Sister Cities: Falling for Sevilla, Spain

“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place, I told him. Like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again.” Azar Nafisi

Oh. My. Goodness.

I have fallen in love. ❤️

I’ve fallen hard. 💃

Sevilla is my new Spanish lover. 🇪🇸

There are not many cities that I can say, “Oh I would live there,” but Sevilla just might be one of those cities. I have loved the architecture, the food, the people, the culture, the rich history, and the Flamenco. 💃 Sevilla even has a personal and special connection for me.

After the Camino, Sevilla was the one city in particular that I wanted to visit before I travel elsewhere.

Standing on the train platform in Santiago I met a guy who is from the Netherlands but happens to live and work as a tour guide in Sevilla. What are the odds?

I initially asked him a question about my ticket and the transfer in Madrid. We got to talking and Maurits started telling me about the history of Sevilla and things I should see and do while I am there. I said I was from Kansas City and his eyes lit up. I knew exactly why. It’s the reason I am going to Sevilla. Kansas City and Sevilla are sister cities. In KC, we have an area called The Country Club Plaza that was modeled after Sevilla by the developer, J.C. Nichols who visited Spain and loved the architecture/culture/people/etc. In return, Sevilla named a road near the train station, Kansas City Blvd and near it is a statue of a Native American on a horse that was given to Sevilla from KC. Maurits gets all the credit for telling me about the statue.

Another divine aspect of meeting Maurits was, since he was going to Sevilla, he was going to be doing the same train transfer in Madrid. It requires not only changing trains but stations as well. He said he’d make sure I got where I was going and to just look for him on the platform when we arrived in Madrid. He would wait for me. I was a little nervous about navigating this part of the trip but as always, it works out…even with a delayed start. No need to stress, I guess.

On the train to Madrid, I met a lovely mother and daughter from Afghanistan, Amjiri and Faryal. It took us awhile to figure out that Farsi in the Google Translate app is listed as Persian but once I got it going, we were able to communicate. They along with Faryal’s two brothers moved to Tui, Spain four months ago. Nobody speaks Spanish (or English) yet but they are learning. Amjiri (Mama) appears to be having the most difficult time (understandably) but the kids are trying. They asked to take a photo with me and I was happy to do so. Amjiri said to me, “I will never forget you.” ❤️🙏 I’m not sure how many people I’ve met from Afghanistan but it’s not many. So to meet and get a chance to talk to Amjiri and Faryal was a real treat. I will never forget them either.

When we arrived at the station in Madrid. They both give me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. ❤️

Maurits waited for me on the platform to help me with the transfer in Madrid…thank goodness for him because he knew exactly where to go which meant I had time to grab a sandwich. Priorities. I was about to get hangry because I hadn’t eaten all day.

After the transfer of stations and lunch, we hopped on the train to Sevilla and arrived in no time. Maurits waited for me again on the platform – he should be canonized for his kindness – to show me the exit to Kansas City Blvd. I was so excited when I saw the sign! It felt like home.

I made the quick five-minute walk down Kansas City Blvd to see the statue that KC gave to Sevilla as a gift. I have to say, it’s underwhelming. It’s a beautiful statue of a Native American on a horse but it is small. Use the parking sign for comparison.

A local told me that they had heard that the Chiefs football team colors are a tribute to Sevilla as well because the Spanish flag is red and yellow but don’t quote me on that. ❤️💛

One of the first things I did during my time in Sevilla was take a culture and history tour of the city. I figured that would be the best way to get a lay of the land plus it was only €3 and a tip for two hours from booking.com. Let me say, it was well worth every cent.

Fernando was an amazing tour guide with a plethora of knowledge. When he asked where everyone was from, I said Kansas City instead of my usual answer of the United States. He was so excited. He said, “we are sister cities!” Then he said I was his first customer from KC…actually, I was the first person he had ever met from Kansas City. KC people, get your a$$es to Sevilla and visit our siblings!

Then he flipped open his guidebook to show me photos of Kansas City that they use on the tour.

As I mentioned above, J.C. Nichols (love him or hate him – his legacy is very controversial) modeled The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City after Sevilla. You can read about it here.

Below are some photos of the real deal here in Spain from our tour.

Later, I went inside the Cathedral and climbed the tower. It’s made of ramps, not stairs so the donkeys could haul the materials up and down. The place was packed with people but the views were stunning.

The Cathedral is the largest Gothic Church in the world. It only took 80 years to build and it’s made of sandstone. A stone very common in Kansas/Missouri as well. Christopher Columbus (another controversial figure in history – I’m not taking sides, just reporting the facts) is buried inside the church…well, 15% of his bones are according to Javier our tour guide. Who also made the joke that old Chris has done more traveling than he did while he was alive. Five or six cities claim to have his remains.

We toured The Royal Alcazar palace. First built as a fortress by the Muslims then taken over by the Christians and redesigned for King Peter…and it’s got some Italian Renaissance art thrown in the mix…it’s a lot of history and I’ll botch it up if I try to explain it. So if you’re curious, read more about it, here.

It’s beautiful though. I love the tile work and the gardens. I even saw a peacock with her babies while I was walking around.

Also on one of these tours (I took two) we went to an old tobacco factory that is now owned by the University of Sevilla.

The Exposition of 1929 is still a prominent event that is discussed on the tours. It really put Sevilla on the world map because they were welcoming the Americas. The Plaza de Espana was created for the event and is quite a site to see. It showcases the major cities (Santiago de Compostela was not represented though! Boo) around Spain and is shaped in an arc like a big welcome hug (one of the tour guides said this). It’s a beautiful place to sit and hangout. They are having a huge three-day festival so we lucked out as it was the last day for tours before it’s closed for the event and a concert ticket is required for entry.

I’ve done so much while I’ve been here and I can’t squeeze it all into a blog post…but I cannot leave out my trip to see an authentic Flamenco show! 💃💃💃 Wow! This was an incredible experience. The dancers, singer and guitarist were all amazing. They have shows all over the city but this one came highly recommended because it’s in such an intimate setting. It was fantastic. The show was about an hour long and they let us take videos and photos at the very end. Check it out!

I had dinner one night with Hammond, the Kiwi from the Camino and his son Mike who came to travel with him around Spain. Even though it was just a few days since I had seen him, it was nice to share a meal with a friendly face.

I have soooo many photos of this city and each one is better than the next. I wish I could share them all with you guys.

During dinner, Hammond made a comment that Sevilla feels like such a happy place with a really nice vibe. I couldn’t agree more. It’s a wonderful place to visit…and maybe live.

Goodnight and much love & gratitude from Spain! 🇪🇸