There's a Carrefour (sorta like the Walmart of Europe) here in Sevilla, but it's kind of far from the apartment. Now that we're in the bike share network, we decided to use the bikes to get over there and have a look around.
It was another cloudy, unseasonably cool morning. There were the usual boats and ducks on the river as we headed to the bike station.
The bikes can only be out for 30 mins at a time. We thought we could make it to Carrefour in under 30 mins, but we ended up having to check them in and out of a station about 3/4 of the way there. The Carrefour was pretty huge. It has groceries, clothes, housewares etc. We scoped things out, but there really wasn't anything there that we couldn't find in smaller places near the apartment. Further, the prices, especially on food were basically the same as those we find in our neighborhood stores. Long story, short, we probably won't be going there too often:
We rode about halfway home, then ditched the bikes and walked along the river for a while. Along the way, I managed to get a better photo of the purple flowering trees along the river. Some kind of jacaranda I'm guessing.
Also, got a picture of the last bridge to the north of Sevilla. Really unusual design, but beautiful:
Here's the path along the river we walked:
There are a lot of boathouses along the river for the many rowing clubs. Here's one where there are a bunch of retired shells sitting on the roof:
We stopped for some tapas at a place along the river, far from the center, so no tourists. Not much English going on there, but we managed:
We ordered 3, a pork, a chorizo and a ham & cheese + a couple of diet cokes, about 10 euros:
We did a little meal planning and grocery shopping back in our neighborhood this afternoon. Everything is closed on Sundays here, so you do have to plan a bit to make it to Monday.
Another overcast and cool morning in the Villa. Noticed these trees with purple flowers on my way back from my run along the river:
All this running is definitely improving my pace. Not great, but did 4 miles in just under 35 mins this morning.
Laura and I did some grocery shopping, then lunch. Laura made a kind of mediterranean pita/hummus/meat thing. It was good. Then, Laura went to language class and I did some math.
This evening we signed up for our Sevici accounts. This bike share service has pick-up and drop-off points all over the area. We successfully tried it this evening. I have to admit it was nice to get around a bit faster than our feet can carry us:
To celebrate our new mode of transportation, we got a gelato (helado in espanol) at a little shop near our flat. It was called "brownie" and it was really good:
Finally, here's a picture of our bridge in the waning light as seen from the next bridge to the north. Our bridge is the best bridge:
We walked over to a stationary store this morning to pick up some 3"x5" cards for Laura to study Spanish with and to get a notebook for me. I noticed that people had put padlocks on the bridge railings since we last crossed it, presumably in the spirit of this bridge in Paris. I'm guessing that these tend to crop up from time to time on our bridge since it's definitely the coolest bridge, haha. Also, guessing that authorities are careful to clean them off pretty quickly to avoid the problems encountered with the Paris bridge.
After getting our stationary needs met, we wandered back home and encountered Plaza Nueva. This plaza is on the site of a convent that occupied the square from 1270-1840. Some of the tiles had simple designs rendered in small river stones. The tiles were about 3 feet square. I took pictures of many of them and put a few of the more interesting ones in a collage:
In the center of the plaza is the obligatory bronze of a famous person on a horse:
I found the pebble art much more interesting.
Later in the walk, we encountered a store that sold vestments and other items for Catholics. These little figurines with KKK-like robes complete with pointed hoods were a bit weird, but are apparently traditional and in no way connected:
Finally, if you ever need a pharmacy here in Sevilla, just look for big green crosses lit with LEDs and mounted on facades:
They are mesmerizing. The LEDs strobe and flash in eye-catching patterns. Sometimes they show the current temperature.
This afternoon, while Laura was at Spanish class, I read a bit and started playing around with neural networks. I also spoke to Emily a bit.
