A Distinct Lack of Barbers

I'm 47 years old, and most of the people I work with are much younger than I am - often in their 20's and 30's. Cultural references that I think are universal sometimes turn out to be pretty specific to my age group in ways that surprise me.

Take something like Bugs Bunny. Most people, young and old, have of course heard of Bugs Bunny but it turns out that not a lot of young people grew up watching it. I have, and it is because of this cartoon that I happen to vaguely know some of the music to The Barber of Seville.

So when I told some of my workmates that I was visiting Seville, and that I would be visiting all the famous sites as well as a barber, no one got the joke. They took one look at my shaved head and with genuine confusion would proceed to inform me that I have no hair and hence would not need the services of a barber.

Growing old is awful, y'all.

Anyway! After Barcelona, Evelyn and I hopped on a high-speed train and headed to Seville. We had booked 3 nights. It's not a destination you often hear about in connection with a trip to Spain, but I had heard that it was beautiful, and well worth the visit.

I had also heard that it was "underrated" and so I had assumed that it would be less crowded than Barcelona. Was I right? Let's find out!

Arrival

Our apartment was located across from Las Setas, an odd, mushroom shaped structure a short walk from the Old Town. The accommodations were a cross between an Airbnb and a hotel - it was a full apartment with fridge and stove, but we didn't have to share the place with anyone. Nice enough digs, and a damn sight quieter than Barcelona.

In terms of location, we were about a half hour walk from the Plaza de Espana, which I was desperate to see right away. Plaza de Espana is the "postcard" attraction of Seville - it's what shows up when you search for "Seville" in a search engine and choose "images". Try it and you'll see what I mean, and you'll also understand why I wanted to see this thing so bad.

The best way to get to the Plaza de Espana is to go through the Barrio de Santa Cruz, otherwise known as the Old Town, or Jewish Quarter, a gorgeously colourful collection of narrow streets, alleyways and squares. It reminded me a bit of El Born in Barcelona but way less gritty and better maintained - so well maintained, in fact, that Evelyn thought the whole thing looked a bit unreal, like a theme park. I could see where she was coming from and I didn't entirely disagree, but I still found myself enjoying the neighbourhood's twists and turns, even if I was sharing the experience with thousands of other tourists.

So...Seville is definitely not some kinda of underrated "secret". It was definitely crowded, though the tourist demographic may have skewed a little bit older than Barcelona.

Santa Cruz is home to some of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, like the Cathedral and the Royal Alcazar and though these were definitely on my list of things to see - I had already bought tickets for both of them for the following day - at the moment I had my sights set on the Plaza. From the direction we were going, we approached it from behind, turned a corner and...voila.

It's hard to describe what hits your eyes when you turn the corner. It's...immense, certainly, and your breath catches, but that's not quite the whole story. The entire package just sort of catches your eye, from the square in front of the building, to the colourful, tiled mosaics, to the symmetrical twin towers on either end, to the little stream running through it all. It's just...stunning, in a quite literal way - I was speechless for a few seconds when I saw it.

I was surprised to learn that the Plaza de Espana isn't actually very old; it was built in 1929 for the Seville World Fair. It was designed to impress, and accomplishes the goal effortlessly. I was more disappointed to learn that the building now houses mostly government offices but I guess you got to do something with all that space.

Also: not that I was looking very hard, but I did not find a barber this day. I did however, find Rosina's Balcony, by all accounts the inspiration for the opera.

Second Day

The next day was reserved for our two main paid attractions in Seville: the Royal Alcazar and the Seville Cathedral.

First up was the Royal Alcazar, the Spanish royal family's official residence when they stay in Seville. It looks like something out of Morocco. At first I thought it was actually built by Moorish invaders but, alas, the truth is a bit more mundane. Though originally the site of a 10th century Islamic citadel, progressive conquests and reconstructions have led to current palace, a Mudéjar-style estate dating back to the 14th century, near the end of Islamic rule in Spain. It looks like something Scheherazade may have cooked up but it was actually built by European Christians as a Christian residence, though very much in the style of the conquering Moors.

The place is mind-blowing. To some extent, I suppose, it must have been the novelty of the whole thing - I'd never seen anything quite it. When you visit Europe, you're used to seeing a lot of churches and castles and palaces of a certain look and feel, and the Alcazar just doesn't fit that mould.

