First, we had visitors from Oak Park (the Powers-Taylor family), with kids the same ages as mine. We’d done literally zero tourism in Sevilla and, with them, we did it all!
Highlights:
We went inside the cathedral– it was incredible. The largest Gothic cathedral in the world!
We climbed the Giralda, the tower built in the 1100s, but the photos aren’t great because of the screens over the windows.
We also visited the Real Alcazar, originally built in the 10th century, totally exceeded my expectations, can’t wait to spend time in there solo (aka without kids begging for stuff from the gift shop):
Places we went where photos weren’t allowed: the caves of Araceda (La Gruta de Maravillas) and a killer flamenco dinner show that was totally captivating.
We got ice cream like every five minutes.
Meanwhile, Semana Santa was taking over the streets of Sevilla, both day and night. The tall pointy hats are difficult for Americans as they look just like KKK but have nothing to do with it (they are capirotes, have to do with penance, and point to heaven):
It was beautiful but mostly I was trying to dodge around processions. And it’s not like there are just a few! They are happening all day, every day (and night), throughout the centro and beyond, all week long.
I wish I’d taken a screen shot of the ayuntamiento (city hall) app that shows all the processions happening hour by hour. It looks like it can’t be true, like a massive, slow motion traffic jam, (but it true).
At the end of the week, my kids and I rented a car and drove to Aracena, about an hour and fifteen minutes from Sevilla, where we’d just toured the cave and castle earlier in the week, to stay at a nice hotel, swim in the pool, and go on some incredible hikes where we met (and nearly adopted) donkeys, goats, horses, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats!
The highlight was hiking from Arecena to Linares de la Sierra, stopping for lunch, and hiking back. Proud of my kids for doing 6+ miles with whining only, oddly enough, at the beginning.
Not AI, no filter, not a stock photo or a dreamClassic mom shot
Hope you had a great spring break if you do that kinda thing! xo
The other day, I was biking around the city and thought to myself, “I’ve never had to avoid oranges on my bike before.”
It made me think about all the funny little ways my life is different here and maybe “lil problems” is a way to organize them.
In many ways, daily life is easier in Spain. But in the following ways, it’s kind of annoying, lol
1. Avoiding smashed oranges on the street
According to a recent New York Times article 36 Hours in Seville, Spain, this city has 40,000 orange trees. They are literally everywhere, including lining our street and also outside our window.
Early in our time here, Chloe decided to pull an orange off one of the trees on our street and sample it—she said it was bitter and gross. But they smell wonderful, like regular sweet oranges, and the trees are really pretty and distinctive. A symbol of the city (you can buy orange perfume, wine, and other orange-themed gifts).
Recently, the oranges started dropping. I don’t know if this is the usual or if more dropped due to months of rainstorms, but the streets resemble my the streets of my hometown in Michigan on the day after Halloween.
This morning, I tried to avoid a pile of oranges on my bike and managed to explode TWO of them.
2. Doing laundry without a dryer
No one here has a dryer. I assume this is because much of the year is beautiful, hot, sunny weather and it’s easy to dry your clothes on a line or a drying rack.
The past 2 months have not been beautiful or hot or sunny. It’s been raining constantly. Any local will tell you, “No es normal.”
So, what’s a dryer-less Sevillano to do?
I tried drying clothes inside the house on a drying rack and it could take up to 3 days, at which point everything was stinky. So I started reading up on tricks like running the spin cycle twice.
Once I actually get up to the roof (2 flights up), I enjoy hanging the laundry. Reminds me of helping my grandma in New England in the summertime. A meditative task.
3. Coffee cups that are WAY too small
Americans are known for our giant coffees. At home, I had a mug that I used daily and it was big. I had just one cup in the morning, but it represented kind of a lot. Who knows how many ounces, but a lot. Let’s say as big as a “large coffee.”
Here, the cups are teeny. Smaller than is reasonable. Smaller than I want them to be, because the coffee is freaking delicious:
Sometimes I want to order four of them but I’ve never seen anyone order more than one. Maybe they do when I’m not looking.
So I have coffee before I go out for coffee. 🙂 My fave home coffee mug was the biggest I could find at Ikea, still smaller than the one I loved at home.
Before we came to Spain, I was doing my coffee with oat milk from Costco. Although there is oat milk here, I never found any with sugar, which turns out is what I liked about oat milk. So I weaned myself off of that and now, 6 months later, I’m drinking coffee with milk and no sugar and loving it again.
More important than the cups is the company. 🙂
4. A dependency on the weather
When you don’t have a car and live much of your life outside, a lot depends on the weather.
We’ve had some hilarious walks to school where we’re holding our umbrellas in front of us like a shield, just trying to not let it turn inside out in the whipping wind.
All the rain resulted in canceled basketball, canceled after-school activities, and there was even a rain day at school (akin to a snow day) when it was determined that there were flooding risks and falling branches, so everyone should stay home.
We got caught in a rainstorm on our bikes without even jackets and just had to power through!
Rain on cobblestones is a thing I love.
I always think of this:
Paris Street, Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebot. At the Art Institute of Chicago
As we advance toward summer, the heat will be the next big factor: no one is outdoors when the sun is at its highest point in the summertime.
This one isn’t a problem as much as just a different way of planning. I love all the outside time.
Despite these daily struggles (har har), we’re loving life here 🙂
the solo mama project 