Later that day, after successfully conquering El Camino del Rey (see part II), Katelyn and I caught the train into Málaga. We had three hours to explore the WHOLE city, so Katelyn took me to see some highlights. We went to a rose garden, where a friendly old man talked our ears off for twenty minutes (see part I) and we hiked up a very large hill to see the ruins of Málaga’s castle. Unfortunately, we got there after it was closed, but we still got amazing views over the city.
Katelyn and I went to the nearest bus stop, and I asked a random person if there was a bus that went somewhere close to the cathedral. She thought for a bit, and said that if we got off at the parliament, we would have a 15-20 minute walk, which sounded completely doable. Katelyn and I hopped on the bus, got off at a parliament-type-looking building, and started asking for directions. Everyone we asked stared at us, as if, “you want to walk all the way to the cathedral?” and some people didn’t even know where the cathedral was. Or, at least, they didn’t speak enough Spanish to tell us. We headed off in a likely-looking direction, and started walking. And walking. And walking.
Eventually, we were passing by a hip-looking restaurant, and Katelyn decided we should go in. She has an uncanny sense for which restaurants are going to be AWESOME, and this turned out to be one of them. As soon as we went in, I was a bit daunted by the atmosphere of “the realm of cool people” that we walked in to, and I randomly said to the waiter, “Uh, we’re just looking for tapas,” and the waiter smiled. “This is probably one of the worst parts of Seville to get tapas,” he said, “Because we don’t have tapas,” “Ah,” I said weakly. He was grinning widely, and luckily Katelyn came to the rescue and asked what sort of food they did have. Apparently, they change their menu twice daily, based on what’s fresh at the market. It looked like it was going to be VERY expensive, but I was too self-conscious to turn around and walk out, so we asked for a table. Luckily, they had a wonderful table surrounded by squashy sofas by the front window that was hidden from the rest of the restaurant by the large bar that surrounded the open kitchen. So, while all the cool people sipped wine at their smoky, candle-lit tables in the back, Katelyn and I dumped our backpacks on the sofas and settled in. It turned out to be the most amazing Spanish food I’ve ever had!
The restaurant is full of local art, and different and surprising paintings and sculptures leaped from every wall. On a shelf next to us, there was an old gramophone, several candles of all shapes and sizes, and a teapot with a potted plant sprouting out of its spout. Jazz music played in the background, and we could watch the cooks at work in the quiet, open kitchen right in front of us. The waiters were wonderfully friendly, despite our obvious un-cool-ness (for example, I had to ask if “buey del mar”, which translates to “sea mule”, was a type of fish) and we had some of the best wine EVER. We dined in style, and it ended up being about 15 Euro per person—what a deal! We started with a beautifully fresh salad including buey del mar, and after that Katelyn ordered calamar con arroz negro—calamari with rice dyed with squid ink—but, because they didn’t have enough for a full plate, they gave us what they had left to try. Their house wine was rich and complex, and we sipped happily throughout the evening. Check out the restaurant’s minimalist website at www.contenedorcultural.com, and if you’re ever in Sevilla, make sure to make it a point to find this amazing restaurant: ConTenedor. Katelyn and I reclined on our sofas and agreed it had been a perfect meal.
Unfortunately, we still had no clue which part of Sevilla we were in, nor how long it was going to take us to get to our hostel, and it was now about midnight. We asked for directions from the helpful waitress, left a very large tip, and set off. We ambled down the narrow streets of Seville, which were much less quiet on a Sunday than they had been on Thursday when I first arrived, and eventually bumped into the cathedral. We circled around it until I found a street I recognized, and arrived at the hostel about 4 hours after we’d set off from the train station (2 hours or so, of course, had been spent happily eating).
The next morning we got a bit of a late start, but once we eventually got out the door we made a beeline for the Alcázar: Seville’s exquisite palace. It turned out that the entrance was free for students, and since Katelyn and I are here on student visas, all I had to do was run back to the hostel to grab my passport and bingo! We were in for free! We signed up for a tour, and as we walked through the three palaces and the gardens contained in the complex, I was in heaven. My pictures can’t even start to tell of the Alcázar’s beauty:
From there, we set off for the train station to buy Katelyn’s ticket back to Málaga for the following morning, and then we headed down to the Río Guadalquivir, where we found a place to eat (alas, not quite as gustatorially delightful as the night before) and wandered along the streets. All too soon, it was time to head back to the hostel to pack up and head off for the bus which took me to the airport, where I went winging back to Mallorca.
Through these 4 days, I got a tiny taste of Andalucía, and I can’t wait to go back!
Photos of this last part of my andalucían adventures are available on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050268&id=65202311&l=e5fd846847
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