This weekend the brunch club headed to Sevilla to Celebrate Easter and more importantly Harry’s birthday.
The escapade started with Harry, Mary, Ce and I heading off at 10am on good Friday, with Miki and Lee not far behind.
We plugged in Bruce (the Australian SAT nav) and off we went. Bruce informed us that the journey would take just over two hours and we were all in good spirits.
With Ce behind the wheel, we all tucked into her Swedish candy called “Plopp”. Naturally we all found this incredibly funny (simple things).
As we entered Seville we had a slight set back as we had not anticipated road closures due to the processions (I’ll come back to these later).
After some rerouting from Bruce and some great driving through the narrow Seville streets from Ce, we arrived at our apartment only 30 minutes later than anticipated.
Miki and Lee turned up around 30 minutes later ready to kill each other (apparently Miki’s map reading skills are not the best and Lee doesn’t know what a roundabout is!) However all was soon forgotten and we changed into our shorts, grabbed our sunnys and headed towards the river.
At the river bank Harry popped open a bottle of Moët to celebrate his birthday, this went down lovey with the sandwiches, strawberries and nuts we also brought with us.
A few hours later, feeling a little more chilled and a little more bronzed, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for our first night out in Seville.
Once fixed up and looking sharp, we headed out to a restaurant where we met up with Petar and Isabel. Isabel is native to Seville and had picked a great restaurant for us all to eat in which was not too far away from the city centre.
With the wine flowing, we enjoyed some traditional Spanish dishes such as Flamenquín, ensalada rusa and of course postres! (desserts).
After dinner we headed towards Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Sea) to watch one of the pasos of the Easter procession.
The pasos consist of large floats with wooden sculptures of either Jesus or the virgin Mary and are carried by many Men. Isabel informs us that it’s a great honor to be selected to carry the floats, however it’s really tiring as you can be on your feet for nearly ten hours!
We wiggled out of the crowds and headed to a local bar for a ceveza before heading home, taking a detour to pick up candy :-).
Saturday
Saturday Morning started brightly with filter coffee and scrambled eggs on toast with most of us managing to grab a shower before the hot water ran out! (I believe I was the unlucky one)
We headed out of the apartment towards the city centre to check out some culture and do a bit of retail therapy, Saturday was a lot cooler than Friday and I instantly regretted only wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Being from the North of England, naturally I was never going to admit to being cold! So I soldiered on…
After an hour of shopping we all got a bit bored and decided to grab a quick lunch, this was perfect timing as the rest of the gang arrived from La Linea and we all lunched together.
With lunch out of the way we decided to head down to the river to find a nice bar in the sun.
The bar was decent and before we knew it we were sipping cocktails while a man played flamenco.
Half the guys then went for a bit more retail therapy and the other half moved one bar along (guess which group I was in).
Like the city of Granada I was amazed at how great the architecture was in Seville it’s truly a beautiful city.
After a few hours of sitting by the river we decided to head back to the apartment to get ready for the night ahead.
A walk that should have taken 20 minutes turned into a game of real life mouse trap as we kept getting diverted due to the processions.
Turns of the other half of the group was also having problems getting back to the apartment, we wondered if we would make it back in time for dinner.
About an hour later we finally made it back, we got ready and headed out to meet Petar and Isabel for dinner, luckily the restaurant we were dining at was only two minutes walk away from where we staying, so no need to take diversions!
Restaurante ConTenedor
Isabel had picked this restaurant as it had been recommended to her by many friends and it did not disappoint. Walking in, the restaurant had a modern hipster vibe to it, with some tables having sofas to sit on and a piano in the corner. This restaurant would not be out of place if situated in Shoreditch.
The waitress came over with a large black board and explained all the dishes in both English and Spanish and advised how much to order for the group. As ConTenedor only serves seasonal food, the menu changes often and this was the reason for the black board.
We agreed on which dishes to share and indulged in great red and white Spanish wine.
When the food arrived as you can imagine, it was delicious.
With our bellies full we headed downtown to grab a night cap. At around 2 am we headed home truly content.
Sunday
We woke up Sunday relatively fresh and hangover free, Lee had been kind enough to run to shop and stock up on bread and fresh coffee, while Ce cooked us all mushrooms, nom nom!
After breakfast it was time to pack up our things and leave the apartment. We locked up and headed into town to meet the others for a coffee and a final chance to get some sun before heading back.
Finally, we said our goodbyes, plugged in Bruce and headed home.
Thanks to all the guys for a great weekend, I hope you had as much fun as I did!
and a big…