PLANNING FOR SEVILLE

THE DETAILS OF TRAVELING  

Janet getting it right

Janet is driven and meticulous. She loves details and will plan a trip that has no surprises. She will hunt for the best deals and the best reviews. She does not rest until satisfied. 

Comparatively, I am like a goldfish swimming from one end of the tank to the other. I turn around and it’s a whole new completely fresh experience for me.  

My version of traveling is like a headless chicken running into walls and off cliffs.

Because of Janet and my infinite intelligence in knowing when to stay out of things, our recent trip to Seville was seamless.

Janet took care of everything. She arranged our travel, arranged our apartment, arranged our tour itinerary, arranged the train and the car rental, and even packed the bags!

Here are some of the details of our trip (courtesy of Janet):

Our front door on the 
Plaza Alfaro

GETTING THERE

Ryanair

This low-cost, bare bones carrier flies nearly everywhere in Europe from England. The latest on their website has flights starting at £25.19 each way to Seville, but we always pay for upgrades like having priority seating and checked luggage, and even carry-on luggage. The trip can be hectic; after we’re seated the hordes stampede for the leftover seats. Navigating the website is arduous, even Janet gets frustrated by it which is saying a lot.

Ryanair will get you there but be prepared to pay for water.

RYANAIR

Weather 

Janet even monitored the weather. Our trips to Europe usually piggyback off visits to Nantwich and family. Janet planned this trip to Spain in early September, after the grandchildren started school again, and because we thought the weather would be cooler. 

Janet getting it right

Seville is one of the hottest cities on the European continent and was suffering through an extended extreme heat wave this past summer. Seville after all, is closer to Rabat the capital of Morocco than Madrid.

We watched the forecast in the weeks leading up to Spain and the days hovered near 110°F. By the time we arrived though temperatures began to ‘cool’ into the high 80s and low 90s.

How hot was it?

We took a walking tour of the Cathedral and the Alcazar Palace, and our tour guide spoke of the heat stroke he had suffered earlier during the summer and was laid up for 10 days. Our tour guide in Cordoba spoke about how she wanted to go to someplace cold for her vacation.

Our view of the 
Alcazar gardens

Here’s an interesting article about the Seville heat:

DEALING WITH THE HEAT IN SEVILLE

STAYING THERE

Airbnb on Alfaro Plaza

Janet booked us an Airbnb in the heart of the most touristed area of Seville, the Santa Cruz Barrio. The massive wooden doors that led to our courtyard were on the charming Plaza Alfaro. Despite the location and the parade of tour groups, we never felt overrun.

One end of Alfaro Plaza led to the Jardines de Murillo, where I would run, and the view from one side of the apartment overlooked the Alcazar gardens. Down below Calle Aqua followed the wall of the gardens and if we were lucky, we’d see a peacock strutting along the top. The interior courtyard of our Airbnb was serene with flowers and a fountain. We were on the third floor, but there were elevators!

Santa Cruz was once the Jewish section of town, and the winding streets and alleys of the barrio are at times so narrow people can lean over from one balcony to kiss someone on the balcony across the “street”.

Santa Cruz Barrio

Nearly everything we wanted to see in Seville was within a short walking distance of our roomy apartment.

Again, Janet found us the perfect place. Here is the Airbnb listing:

AIRBNB LISTING IN SEVILLE

GETTING AROUND

Tours

Janet planned much of our itinerary while in Seville and Cordoba and Ronda. She researched availability and contacted the personal guides and negotiated the times and costs. Here is a quick list of what she had us doing:

Cathedral and Alcazar Palace Tour

The Giralda

Through the Naturanda tour company we took a four-hour, very informative and entertaining walking tour of the Seville Cathedral and the Alcazar Palace. We paid for the tour in advance and had our tickets printed out before we even left the United States. The best part about taking this tour was bypassing all the lines getting into either destination. 

Try to get Ismail for your guide.

NATURANDA TOURS 

Tapas Tour

Shawn runs Azahar Tours, and she led us through 4 different Tapas bars, with drinks included. She also provided us a “cheat sheet” with other places to go while in Seville, Cordoba and Ronda, with recommendations as to what to order. She also introduced us to the dry, aged, Oloroso Sherry.

Casa Morales

 

While we were in Seville we went to several of the tapas bars she recommended and even returned to two she brought us to on our tour with her. We went to restaurants she recommended in Cordoba and Ronda.

