Category: Spain

After finishing up lunch at Petite Comite, we had one more stop in mind. This is one even I got rather excited about; Seville Cathedral, the third largest church in Europe.

Getting in was rather quick as the lines weren't very long.

And the place is very impressive.

Huge pillars and high vaulted ceilings…….the sheer immense size is quite amazing. There are 80 side chapels and just too much to see.

And behind this gate lies something that is rather overwhelming.

The Retablo Mayor (Main Altar) is over 60 feet tall and made up of over 40 panels depicting the life of Mary and Christ. And yes, it is gilded with gold; a bounty brought back from the Americas.

Flemish Sculptor Pierre Dancart started working on this in 1482 (he died in 1492), after his death, several generations of craftsmen took over and the work wasn't completed until 1564. Over 80 years!

In case you need to clear out some of the sparkle from gold from your eyes, you can balance things out by checking out the Silver Altar (Alta de Plata).

Like I said; you'll soon be overwhelmed by things…… This is the Chorus.

Seville Cathedral, like many of the churches in Southern Spain is built on the site of a former Mosque. When Ferdinand III of Castile arrived in Seville to retake it from the Moors, a voice beckoned to him while praying and it is said an angel led him into the city and into the main mosque. Here he was able to see thru the layers of a wall that a mural of the Virgin had been painted on it years before. A few days later, Seville fell. And here we have the Altar of the Virgin of Antigua.

I'm sure that each altar has such a story……if you'd like to find out a bit more about all the Altars; I've translated this Wikipedia page.

Take a gander at the organ of the Cathedral to the right.

All of this was great; but there was one main reason I wanted to visit this Cathedral.

You see, even though there's still some disagreement about things, a DNA test done in 2006 agrees with the belief that Columbus; at least part of him, resides in this tomb in the Cathedral. You can't miss seeing the four figures; each representing one of the kingdoms of Spain during Columbus's life; Castile, Aragon, Leon, and Navara; holding his tomb aloft.

It makes for quite a dramatic sight. Heck, even the story of how Columbus (supposedly) ended up back in Seville makes for quite a tale in itself. Full of twists and turns…and still, what's in that box of bones found in the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor that had the inscription "The illustrious and excellent man, Don Colon, Admiral of the Ocean Sea." Hmmm……

Regardless, this was a bucket list moment for me. One I tried to savor….the only annoyances being the loud, knucklehead tourists from you know where who kept going under the ropes for a photo-op or reaching over and grabbing the statues……

After a few minutes it was time for the last stop at the Cathedral. Time to take a walk up the Giralda (Bell Tower), which used to be a minaret. It's an easy walk and the view from 330 feet up is spectacular. That's the Plaza de Toros, the Bullring, near the middle of this photo.

Looking in the direction of where we were staying, we could see the Iglesia de San Isidoro, but man those street sure are narrow!

We headed back down and took a short walk thru Patio de Los Naranjos (Courtyard of the Orange Trees).

Before heading back for a well earned nap…..things were pretty quite midafternoon as we passed Plaza de San Francisco.

Needless to say, we were pretty hungry when we awoke. And it would be about a mile walk to our dinner destination; a very popular restaurant named Eslava in the Alameda neighborhood. Eslava, like La Azotea is always mentioned in those "best of" lists you find. We arrived just after the place opened and it was already getting busy. There's a restaurant next door; but the bar, where you get the tapas sized portions is where we wanted to be.

Wine and olives (and lupini beans) to start (of course)…..

I started ordering…….

Garbanzos con Menudo, the Missus does love Her "callos"…..

Pretty good, comforting, garbanzos a bit too hard, though a nice start.

Would there be any doubt that we'd be having the Foie Gras on Hazelnut Bread.

Nicely rich and creamy, if perhaps a bit too sweet. But man; garbanzos to foie gras in two bites….that's some range there.

Eslava is a regular winner on the tapas food circuit; meet one of their masterpieces; the Slow Cooked Egg on Mushroom (boletus) Soufflé, with a wine sauce.

