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We just had a long weekend over here in Portugal. As in almost all Western European countries, May 1st is a holiday. I took advantage of this long and beautiful weekend (with temperatures around 25° C), to do a lot of reading, and last Saturday, I drove to Sevilla, which is only 150 kilometers away from where I live. Sevilla is one of my favourite cities in the world, with a beautiful architecture, being the capital of Andalucia, and with almost one and a half million inhabitants, being the fourth largest city of Spain, following Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

Every now and then, on a free day, I love to wander around the small streets of the ancient city center. The day before yesterday, I parked my car very close to the “Plaza de España”, which is situated right in the middle of the “Parque Maria Luisa”. Both were built for the 1929 “Exposición Ibero-Americana”. The “Plaza de España” is an outstanding example of Regionalist Architecture, a quite bizarre and lofty mixture of diverse historic styles with all Spanish provinces, ornate with typical glazed tiles.

From the “Plaza de España”, it is a short walk to Sevilla’s cathedral. This cathedral was built on the former site of the city’s mosque, after the “Reconquista”. It is Spain’s largest cathedral, both in terms of area and volume. It’s tower, the “Giralda” which was originally a minaret, was converted in a bell tower, topped with a statue, known locally as “El Giraldillo”, representing faith. The tower’s interior was built with ramps instead of stairs, so that the ancient leaders of the city were able to ride on horseback to the top.

I continued my walk, and passed by the “Real Maestranza”, Sevilla’s bullring. Sevilla is a city of great bullfight tradition and the birthplace of important, well-known figures in bullfighting circles. During the “Feria de Abril” (which ended yesterday), every afternoon, six bulls from the most representative “ganaderías” (cattle ranches) enter the bullring to be confronted by the bullfighters.

By the way, if ever you are planning to visit this wonderful city, come during this “Feria de Abril”. It starts two weeks after Eastern Sunday, and lasts one whole week. Some “Sevillanos” are living an entire week on this “Feria”. It has a total area of 450000 m³ which is divided into 25 sections with a total of 15 streets, all named after famous bullfighters. More than one thousand “casetas” are set up in the “Real de la Feria”, belonging to families, groups of friends, associations and districts, which are being open to all visitors. In the “Calle del Infierno” (Hell’s street - so called because of the noise which many consider to be “hellish”), more than 400 fairground activities can be found. Most of the women are wearing beautiful and typical Flamenco dresses, while the men are dressed in their best suits.

Anyway, I passed the “Torre del Oro” on my way to the “Real de la Feria”, which is situated just outside the city center. It was night when I arrived, and unfortunately, the battery of my camera was down when I got there. So… you’ll have to wait until next year to see the pictures of the Feria. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy the other pictures below here…

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