sevilla

the orange trees of seville

the first thing you notice about seville is the abundance of orange trees. they grow in the parks, along the river and right in the town squares. on a warm day you can smell the perfume of orange peel and jasmine in the air. too bad you can’t eat these oranges. the seville orange is a bitter variety used to make orange marmalade. there’s a rumor that the gypsies pick the oranges at night and sell them in the UK for marmalade. i don’t know if this is true but the brits sure do love their fruit preserves.

the second thing you notice is that the men bear an uncanny resemblance to antonio banderas. it must be their long, pomaded jet-black hair, smoldering eyes, and pants that are a wee bit snug. the hombres are just oozing with pasión. sevilla is in the andalucía region in the south of spain and perhaps its the warmer, balmier weather that infuses the locals with this pasión. you can see how hot and bothered they are when you watch them perform their native dance, flamenco.

the third thing you notice is the lack of barbers.

seville is much smaller and less cosmopolitan than barcelona but it still retains much of its medieval charm. go for the array of tapas, to watch a flamenco performance, and of course, to catch a whiff of the orange peel and jasmine.