This was another win for Janet.

AZAHAR TOURS

Cordoba Tour

When we finally met Isabel for our personal walking tour of the walled city of Cordoba the two women greeted each other with hugs like old friends meeting up once again, so meticulous was Janet’s planning with countless emails.

CASA ANDALUSI

Isabel Martinez was a great tour guide and even recommended several "patios" to visit in Cordoba before our tour began in the afternoon. Patios are museum/homes open to the public which give a glimpse into 12th Century homes in Andalusia with Moorish influences. We chose to visit Casa Andaulusi.

CASA ANDALUSI

Part of the tour was visiting the massive Mosque Cathedral. We were told to purchase tickets before leaving home. Janet came prepared with the tickets in hand. To contact Isabel:

isabmr@gmail.com

Mosque Cathedral
Cordoba

Train:

Janet arranged for the tickets to Cordoba online ahead of time and printed out our tickets before we left for Spain. We had to pick out our departure and return times. The price was approximately €18 for round trip tickets. Seats were assigned as well.

RENFE TRAIN SYSTEM SPAIN

Car:

Janet made all the arrangements. I handed her my credit card.

She even prepaid for a parking spot in Ronda. And, planning our trip she made sure that we stopped at Oleum Virfide to buy Andalusian olive oil, making sure it wasn’t too out of the way. We did linger a bit to admire a shepherd and his flock of sheep picking their way down the mountain before driving through one of the Pueblos Blancos of Andalusia, Zahara de la Sierra.

ZAHARA DE LA SIERRA

OLEUM VIRIDE OLIVE OIL

ZAHARA DE LA SIERRA

Cooking Class:

Janet researched and purchased two spots in a Spanish cooking class and a tour of the Triana Market with the Taller Andaluz de Cocina.

My darling wife is already an accomplished cook!

We made gazpacho, a Sevillian tapas of Spinach and chickpeas, Valencian Paella, and for dessert a lemon sorbet with cava.

Getting it right

TALLER ANDALUZ DE COCINA

Flamenco Show:

Janet researched and purchased tickets to a Flamenco show at Tablao Los Gallos which was literally just around the corner from our apartment on Plaza Alfaro. Just an hour and 15 minutes long the show featured two women dancers and a male dancer, three singers and two guitarists.

FLAMENCO SHOW

Yep, Janet did it all. She even worked on brushing up on her high school Spanish in the weeks leading to our trip. By the end of our time in Seville she was ordering in Spanish.

I on the other hand only know how to say:  ¿Dónde está el baño... rápido?

Thanks for reading and thank you Janet!

Amor a todos.

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj

WHY SEVILLE SPAIN?

NO8DO (”Seville has not abandoned me”)  

SEVILLE LOGO

When we were planning our recent trip to Spain we struggled with our destination. Would we relax on the beaches of the Costa del Sol, tour the Pueblos Blancos of Andalusia, or stroll along Las Ramblas? What cities would we visit: Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, Malaga? Should we tour one area of the country or several? Or, should we just settle in to one place and simply enjoy the rich culture and history of Spain and have our days saunter by like a beautiful woman?

There was a lot of back and forth over these questions, but early on we knew we wanted to see and experience Spain and not a horde of drunken revelers vying for a Sunday roast and cheap beers and a premier league game on the television at some uprooted sports bar.

THE GIRALDA

No, we wanted to linger over a Tinto con limon or cerveza on a sweltering day, some Jamon Ibérico, or chorizo or sheep cheese tapas after touring some church or palace and learning a bit of history. 

We weren’t traveling to Spain to party, but to live. We only had a week, but we could have stayed a much longer time.

We settled on flying into and out of Seville. It is a very touristed destination and some 2.5 million people visit this historic city yearly. While there we did hear a lot of North American accents in the crowds, but the history and beauty of this city quelled any ex-patriot aversion. Besides, Janet got plenty of appreciative nods with her attempting her rudimentary Spanish. 

Seville is where Queen Isabella okayed Columbus’ journey to explore a western trade route to India. He failed miserably, but he did discover the new world. 

Quite unexpectedly we discovered that Seville is also where the Spanish Inquisition started, and the massive Seville Cathedral that was once a mosque boasts the longest nave of any cathedral in Spain. 

Giralda, the belltower that was once a minaret is now topped by a belfry and a statue symbolizing Christianity’s triumph over Islam.

