Seville, Spain
…and Arcos de la Frontera
Taking the road from Ronda to Seville we stopped at a little town my Grandma recommended called Arcos de la Frontera with sweeping views of the valley below. The town is built on top of a hill with churches Christians built on top of former mosques and stacked white houses with navy blue accents. It was the perfect rest break for lunch and a walk… and Winston got spoiled at Gastrobar El Retablo where he helped us eat a ribeye steak and frites! We had no intention of ordering steak but the waitress was insistent once she saw Winston!
With full bellies we landed in Seville (Se – Vee – Uh) and I fell in love. If I didn’t have the strong pull I already felt in Barcelona I think that would have been my choice. The blooming orange trees lined colorful blocks, their plazas were grand and featured live music and dance, there are gorgeous parks and it just felt more intimate and livable.
My favorite day of the road trip was in Seville, and it started with another thermal bath experience. We went to the AIRE ancient baths in Seville and took in the panoramic views of the city, including the famous Seville Cathedral (where the tomb of Christopher Columbus lies) while bathing in an outdoor roof-top tub that we had all to ourselves. After one of the best massages of my life I was in full relaxation mode, so we slowly wandered through the Parque de María Luisa and made our way to Plaza de España. The Plaza is the size of five fútbol fields, or “pitches” and is adorned with colorful azulejos. (Azulejos are glazed, painted tiles that you typically see in Spain and Portugal). We sat in one of the alcoves and watched live impromptu flamenco!
Watching the dancers and their raw, real emotions I was overcome with all the feels and tears just started streaming down my face. It was a lot of things… one being how the dancers and musicians were that passionate about their art and the other was just pure gratitude of the moment and the reality that I am traveling around Spain with my husband and pup, exploring, relaxing, learning, and being fulfilled by just being.
Plaza de España
The other days in Seville were great too! We stayed in a retro decorated place in Plaza los Maldonados that was walkable to everything and watched the USA World Cup game against Wales at an Irish Pub where we met an older Englishman named Phil who had great comebacks at the rowdy Americans who pretended to know the rules of his beloved fútbol (or to us, soccer). My favorite one was this American guy wearing a man bun who kept yelling “Give him a card!” literally every time the ball was kicked so Phil would yell back “Get in the hole!” referencing golf of course and the fact that this guy had no idea what he was yelling about.
Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of where I come from but sometimes the stereotypes of Americans in Europe are spot on, and no time showed that more than watching the USA in the World Cup… like the time we (the USA) were definitely losing and an American tried to rouse the bar up by singing God Bless America at the top of his lungs. Face palm. Loud, silly Americans couldn’t ruin our time though, we loved the city too much. But it was time to head to our last stop… Madrid!