Over the last few years, we decided to quit jumping from place to place and take more time in one place when we travel. Accordingly, in 2022, we spent 2 weeks in Florence, in 2023, we spent 2 weeks in Venice, and in 2024, we spent 2 weeks in Barcelona. We enjoyed these trips so much we decided more would be better, so in search of a place that would be warm in March 2025, and full of history, great art and interesting architecture, we decided to spend 3 weeks in Seville. Then we thought, why not add a week in Madrid? Instead of taking a flight from Seville to Madrid and then back to the states, why not take the train to Madrid and spend a week there? So that’s what we did.
We rented an Airbnb in Seville in the Triana neighborhood. It was right next to the Mercado de Triana, where we bought lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and really good fresh fish. We could walk across the iconic Isabel II bridge to the tourist area and see the usual tourist sites, which we did. There were always lots of people on the Guadalquivir River rowing 8 person boats, or 2 person boats, or 1 person boats. They have a rowing club there and people are constantly out rowing. Or is it “crewing?”
On each side of the river there is a riverwalk, quite beautiful, and we walked up and down each side of the river several times over the 3 weeks. We also spent a lot of time in our neighborhood of Triana, walking around slowly, taking in the local area. Twice we saw religious processions where local Triana churches seemed to be practicing for Semana Santa, Holy Week. Large groups of men would carry floats with statues of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, followed by a marching band, marching slowly, playing sad tunes, and followed by a large crowd. We loved being in Triana.
Of course we saw all the usual tourist sites, which I will not detail here. We enjoyed going to the area that had the Cathedral and Alcazar and just sitting and watching the tourists, and wandering around discovering things. I had studied Spanish for 6 months, so I could communicate basic stuff really well. Everyone we met was very friendly, especially when I tried to speak Spanish to them. I was surprised so few people spoke English. I strongly recommend if you go to Spain, learn some basic Spanish first and learn to use Google Translate.
One of my favorite things in Seville was Hospital de los Venerables. It’s tucked away in a narrow warren of streets, so it was fun just finding the place. The little cathedral in there is so beautiful. We like going into cathedrals and just sitting for a while, and when we went into that one, someone was playing the organ. We love classical music, so the free organ concert was very enjoyable. We and maybe a couple of other tourists were the only people in there.
We must have seen a dozen different cathedrals. My favorites were the one at Hospital de los Venerables, also Santa Maria Magdalena, and Iglesia Colegial de Divino Salvador. Those were my favorites. Cathedral of Seville does not make my list of favorites, although we sat and studied the outside of it for long periods of time, noticing where the style would subtly change, indicating where they must have stopped and started construction over the years it was being built. We did go inside, but for some reason, although I love cathedrals, it didn’t click with me.
Seville is thoroughly planted with Orange trees along all the roadways and sidewalks. Someone said there are 70,000 of them. But you can’t eat them because they are bitter. They export them to England to make marmalade. My wife tried one. It was really bitter.