Seville has enough history to work up a thirst and the thriving tapas bar scene is just what we were looking for in a trip to this country. 

LAS TERESAS SEVILLE

Appeasing my wanderlust, we factored in two days of traveling within Spain. One day we traveled by train to Cordoba and the next we rented a car and drove to Ronda. In hindsight we gave each destination short shrift. The two days felt very rushed for the logistics of travel was time consuming. It might have been better to concentrate on just one city or spend our entire time in Seville.  

NO8DO is a rebus for “No me ha dejado” or “She (Seville) has not abandoned me.” It is found on everything from t-shirts to manhole covers to pillars and street signs, and, now in our hearts as this charming, historical city has left an indelible impression with your favorite traveling knuckleheads. 

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj

NANTWICH FESTIVALS

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH 

It would be an understatement to say that Nantwich is like a second home for your favorite traveling tandem. We first started coming to this Cheshire town in 2011 when Janet's daughter married a lad from here and over these past dozen years, we've lost count how many times we've come to Nantwich. 

All our trips here are simple and filled with family togetherness and activities. Throw in a couple of side trips to Chester or York, a couple of pub crawls and now, watching the grandchildren play football (soccer) and you have another successful visit.  

WILD BEAVER PIE, PIZZA IN A BAG, AND BEER

One would think after a dozen years the routine would lead to boredom, but Nantwich offered up a lively diversion earlier in September when we were last there. For the first time we got to experience the well-attended Nantwich Food Festival. Even though Colin, the English father-in-law, groused that the festival is too crowded and too expensive Janet and I were very excited about this event and it was a joy to wade through the crowds.

Food Festival takeaway 

There were several clusters of exhibitors in various parts of the town, offering street food, cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts, live music and lots of alcohol. If it weren’t for the magnificent St. Mary’s Church in the center of town this festival could be found in America, except America itself isn’t as old as St. Mary’s church. Work began on the church in 1340. 

There were several stages for acoustic and electric bands dotted throughout town and food vendors sold cheeses and baklava, pierogies, steak and ale pies and surprisingly good BBQ, fries (or chips) and cannoli, just to name a few items. There were exhibitors who sold prepacked meals, like pizza kits in a bag or steak and ale pies to take home and heat up for that evening's tea.  Several vintners and gin distillers were represented and quite a few micro-brewery beer stands. At one far of town there were small amusement rides set up in a supermarket parking lot. 

Nantwich Food Fest

Even High Street, a usually quiet pedestrian walkway, was packed with revelers shuffling along from one area of the festival to the next. Temporary kiosks selling cheeses and wines slowed them further. High Street goes through the town’s main square and St. Mary’s is at one end, while the Crown Hotel, a waddle and daub structure, erected soon after the Great Fire of Nantwich in 1583, is a bit further along. All the pubs were packed and people who purchased beers or alcohol at the kiosks shuffled around on this Saturday afternoon, the sun brilliant. 
Leaving the festival our family contingent did a small pub crawl beginning in the Wickstead Arms Pub and then over to the Red Cow so the children could run around in the massive beer garden on the premises. Janet and I hadn’t planned to be here during the Food Festival but toasted our serendipity regardless.

NANTWICH FOOD FESTIVAL

Wait, there's more! 

Incredibly these was not the only event on the calendar for this small town Nantwich. There are several festivals. Here's a quick listing of everything and I'm sure we'll get to them all eventually. 

THE NANTWICH SHOW – Late July

It’s basically a revved-up 4H show held in July at Reaseheath College a land-based (or agricultural school), within an easy walk from the Barony in Nantwich. Not only are you able to watch sheep shearing and livestock parades, riders on shire horses, live entertainment, cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts, and food vendors, but displays of WWII aircraft on the grounds.

If you’re able to break yourself away from the egg competitions, the International Cheese Show is worth the entry fee. Begun in 1897 it is the largest such competition in the world, featuring over 5,000 variations of cheese on display and for sampling and purchase. Don’t forget to look for Nantwich Blue Cheese, our favorite. 

THE NANTWICH SHOW 

NANTWICH JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL – Easter Weekend - 2024

Nantwich will be hopping to live music at venues all around town during the Jazz and Blues Festival. Last year there were 140 separate shows scattered over 15 different venues, including a stage in the town square, several pubs and headlining acts at the Civic Hall.