When the tour was over, we had lunch, walked a bit and then stood in line for the Seville Cathedral. Like the Alcazar, the church has Islamic origins and was originally the site of a large mosque. Nothing remains of the original structure except, notably, the Giralda tower, which totally looks the part.

I usually don't bother with church tours when I visit Europe, but this one came highly recommended, for reasons I didn't fully grasp until I saw it. The Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and although I understand what that means abstractly it's still a big hit to the brain when you go inside and see just what that means in practice.

I could say that it's huge, but what does that even mean? Legend has it that the architects wanted to build a church so big the world thought they were crazy. Mission accomplished - the size is impossible to convey in words, and difficult in photos (I tried, and mostly failed, I think). Let's just say that when you go inside you feel very, very, very small. My first reaction was to wonder how on earth they keep the ceilings clean.

There are, reportedly, over 80 chapels (distinct altars or areas where people can kneel and pray) inside but, again, I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do with that information. How many chapels does a church usually have? I have no idea.

What I do know is that the main chapel is called, unsurprisingly, the Main Chapel, and that it houses one of the most breathtaking works of art I've ever seen in my life: the Ritablo Mayor, or Main Altarpiece, an unassuming name for something so incredibly extra.

The Ritablo Mayor stands roughly 60 feet tall and consists of matrix or grid of Bible scenes, all carved out of wood and gilded to the hilt. In a time when most people couldn't read, this was meant to familiarize them with selected Bible stories, the way a comic book might today.

Oh! And the Cathedral is also the final resting place of one Christopher Columbus. An asshole, to be sure, but the history is deep here.

Side note: on this second day, I still did not find a barber. Is there just one barber in Seville, the one the opera's about? It feels like it. Anyway I didn't find him.

Third Day

The third day in Seville was mostly just exploration and if you're going to do that, one neighbourhood stands out: Triana. At least, that's what the Internet and guidebooks say, which means that it's still just as touristy as the rest of town.

I'm being a bit unfair. Triana definitely had a lot of tourists but it also had a lot of stretches that just seemed...uninteresting. Therein lies rub when it comes to the dichotomy between "authentic" and "touristy". Generally speaking, touristy places are like that for a reason - and, by contrast, the non-touristy, authentic spots are also like that for a reason.

When we first crossed the bridge to Trina, for example, after a bit of wandering, we settled on a bar that felt pretty local. It wasn't a bad spot, and the food was okay, but...it was definitely not catering to us. I think people sometimes don't realize that "real" Spaniards drink local beer and eat fries and pizza like the rest of us. I honestly think the place could have become better over upon multiple visits but we never got the chance.

It turns out that we actually crossed the wrong bridge. We meant to cross the Puente de Isabel II, which was supposed to take us directly into the main part of the neighbourhood, with all the popular restaurants and bars, but instead we crossed a bridge or two earlier and ended up in a part of town that was much more residential and local - as represented by the bar we settled on. We didn't quite know where we were, and we couldn't quite figure out why there wasn't anything interesting around us. Again, it all comes back to be authentic versus touristy, and being careful what you wish for.

Anyway, Trina as a whole definitely had a totally different vibe from the Old Town. While the Old Town felt a bit like a theme park, Trina felt like a real neighbourhood, like people actually lived there. It probably deserves more exploration.

(Seriously, where are all the barbers? I couldn't even find one in Triana, and this time I was actually looking. I guess tourists don't really need their hair cut)

Comparison with Barcelona

Inevitably, when I tell people that I went to both Seville and Barcelona, people will ask me which I prefer.

It's a tough question to answer, because I genuinely liked both cities. I will say, however, that while I think Seville is a prettier town than Barcelona, I felt that there was more going on in the latter. Seville felt like a town of tourist attractions, and you begin to think that there's maybe not much going on beyond that. Barcelona also has a ton of tourist attractions, but one gets the impression that there's an honest-to-goodness city to be explored once you move past them.

So on the whole I guess Barcelona has a slight edge here, though I would gladly revisit both.

(Ironically, on the train out of Seville to Madrid...we finally caught sight of a barber shop. I think Seville is missing out on a lucrative opportunity here)