Sizzling in Seville

 The streets of Seville

The Real Alcazar

Clockwise from top left: The Flamenco show; the controversial Metropol Parasol (otherwise known as the Mushroom thing); our Japanese rock star with an adoring fan

The Plasa de Espana

A few logistical issues meant that we had to reshuffle some of our holiday and annual leave plans for the year, primarily meaning that we had to ditch our plan to do the Greek Islands in October. While this was initially disappointing, we soon got over it after we replaced it with a trip that included a couple of days in Seville, five nights on the beach in Portugal, and then a few days of checking out Lisbon.

Arriving in Seville was amazing for the sheer fact that it was stinking hot.

Absolutely scorching. 

After being in Europe for just about two years now, we were well in need of some proper sun (proof of how long we’ve been away can be found in how I constructed that sentence). Our situation had become so dire that Monique had actually been diagnosed as being Vitamin D deficient (to which she glared at the doctor with a look of ‘how on earth am I supposed to get more sun in overcast London’ on her face).

Seville was just the tonic. We squeezed the absolute most out of our day and half in the city by walking our feet off, exploring the very Moroccan-esq Real Alcazar palace, seeing a Flamenco show, and relaxing at the very beautiful Plaza de Espana.

As a side note on Seville, it just so happened that we experienced one of the stranger moments so far on our adventures. Towards the end of the Flamenco performance, the MC came up on stage and announced that we were going to have a special Japanese guest join the performance.  

Hmmm…how perplexing.

We watched in astonishment as they rolled a piano onto the stage and up got a Japanese man wearing what can only be described as a matching pajama set (we’re not making an impolite culture reference – he was actually wearing pajama shorts and shirt, with oversize white basketball boots and bright red socks pulled up). He took his seat at the piano and started playing one of the cheesiest four-chord piano ballads we have ever heard, while the phenomenally talented Flamenco dancers and musicians politely looked on.

When the song was finally over, they then proceeded to do a Flamenco-style rendition of said cheesy four-chord piano ballad which they managed to make sound (comparatively) quite good.

Apparently the Japanese guy is a celebrity, but unfortunately we missed his name through the accent of the MC. It’s a real shame – we would have loved to get some more of his stuff from iTunes.