We’ve been told that Nantwich gets even more crowded during the Jazz festival than the Food Festival! 

NANTWICH JALL AND BLUES FESTIVAL 

THE BATTLE OF NANTWICH – January 27 2024

On January 15,1644 a major battle broke out in Nantwich during the English Civil Wars, resulting in a victory for the Parliamentarians over the Royalists loyal to King Charles I. Eventually Charles I was dethroned and beheaded, but each year on Holly Holy Day members of the Sealed Knot Society parade through town in period dress and eventually reenact the battle. 

Men and women with muskets and pikes and cannon and a fair amount of drinking? What could go wrong? 

BATTLE OF NANTWICH 

There are several more such events during the year. The Nantwich Town Council’s website provides more details: 

NANTWICH FESTIVALS 

Nantwich is a gem. We are very fortunate to have discovered this great little town.

CHARMED I'M SURE?

Finally one last event to consider though it is in the little town of Willaston, just outside of Nantwich. Each June the World's Worm Charming Championship is held on the grounds of Willaston County Primary School as a fundraiser in 1980. Presided over by the International Federation of Charming Worms and Allied Pastimes  IFCWAP) the event lures people from all over the country as they attempt to "charm" worms to the surface to be counted and weighed. 

The World Champion remains a Miss Sophie Smith who in 2009 at the age of 10 wriggled her way to the top with 567 worms.  

Contestants are given a 3x3 meter plot of land and during the contest can use any legal means necessary to bring the worms to the surface.

Don't worry, after the competition and after nightfall, all worms are released in the woods. This way the birds still have to get up early.

Janet went one year and brought home the brochure. 

 

WORLD'S WORM CHARMING CHAMPIONSHIP

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg 

fun galore at the
Nantwich Food Festial

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj

DAY TRIP TO LLANGOLLEN WALES

NO PASSPORT NEEDED

We took a family day trip to the beautiful Welsh town of Llangollen. It was August 28 and a summer bank holiday in England. There are usually 8 throughout the year, although there was an extra bank holiday this past May for King Charles’ coronation. Don’t quite know why they have bank holidays. It’s not like they are anchored to a holiday like Memorial Day, or the 4^th of July, but they are nevertheless an excuse to take the day off and go on an excursion as we did to Llangollen.

UK BANK HOLIDAYS

Don’t ask me how to properly say the name of this strikingly beautiful town on the River Dee in Northeast Wales, but it is a popular place to visit, especially on a bank holiday. Just under an hour’s drive from their town of Nantwich, our family has traveled to Llangollen several times over the years and as we drove along the rolling hills I joked if I needed my passport to cross the border into Wales.

Llangollen Bridge

What one needs when traveling into Llangollen is patience as the place brims with visitors, and caravans and motorcycles and cars and bicyclists and pedestrians shuffle along the streets and over the bridge that crosses the turbulent river popular with kayakers and rafting expeditions, especially so on this holiday.

The beauty is captivating and area establishments take advantage of the vistas as they cling to the edges of the river while offering patrons fantastic views while they sip their pints.

LLANGOLLEN

AONB

Ice cream stands and trinket shops with wacky looking Welsh language names will forever be enchanting, although the true enchantment comes from the surrounding areas.

Llangollen and the River Dee valley and the Clwydian range are designated as an AONB or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the UK.

AONB

 As mentioned earlier, outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking are popular, and there are several guides in town offering full and half and multi-day adventures on the Dee. To give an inkling as to what's available here's one guide company, the Bearded Men Adventures. With the younger grandsons though we were regulated to cavorting on the rocks of an eddy in the river and eating a prepacked lunch on a bench as we lazed about watching kayakers and rafts course the river. 

BEARDED MEN ADVENTURES LLANGOLLEN

Strollers along Riverside Park on this festive afternoon were led by their dogs of all shapes and sizes, completing the beautiful tapestry. The English do love their well-behaved dogs. We watched a couple of massive dogs, small bears really, cavort in the eddy, their owners not minding the spray when they shook themselves dry. 

We were fortunate to quickly find a parking spot in the Mill Street lot across the River Dee and walked along the water’s edge for a while before crossing the Llangollen Bridge, where we spent most of our time this visit. 