  Good lord almighty…..such a drool and food porn worthy dish. This was delici-yoso…with several exclamation points!!!! The earth flavors of mushroom, light acid and sweetness from the wine reduction, and the richness of that egg yolk.

I thought the Pork Ribs with Honey and Rosemary Sauce was too sweet and the ribs a bit too tough and chewy for our tastes.

Another prize winner, Un Cigarro para Becque – Becque's Cigar.

Served with a rich, but mild aioli, the range of flavors and textures in this was startling; from the brie pastry, crisp with some stretch, to the filling which was darkened using squid ink, and consisted of algae, langostines, and cuttlefish, I'd say this is a must try dish here. It's quite an interesting item.

The Charlota Calabacin; a Zucchini (Charlotte) Terrine was very nice as well.

Nice and comforting.

The Carrillada ibérica estofada (stewed pork cheeks) was another delicious dish.

Tender, with a wonderful flavor…….I don't know if I've ever had a version of this that I didn't like.

The Boquerón blanco frito, fried anchovies were crisp, light, and had good oil.

These are sometimes a crap-shoot, but we were told these were from Malaga and they did indeed taste fresh with no off flavors.

I was getting pretty stuffed…..I don't think I could finish the Albodingas, which the Missus loved.

Man, this was some meal….but here's the kicker. Three glasses of wine each; we finished with Vermut, which the Missus has kind of gotten a taste for, 48 Euros! That's like $54 at that time.

We sat next to a very nice couple from the UK….the husband was "stationed" here in Seville. It was a nice discussion of Seville from a different point of view. The woman was very friendly and quite surprised that we managed to hit three of the top places in Seville in the short time we'd been here.

Eslava
Eslava 3
Seville, Spain

While folks don't eat quite as late here as in Madrid, it was pretty well packed as we left.

We took a meandering and circuitous route back to our flat. It was a cool, but not too cold night, and folks were out and about.

We walked through this nice wide open square with two Roman columns on it. This is La Alameda and has a history going back to 1547.

And while picking up a few items from the neighborhood grocery, ran into this little fellow.

He was, in his own way, quite adorable…..but only had eyes for his "master"….and he was also quite proud. In that sort of; "ok, I'll let you pet me kind of way". I named him the "Smug Pug". We even saw him the next day……making his way through the crowds….not having time for anyone…. As we watched him, I started humming, of all things, the Overture to the Barber of Seville….which, for some reason made me think of this. Funny how the mind works…..

We wandered along and ended up at this spaceship looking monstrosity….

This is called the Metropol Parasol, also known as Plaza de la Encarnacion (Incarnación's mushrooms). Which looked quite out of place among the historic structures in Seville.

Yes, Seville was full of surprises. You'd be walking down a relatively sedate street, the bell tower of a church standing quietly in the night.

You'd turn the corner….and oh my goodness, there would be a crowd of folks; young and old, socializing and enjoying the evening.

Perhaps that's the joy of Seville. There's a surprise around every corner.

Thanks for reading!

There was something about Seville. It was lively, vibrant, but not overwhelming. It seemed fairly laid-back, but full of color and history. We'd started the morning by walking to Mercado de Triana and now; the Missus had Plaza de Espana squarely in Her sights. so we crossed back over the Puente de Isabel II and headed down Paseo de Cristobal Colon…named after well, you know. It was overcast and fairly cool (remember, this was back in February) and the walk was quite easy. You do pass quite a few landmarks; like the Plaza de Toros (bullring), which I read could seat 12,000 people.

A bit further down; where Paseo de Cristobal Colon becomes Paseo de las Delicias is the Torre del Oro (the Gold Tower).

Built in 1220, the tower was once part of the city walls and also used to guard the river. According to accounts, a large chain connected the Torre del Oro to a tower on the other side of the river in Triana. It was also used as a prison for a period after the Reconquista.

