Romances and oranges

Thursday Doors: Sevilla, Spain

For lack of photos, I’m not doing justice to this at all, but Andalusia is a door lover’s paradise. Still, I caught a few in its capital Seville.

Barrio Santa Cruz.

Washington Irving’s courtyard.

There was something about Triana‘s riverside I much appreciated, but I admit I understand why Santa Cruz is everyone’s favorite quarter. One can get so easily lost in its narrow colorful and lively streets. Judging from what I learnt during the free walking tour, it’s full of stories, too, the dramatic, romantic ones, full of life and death kind of passion that seems to suit the region’s spirit. It’s one of Don Juan’s homes, after all. It was here as well we spotted a door to the courtyard where writer Washington Irving was staying once. It’s an Airbnb today, ha. The expensive kind, of course.

Somewhere around Alcazar.

In one of the palaces of Alcazar.

It was not far, next to Alcazar fortress precisely, that the tour guide explained to us something I had been worrying about for a while. The oranges from the trees you see everywhere here are too bitter to eat, as I discovered in Granada (not by my own tongue luckily!). So, if you’re like me, you’re asking yourself now “but wait, they don’t just throw them all away, though, right??!” No, they’re used for making gin and jams! Which explains the amount of gin ads I saw here and gives me an opportunity to recommend you to try grilled goat cheese with a layer of orange jam …

I’m off drinking, eating and fantasizing, now.