hey, how ya doin?  What can I get you sweetie?”  You just say what you want and a few moments later, the carousel spins around with what you asked for.  You put in money, it spins, and you get your change. 

The candy is called Yemes de San Leandro, made with egg yolks and covered in sugar frosting.  If you need a sugar rush, eat one of these and you will be bouncing off the walls for hours.

Then it was on the Flamenco show, which is in a theatre on the plaza beneath Setas de Sevilla, or the Metropol Parasol.  It’s an artistic canopy of sorts over Plaza de la Encarnacion designed by German architect Jurgen Mayer and is considered to be the largest wooden structure in the world.  Underneath the whole thing is an archeological museum that preserved the Moorish and Roman ruins they found when they built the whole thing and up on top they have a massive terrace that hosts an immersive LED show.

But my destination was the Flamenco show, and it was incredible.  I’ve never seen one live and the passion, the anger, the joy, the emotion… it’s almost overwhelming.  There was a world-class guitarist, two singers, a box percussionist, and four dancers and each number built on the last, taking the audience on a journey that left everyone cheering at the end.

I may go see another one tomorrow night.

Tomorrow is another day in Seville and then I move on to Portugal with a nervous eye northward. 

Central and northwestern Spain and southwestern France are experiencing devastating wildfires that have resulted in the evacuations of more than 80,000 people, some forced to flee on boats into the ocean.  I don’t want to make a major natural disaster all about me, but the drive from Porto to Bilbao, which I’m scheduled to make in a week, would take me directly through the worst of the affected areas.  Getting around it would turn what would be a six-hour drive into a twelve-hour one.  Then the next day I drive from Bilbao to Bordeaux, which also has several active fires.  Hopefully things will be brought under control by then, but I’m watching the news to see if I need to change my plans.  Stay tuned.