This impressive building is the Palacio de San Telmo; San Telmo Palace.

It has a long and rather interesting history. It was originally built as a Navigator's College and then sold to the Duke of Montpensier who made it his palace. In 1893 it was donated to the city and is currently the residence of the President of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

That fountain and monument above is the Glorieta de los Marineros, dedicated to Juan Sebastián Elcano, who after Magellan's death, completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

Plaza de Espana is located in Maria Luisa Park, a very nice green area, full of fountains and gardens. Of course the main attraction for most; the Missus and I included is the Plaza de Espana, built for the 1929 World's Fair. Walking down the short tree lined street to the grand curved building makes quite an impression.

It is quite a bit to take in……

The curved façade makes it look quite grand and very harmonic to the eye.

The two towers at the end are connected by a gallery and the center structure provides a nice view as well.

And the acoustics near the main stairs are pretty good.

Our favorite part of the plaza was the former Spanish Pavilion where the façade of the main structure is lined with 58 benches. Each bench features wonderful tile work. Each one depicts a historic scene from the history of each province of Spain.

It was fun walking past the benches; the provinces are ordered alphabetically, and see all of the places we'd visited during our trips to Spain – Barcelona, Granada, Sevilla, Vizcaya…. And take in some of the interesting details that'd we'd recognize; like the coat of arms for Madrid; the  Bear and The Madrono Tree.

Soon it was time to leave and head off to lunch. We headed north a short ways and down a rather small street to Petit Comite, a place that I'd read quite a bit about.

The folks here are very friendly, the atmosphere somewhat cozy, the menu full of interesting, sometimes "fusion" raciones and tapas. Of all the places we ate at in Seville, this one felt the most like a true restaurant.

The Missus started with a glass of wine; I had a beer. And with the help of our friendly Server, put together what he considered a "nice" meal….'not too much, not too little" with a few signature dishes. Oh, did I mention his English was impeccable……which made me somewhat worried, but heck, we found that just about every place we visited in Seville, there was someone, at least one person who spoke English…….and it seemed most of the young folks did speak some English. It kind of made me embarrassed that I really don't know another language.

First up; the Duck Risotto with Pumpkin and Foie Gras (8,2€ – $9).

I've mention my leeriness of typical restaurant par cooked risotto before, but this was mentioned as a house specialty. It came out in minutes and the texture was rather uneven, sometimes too hard and chewy, though the pumpkin did help to add additional creaminess to the dish. We also thought the kitchen was a bit heavy-handed in the sodium department which really affected the flavors.

The Broken Egg with Foie Gras (6,9€ – $7.75) was better.

At first I thought the egg was over-cooked, but it was decently runny. Again, the flavors seemed a bit uneven to us…the egg had too much salt and the foie gras mousse was really sweet.

Thinking that we had ordered too much food, we almost didn't order the Octopus with Truffle Parmentier, but our Server told us it was one of the restaurant's signature dishes, so we got a media racione (5,5€ – $6.25)

I'm glad we got this as this was by far our favorite dish of the meal. Nice combination of flavors and textures; the truffled potatoes were delicious, the octopus flavorful and just slightly toothsome. The egg added an even richer texture to the dish, almost, but not sending it over-the-top.

We finished with the Angus Pastry with foie gras (6,5€ – $7.25)

Yes, it's a burger….sort of…the puff pastry is a whimsical play on the bun…there's a fairly decent sized piece of foie gras under that puff pastry. Loved the texture of the bun….and of course the foie. Found the burger to be pretty good, but underseasoned as were the vegetables.

We really loved the service here, but found the food to be a bit uneven and though Petit Comite was far from mediocre, it paled in comparison to all our other meals in Seville. Perhaps it was just an off day?

Petit Comite
Dos de Mayo #30
Seville, Spain

All of that rather rich food for lunch left me ready for "siesta time". But the Missus wanted to visit one last place before heading off to slumber land. So we headed under that arch and off to our next stop which was surprisingly close.

Thanks for reading!