A 1000-Kilometre Pilgrimage Route Across Spain – Part 2

Our flight from Venice to Seville had a stopover in Madrid and was operated by Iberia. We booked a suite at Airbnb, which gave us countless wonderful experiences in the past and this time even provided transfer from the airport to our new home. In warm and sunny Seville, tanned Rodrigo awaited us, two pale-faced figures in jackets, and drove us to Gelves, a town near Seville. It was on our way there that I felt the freedom, which awaited us, for the first time. Our eyes were blinking in the sun and towards the passing palm trees, and time froze completely. Rodrigo prepared us for the “special and interesting location” using his broken English, which meant he prepared us for a large, unfinished residential complex that looked very deserted. The suite was, contrary to the surroundings, wonderfully neat, had large windows and was furnished with industrial furniture.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for us, we came just in time for Semana Santa, a one-week Christian holiday, which lasts from Palm Sunday until Easter. The celebrations are characterised by various processions, musical events and brotherhood parades, which we first bitterly mistook for those belonging to the less friendly American Brotherhood. The celebrations differ from region to region; in Andalusia, Semana Santa is said to present the most important week of the year. Seville appeared especially lively on our first day and our main activity was observing people, either listening to the conversation between two strangers in a small bakery or to the singing and dancing in the street. All these things suddenly evoked in us the love for the Spanish culture and in all this enthusiasm I decided to partake in authentic Sevillian flamenco lessons with Eva on 21 Calle Evangelista Street where you also learn something about the history of the said dance, the meaning of music and the best flamenco shows nearby, among other things. Even though it might look easy, flamenco is an extremely complicated and demanding dance where pace is dictated by the dancer, the guitarist and the singer. My pace was mainly dictated by terrible physical shape and nerves. After two hours of dancing like robots we went to La Brunilda tapas bar with empty bellies (and by recommendation). We strongly recommend the bar to anyone who sets foot in the city; when it comes to food in Seville, you can’t go wrong.

We spent the remaining days exploring around without worries. We also stamped our pilgrim’s passports in a cathedral for the first time, which indicated the official beginning of our pilgrimage journey, managed to make our way to the famous and gorgeous Plaza de España, walked half of the way to the remnants of the Expo 92 on Isla de la Cartuja, which would impress all art enthusiasts, headed to Plaza Mayor, which offers a wonderful view of the city, and simply got lost in the casual Spanish energy and the hustle and bustle of the gorgeous streets of Seville. Three days of exploring, culinary feats, dancing and general fun passed too quickly and on Thursday, 29 March 2018, we officially started our endeavour.