Had we been interested we could have taken a horse-drawn canal boat ride on the Llangollen Canal, or take a steam powered locomotive courtesy of the Llangollen and Corwen Railway. We did neither, Instead, after our meager lunch we sat on the outside deck of the Corn Mill Pub for some pints as the boys ate ice cream. 

LLANGOLLEN STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

CORN MILL PUB LLANGOLLEN

RYDYCH CHI YMA (YOU ARE HERE)

Llangollen

We did explore a bit of the countryside as we drove to the ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey; that’s Latin for Abaty Glyn Y Groes, or Valley of the Cross. The abbey was part of the Cistercian order and founded in 1201. The place thrived until 1537 when it and all the other abbeys in Britain were dissolved by royal decree. Think Henry VIII and the Church of England.

A caravan park nearly surrounds the ruins, despite which there is a pious solitude to the grounds, and as we explored the ruins we talked in hushed tones. There is an entry fee, and we strolled the grounds admiring what was left of the abbey, with dramatic hills looming behind and glowering clouds only adding to the ominous feeling of the ruins. The boys played ‘hide and seek’.

VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY

VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY 

Then we drove up into the winding hills, dodging wayward sheep, literally, as they walked on the road without a shepherd. We slowly climbed the rural hills as the road curved onto itself. Verdant farms were everywhere as well as sheep, until the hills got too steep for farming, and we finally stopped at the Horseshoe Bend outlook, to admire the land that stretched out below us. From this high promontory one can truly understand why this area of the world is rightfully considered an area of outstanding natural beauty.

GOOGLE EARTH - HORSESHOE PASS OUTLOOK

It was the end of a simple, beautiful, lovely family excursion.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

HORSESHOE PASS OUTLOOK

                        RAFTING ON THE RIVER DEE, LLANGOLLEN, WALES

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj

THE SHROPSHIRE – UNION CANAL

GONGOOZLING ON THE SHROPPIE 

The history of canals and their use in Great Britain dates from Roman times.

First dug for irrigation and for connecting separate rivers to increase travel inland, the canals were used for transporting goods and eventually became an integral part of Britain’s industrial revolution. Narrowboats are wooden canal boats built to fit the narrow locks of Britain and were first drawn by horses from a towpath, then driven with steam and then diesel engines. Because of the narrow locks boats need to be less than 7 feet wide, and shorter than 72 feet, although some locks are just 57 feet long.

The canals no longer are used to transport wares; trains and trucking are much more efficient; but the canal system of England and Wales is still in use for leisurely activities. There are over 2,000 miles of navigable canals and rivers and according to the Canal and River Trust of the UK there are tens of thousands of narrowboats used as permanent and semi-permanent homes, weekend and holiday getaways, touring and day travel.

Janet's family lives just over a mile from the Shropshire Union canal and there is pedestrian access at the Nantwich Aqueduct at the end of Welsh Road. The narrowboats and canals are a beautiful sight and whenever we get the chance, we try to gongoozle. Actual word! A gongoozler is: “Someone who enjoy watching boats and activities on canals.”  

GONGOOZLER?

WORD ORIGIN OF GONGOOZLE

Apart from the serenity and a glimpse of a lifestyle not readily found in the United States, there is for us an alternate reason to gongoozle…beer, but you already knew this dear reader. One day we spent the afternoon walking along the Shroppie Canal to the Barbridge Junction with the Trent Mersey Canal. Then we lingered over beers at the Olde Barbridge Inn. As the boys ran around in the playground, we watched the narrowboats slip by.

THE OLDE BARBRIDGE INN

Another canal that eventually junctions with the Shropshire Union is the Llangollen Canal. That starts in Wales and eventually passes Canalside Garden Center in Wrenbury where one of the family works. When we visited him last weekend, we watched a narrowboat magically pass, but not before a small wooden pedestrian bridge had to be hand cranked open by a “crew” member on the narrowboat!

                                                        Wrenbury lift bridge 

CANALSIDE GARDEN CENTRE WRENBURY

It’s a beautiful world. There is a list of canals and maps available at the CRT and if you’re interested to being more than a gongoozler you can hire a boat for the day at Nantwich. 

CANAL RIVER TRUST UK

NARROWBOAT HIRE IN NANTWICH

Interested in buying your own narrowboat? Go here:

NARROWBOATS FOR SALE

Or, just gongoozle the day away at the canal side pub of your choice.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj

My 2nd novel - THE MUSIC MADE ME CRY