Sunday, October 9, 2011

Life in a Bottle

CHURCH OF SAN SALVADOR ON THE PLAZA SAN SALVADOR THIS AFTERNOON.

We went out for dinner Thursay night with Margarita.  She led us to a tapas bar in a plaza we had never seen before.  This was surprising considering that in my aimless as well as my purposeful wanderings I have been all around the streets surrounding the plaza and never stumbled upon it.  Originally, Margarita had been aiming for a tapas bar on Plaza San Salvador.  I know that plaza.  The Church of San Salvador is the second largest church in the city (after the cathedral).  It was built on the remains of a 9th century mosque and began to be used as a parish church in the 13th century.

CHURCH OF SAN SALVADOR ... THE SITE OF THURSDAY NIGHT'S BOTELLON.

There is a bar across the plaza that I have noticed is always booming in the evening and late at night, filling the plaza to overflowing with people.  As we turned the corner onto the plaza you could hear the buzz of revelers.  Margarita immediately said, Oh, no. We'll go around the corner to someplace quieter.  No need to try and have dinner in the botellón, she said.  A botellón (a big bottle) is a phenomenon that began in Andalucia in the 1980s as a way for workers to enjoy a cheap drink outdoors without paying the expensive (at the time) bar prices.  It has evolved into a popular activity for young adults.  The crowds looked mostly to be in their early 20s.  So, the mobs I always see in this plaza are not only the overflow from the popular bar.

THE TAPAS RESTAURANT DURING THE DAY.
THE BAR (BEHIND THE TREE) WAS CLOSED.

We headed out of the plaza and around the corner to a smaller plaza.  To Margarita's consternation, it looked like another botellón.  Mobs of people stood everywhere.  The tapas bar she was headed for sat right next to the crowd and had lots of empty tables.  We didn't know if people were waiting to be seated.  Margarita walked up to the host and asked and he laughed and said the tables were all available.  The crowd was simply overflowing the patio from the bar next door.  So, this was not a botellón.  It was just a popular bar.

THE VIEW FROM OUR TABLE THURSDAY NIGHT.

We sat at a table and proceeded to enjoy yet another incredible tapas meal in Sevilla. We passed back through Plaza San Salvador and a now even larger mob.  But, except for a guy peeing against a wall in a side alley, there was no unpleasant or rowdy behavior.  Of course, botellónes continue until the wee hours of the morning.  So, there's no telling what went on once we were snug in our beds.

18 comments:

  1. Once again you have taken me along for the ride...thank you :) I may never get t0 actually visit there, but through your eyes I feel like I have :)

    wonderful

    ps.Not even a small part of you wanted to hang around for the events at the bar to unfold?

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  2. David:
    I'm so glad you're enjoying your time with us in Sevilla! Hope you get here one day to see it for yourself.

    And, yes, a big part of me definitely would have liked to have hung around. "Before Jerry," I would have been right in the middle of that crowd.

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  3. Popular bars overflow our harbour city Halifax thus giving rise to many intoxicated persons. The city also has 3 universities and an assortment of colleges...thus youth who like to drink to excess...need I say more! Yours however seems somewhat civilized.

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  4. sophie...^5:
    Like I said, I don't know what it's like at 3 in the morning, but at midnight it was simply crowded. I would so love to see Halifax (Nova Scotia in general), and not for the "intoxicating" night life.

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  5. My best friend is also called Margarita.....but she's a drink.


    And a good one.

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  6. As God is my witness, I will haul my cookies to Espana.

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  7. Bustling night-life, bustling day-life - does Seville ever stop bustling? The nights especially must be a problem for those in the apartments above these places - though I suppose it must be the same in every city worldwide.

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  8. I don't know if I could function in Spain... I'm usually in bed by 10pm!

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  9. Bob:
    But our Margarita makes us happy without the hangover!

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  10. Raybeard:
    But it's a relaxed bustle.

    And, yes, some of the residents must really suffer. Unless they have new doors and windows like ours. Our plaza is busy at night (although thankfully ours does not party into the wee hours), but, when we close our balcony doors and our inside shutter doors, we hardly hear a sound. But you're also right that it comes with city life.

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  11. Walt the Fourth:
    Jerry and I were the same before coming here. Now we're having dinner at 10 and then sleeping in. It was a surprisingly easy adjustment.

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  12. This sounded a rather lovely evening with Margarita I am so enjoying being in Seville with you and Jerry and sharing your exploits. I have visited Spain but never Seville.

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  13. the cuby poet:
    Any evening spent with Margarita is lovely. We have seen little of Spain and need to begin to explore. Feel free to make recommendations based on your travels. Sevilla is definitely worth visiting!

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  14. Nubian:
    So do I. Would love to take more pictures at times, but don't want to be too intrusive.

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  15. So you find a drunk Spanish guy peeing against a wall unpleasant, huh? Okay, I guess you're not into watersports. I'll make note of that.
    m.

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  16. Mark:
    I am grateful for the notation! (And I don't know for certain he was Spanish...)

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