Day 27: Just a Train Ride Away

One of the things we were looking forward to about moving to España was the shift that provided in our travel options. A weekend away from Evanston meant popping over to Wisconsin, Michigan, or Indiana. From Valencia it feels like we can get to all of Europe (and some of Africa). I got so excited about the possibilities that I mapped out an entire year of monthly adventures before reality set in.

Traveling means leaving Mitzie and finding someone to love her while we’re away, all of which is more complicated here due to the necessary PPP licensing (she’s deemed one of the Perros Potencialmente Peligrosos because she’s (even part) Pit Bill). We’ll adjust and only travel once every few months and that will still be leaps and bounds more than in our US life.

So where did we choose for our first adventure? Since Mitzie doesn’t arrive until next month it was easier to plan a trip for September even though we’re still getting used to home. And Seville, the birthplace of Flamenco, was kind enough to hold their Bienial Flamenco Festival in the month of September, so you can see that the choice was really made for us.

To continue our exploration of all the travel options España has to offer, we booked seats on the fast train. Our route took us to Madrid and then Seville with an hour between trains so the entire trip took 6 hours. The fast trains are…really fast. I’ve never seen the countryside zip past me like that before!

There are similarities and differences (of course) between Valencia and Seville, and though we’ve only been in the country for a few weeks we’ve started to get the hang of our home base. We’ve gotten far enough from home to feel upended as evidenced by the hour+ it took us to navigate getting a bus card, trying to find a bus on which to use said card, and finally opting to take a cab. We’ll get our world-traveler street chops eventually.

Our Airbnb is the sweetest place, surely made sweeter after a few weeks in the Hobbit House. It’s in the Triana neighborhood (known for flamenco) and had great reviews. It has a terrace, and full-size doors, and a couch with arms, and a washing machine, and space, and light. We came for the flamenco and almost missed the show we had tickets for because we were so enjoying the Airbnb!

I wish I could say we loved the show. It had a lot of potential: it was at “Hotel Triana” so I was picturing an indoor meeting-room-turned-auditorium and instead it was an outdoor experience in the courtyard of what could be seen as a Spanish motel where all the room are entered from outside. They had scarves on all the railings and an impressive stage set up. It started late (23:00) and was packed with people of all ages (yep, kids, too). The opening act was awesome — 6 men marching (with Spanish flare) in with bells on their ankles and narrow pompoms on their belts following a man playing a big drum in one hand and a piccolo in the other took the stage to do a folk dance the likes of which I’d never seen. It was amazing and had me all kinds of excited for what was to come only to discover they were the peak. While I’m sure all the performers were quite accomplished, it felt like we sat through 2 solid hours of the same song being screamed at us with only 3 moments of dancing (beyond the marching men) to break up the monotony.

We walked home along quiet streets and watched waitstaff doing their best to encourage their patrons to take the party elsewhere. It was 1:00 before we got home and I love how normal it was to be strolling down the street in the wee hours.

I’ve mentioned before how everyone in Spain thinks where they live is perfect. I get it — I think Seville is lovely, and I’m glad we picked Valencia for home.