People here are amazed at how cool the weather has been these past couple of days and how cool it looks in the forecast. It was nice to open the windows when I got up and let in the cool air:
It was overcast this morning when I went out for my run and a pleasant 70 degrees. While I was stretching in the other bedroom this morning in preparation for my run, I noticed these heights marked on the trim of the closet:
It's a reminder that Mario and Palma raised two children in this flat for a number of years.
I noticed that the cafe/bar on the other side of the river is putting in a tile patio for patrons:
This evening, after Laura's class, we walked across the bridge and saw this massive crowd gathered in the same cafe/bar watching the England v. Croatia world cup semi on an outdoor screen:
You could almost tell what was happening in the match by the collective groans, sighs and cheers of the crowd. Much of the group seemed to be Brits on vacation here. I'm watching the 2nd half in Spanish coverage as I write this.
On the way back across the river, we saw an evening tour boat:
As you know, I'm more of a beer drinker than I am a wine drinker. The beer is much less varied here than in the US. I've been buying singles of the popular beers in the local grocery store. A lot of it is unremarkable. So far I guess my favorite is Cruzcampo's Gran Reserv. The one I had tonight:
was not good. Almost ready to settle on the Gran Reserv.
The game is tied now. Since I have little interest in the outcome, I'm happy with a close game.
To complete our year-long visa requirements, we have to submit some paperwork at the local immigration office. Mario made an appointment for us for next Thursday, but we decided to walk to the office today to make sure we know where we're going and what we're doing. The walk over was interesting and the building itself was stunning.
On the way over, we covered some new territory. We encountered a group of elementary school aged children playing soccer:
We crossed yet another bridge over the canal and were astonished to see a full-sized cruise ship docked there:
Neither Laura nor I thought that a ship that size could navigate the canal. Indeed, the bridge we crossed was far too low to accommodate the passage of the ship (and not a drawbridge). It looked like the next bridge south was also too low, but on closer inspection, it was clear that it was a drawbridge. The next bridge far off to the south carried a major highway and seemed high enough to accommodate a ship of this size. Already curious about our canal to the east and river to the west, I read a bit about the geography of the two bodies of water online.
Our apartment is at the blue dot. We saw the ship moored at the red circle. The drawbridge was the next bridge south, then the highway bridge, then, according to a map, there's a lock that connects the canal on the east with the river on the west. The canal does not connect with the river at the north where you might expect (marked with a red line segment). The canal is actually just a long spur.
The canal was constructed in 1946. Our neighborhood, Triana, is between the two watercourses. The rest of Sevilla is to the east of the canal. The canal actually runs in an old bed of the river. The river itself, the Guadalquivir, is navigable to the Atlantic Ocean with its mouth near Cadiz, Spain. Indeed there is a relatively thriving shipping port near the junction of the river and the canal.
Enough about rivers and canals, our next surprise was how beautiful the government buildings, called the Plaza de España, are. The whole building is actually a large semicircle with offices all along. The semicircle is punctuated with a large central building:
And symmetric, north and south towers. Here is the south tower:
and the north:
There is also a central plaza with a fountain and an arc of water upon which you can row a boat. There are several beautiful footbridges that cross the water. Here's a broader picture, though it's hard to capture it all:
Almost every surface was adorned with the ubiquitous painted tiles you see all over Sevilla. There were stations along the arc of the building with painted tiles depicting all of the important regions of Spain, for example,this one for Malaga:
This for Sevilla:
Of course with that much ornamentation, upkeep is a constant battle:
On the landing of the staircase up to the main building there were some flamenco players and dancers:
We found the immigration office. Mission accomplished, we walked back towards home looking for a pizza place that Julie Sachs recommended. We only had the name, San Marco, and there were like three different restaurants with that name. We stopped at one on the way home, and it had pizza, but it seemed a bit too upscale for our sweaty selves, so we went home. Is this it Julie?
On the way home, we encountered some really narrow streets:
Laura went to day two of her language class. I worked most of the afternoon on math. I did make a quick trip to the neighborhood grocery store. Here's a time-lapse of my return trip this evening:
