Seville and The Living is Easy

the 'main' street near our apartment

As of today, Wednesday, we have been in Seville a week. Knowing that we have three weeks in the city we have eased our way into it. Moving slowly in the heat and doing a little bit every day.

pedestrianized street in Seville's shopping district

In the heat, plus 30 degree temperatures, our family is trying to live as the Sevillianos do: seize the morning, take refuge from the afternoon sun and play in streets in the early evening.

Here in Seville the streets are your living room. Everyone is out in the early evening and sometimes on the streets in the many restaurants and bars into the night.

Near our apartment there is Alfalfa Plaza, which I love. It is surrounded by restaurants and bars with a playground in the middle. In the evening it common to see parents and grandparents sitting on restaurant patios enjoying a drink while keeping a casual eye on their children. Kate and I have taken advantage of this pleasure several times this week.

Walking through Alfalfa Plaza and the surrounding neighbourhood after sunset is like a movie set to me. The lights, the streets, the people, the sounds and smells seem so perfect. It seems to me someone must have staged it.

Kate and the boys take a rest on the steps of one of the may churches here in Seville

Many of the streets in Seville are very tight. This very tight street design was intended to help keep people cool in the long hot summer months. The secondary benefit is that it also creates very nice space for people to walk, sit and play.

We have also visited the Art Gallery of Seville. It houses many spectacular pieces, but the building which was a former convent, is most extraordinary.

Courtyard of Art Gallery just inside main entrance

example of some of Seville's amazing ceramic works hangs on the wall of the Art Gallary 

Kate and the boys in the corridor surrounding the main courtyard

The former chapel of the convent is a stunning room 

Looking up from the painted column to the grand ceiling of the former convent chapel 

Chapel ceiling is amazing 

Every direction you look in this building is a spectacular view. It is an excellent example of the architecture and design held in many of the old buildings of Seville.

Loving Seville so far. Everyday is getting hotter. Sunday is forecast for 37 degrees Celsius. Maybe time for a trip to the seashore and the ancient city of Cadiz.