(Last Updated on May 18, 2025)

The train sped past the sun-drenched landscapes of Andalusia at a jaw-dropping speed of 300 km/h. This was the fastest we had ever travelled on land! Despite the speed, everything was calm and stable inside. We were travelling from Barcelona to Seville in Spain for the next leg of our Western Europe trip.

Getting into the city of Seville

We exited the station (which looked more like an airport) and went on a short side-quest. We had to get our flight tickets printed for the next day and walked into the nearest tabac shop (yup – tobacco shops often function as multi-purpose outlets selling local transport tickets and printouts). Prints in hand, we took a bus to Plaza de Armas – the main bus station of Seville. Some of you may have heard of “Plaza de Armas” in Latin American countries as well. It is a common term used to refer to town squares and literally translates to “Weapons Square” (no weapons kept here in the modern times).

Seville is a very unique city – with architecture and culture that are different from the rest of Europe. Let’s take a quick look at its history.

A brief background of Seville

Seville is the largest city in the region of Andalusia and lies in the south-west of the Iberian peninsula.

It started off as the Roman city of Hispalis. It was also called Ishbiliyah during the Umayyad times – the Umayyad Caliphate stretched all the way from India to Spain at its height. Seville (Ishbiliyah) was the capital of the region of Al-Andalus. We had also seen structures from that time when we were in Jordan.

Power changed hands multiple times over the centuries until it became part of the Spanish Empire and now the city of Seville in the country of Spain. The architecture is a unique blend of Islamic, Gothic and Renaissance styles where buildings have been repurposed over the years. Mosque minarets became cathedral bell towers, governor mansions became palaces. That’s what makes Seville a unique place worth visiting!

Finding our BnB

We realised that our Airbnb apartment was on the other side of the Guadalquivir river and we needed an outstation bus to get there. After some asking around, we found the bus at the Plaza de Armas bus station. We got off at a roundabout and walked towards the location.

We did not have a local SIM card (those were the days of extreme “budget” travel) and were relying on offline maps. Right outside the building, our host awaited us – an elderly lady. She could speak only in Spanish but she already had the solution for us. She spoke fast into her phone and Google translated it to English. And for our response, she translated it back. I was super impressed by her and the ease in which she operated the translation – it was clear she had hosted a ton of foreigners before.

It was a beautiful house – well lit and very nicely done. After a quick walkthrough of the place, we left for the city.

Exploring the streets of Seville

The best way to explore any city is by foot. And the streets of Seville are perfect for it! There are entire neighbourhoods with cute houses and colourful gardens.

Most houses had balconies and even the tiniest ones were full of plants and flowers. We wondered if we would ever get a place of our own. The roads got narrower as we went deeper into the old town.

Our first agenda was to get a booking for a Flamenco show at Casa de la Guitarra. We had read online that it was one of the few places that didn’t use microphones. The show would happen in a small room and the experience would be more intimate. Luckily, we got tickets for later that evening. Off to explore other parts of the town!

The giant mushrooms of Seville

One of the most unique structures in the city is the Setas de Sevilla or Las Setas, which translates to “the mushrooms”. We reached La Encarnacion square where it was located and walked around looking for the entrance. After asking some locals, we figured out that the entrance was at the basement. As we got our tickets, we saw a museum there – apparently during construction, they had discovered ruins underground dating back to the Roman and Al-Andalus times.

The structure is shaped like six parasols which resemble mushrooms and you can walk between the parasols. The structure is primarily made of wood and has walkways on top. We walked around and enjoyed great views of the city skyline and walkways.

The partly-Indian roots of Flamenco

It was almost time for the Flamenco show but we were hungry. We were in the land of tapas and a small plate of food was exactly what we needed! We picked up patata bravas (a version of potato wedges) and went to the venue.

Flamenco is an art form that is native to Southern Spain. It is also listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The cultural origin of the art form is credited in part to the Romani people – originally from the areas near Rajasthan, India. You may have heard of the term “gypsy” used to refer to a group of nomadic people – this was basically a reference to the Romani people (now, the term “gypsy” is considered a racial slur against them). The Romani brought their dance and music culture to Andalusia which merged with the existing Arab, North African and Spanish influences.

As promised, it was a very small room with hardly 40 people. The stage was in a corner with a man sitting with a guitar on a chair, a lady performing the dance and a man singing. Videos were not allowed, so I’ll put up some photos below. The show depicted a story of a bull and matador. It was a powerful performance and we had goosebumps throughout the show! Since there were no mics or speakers, we could clearly make out the emotion and passion in the singing and dancing. Their sounds echoed in the small room and made the experience all the more memorable! A must-do in Seville!

Time for some more Sevilla tapas

As we walked back to the bus station, we looked for places to have dinner. We saw a small hole-in-the-wall place serving up tapas. It was called Bar Kiko de la Chari. An old lady sat behind the counter and the place was run by her family. We ordered many plates – meatballs, croquettes and sausages. To go with it, she recommended tinto de Verano. We had no clue what it was but said ok. It was basically wine mixed with orange soda! I never thought this could be a combo but it actually worked well with the food! Do check it out if you’re in the area.

The last bus back to our place was at midnight and that’s the one we got!

Another day of exploring

The next morning, we packed our bags and left. We left them in a locker at the bus station and continued exploring the city. There were a bunch of places we wanted to visit. First stop – Plaza de Espana.

The Plaza de Espana is a magnificent structure. Originally built to host the Ibero-American Exposition in the year 1929, it is currently used as offices for government departments. I remembered it from the movie “The Dictator” as the place where Admiral-General Aladeen addresses the people of Wadiya.

All around the plaza, there are tiled alcoves – one for every province in Spain. These make excellent photo backdrops – since we had reached early in the day, we didn’t have to wait around for other tourists to move.

The most iconic place in Seville – Alcazar

We ran along the orange orchards towards the Royal Alcazar of Seville – the historic palace complex.

With Islamic and Christian architecture shaping its structure and gardens, it is beautiful. We had seen it on Game of Thrones and were really looking forward to it.

Before we even got to the entrance, we saw a long queue. These people were standing for tickets to the gardens only. The inner chamber tickets were apparently booked out 10 days ago! We stood in line for 15 mins and realised that it would take forever. After evaluating all options, we gave up and went to Casa de Pilatos. On the way, we took a quick detour and checked out the cathedral. Nothing much to add about it though!

Casa de Pilatos

We had tried getting into this smaller palace the previous day but it was closed by the time we got there. Built in the 16^th century, it was a beautiful house with huge gardens. The colours were lovely and the mixed architecture made it unique – influences of Persian/Arabic/Turkish/Spanish.

Even though we couldn’t visit the larger palace, we were happy to have experienced the architecture.

Quick lunch and off to the airport

Our time at Seville was almost done. It ended on a slightly sour note as the place we went to for lunch was pretty horrible with bad food. But we had plenty of unique experiences and memories from the city. The best part was that we still had more things to do to warrant another visit!

We collected our luggage from the locker and took a bus to the airport. Our next destination – Lisbon for a short layover and then the Azores. You can read the Azores blogs here:

• The Azores Itinerary – the volcanic islands in the Atlantic
• Ponta Delgada – Whales, Volcanic Craters and Thermal Pools
• Discovering Lisbon – the food and sights

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