Andalusia, Spain - Seville 1

We made a trip to Andalusia, Spain recently and stayed two cities, Seville and Granada. We flew into Seville, the capital and largest city of Andalusia. Sunshine, blue sky and not-so-cold air in the middle of February immediately made me happy! It was afternoon when we checked in at our hotel. We headed to La Malvaloca, a tapas restaurant to try of course, tapas!

We ordered a few of dishes to share. Smoked sardine toast on caramelized pastry and Pico de Gallo was pretty good. Traditional Andalusian pork cheek stew with sweet potato parmentier was very tender and tasty. Creole Argentine black angus empanada with chimichurri was juicy and delicious! We ended up with ordering one more empanada. 

There was a huge tree at the center of the square in front of the restaurant. We saw the same kind of tree several times during the trip but I still don't know the name of the tree...

Setas de Sevilla, or "Mushrooms of Seville" was located just across the road. Designed by Jürgen Hermann Mayer, German architect and completed in 2011, the sequence of undulating waffle parasols claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. The stunning modern structure in the old town of Seville looked a little odd, but perhaps diversity has been a charm of the city historically.

There was a gelato shop nearby. How could we pass it by? 

I chose Crema Catalana (Spanish version of crème brûlée) and Natillas. I knew the former but I didn't know the latter. The lady at the store told me it's a Spanish traditional flavor, which didn't help me understand it exactly. Nonetheless I tried it. Later Google told me Natillas is Spanish custard that is commonly made with milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. That means Crema Catalana and Natillas were almost the same thing, but Crema Catalana had a bright citrus flavor and Natillas contained cookie bites. They were clearly distinct from each other and I liked both.

J's pick was Nata con Nueces (cream with walnuts) and Pistachio. I tasted both a bit. They were very nice too!

Then we visited the Church of the Divine Savior or 'La iglesia colegial del Divino Salvador.' It was built between the 17th and 18th century on a site where a basilica rose in the Roman era and a mosque during the Moorish period. The baroque style church is the second largest church in the city after the Cathedral of Seville. Actually it is a collegiate church of the Cathedral. The main alter and chapels were massive and shiny golden! Statues attached to the alters were lively polychromed (so many pink angels!), which was new to me.

The church had a quiet backyard. It was a nice place to rest my eyes from watching the details of the church interior. 

We walked to a promenade called Alameda de Hércules. It was supposed to be the oldest public garden in Europe. However, it was just a large plain open space. There weren't really anything to see except the two columns that were taken from a Roman temple devoted to Hercules. 

What really surprised me in Seville was there were orange trees everywhere. How did I know they were orange trees? So many oranges were growing on the trees! How lovely!

I also liked winding and narrow cobblestone streets in the historic district. Plus, the streets were so clean! It took only a couple of hours since we arrived for me to fall in love with Seville.

To be continued...