Christmas spirit in Seville - December 23rd

In the morning it's damp and gray again, but it was yesterday too and it clears up during the morning. El Rocio means morning dew... very fitting! We say goodbye, it looks like it will be a while until we move on, as we will probably move on faster than Switzerland, we don't have as much time! We check out and visit El Rocio one more time before we continue.

On the way, I call the campsite in Dos Hermanas and find out that it is only open for one more night. We make up our minds and check in at the campsite around 2 p.m., park the bus immediately and head into the city. The bus to the city stops just around the corner and only takes 20 minutes, perfect!

Seville is a beautiful city, with lots of old architecture and picturesque little streets. We stroll through the old town, which is not very crowded, and enjoy a wonderful Seville with lots of parrots flying above our heads in 20 degrees and sunshine. We treat ourselves to a delicious coffee and eat some churros, then continue strolling and wait for it to get dark, because then the spectacular Christmas lights come on. It gets busier hour by hour, because not only do we wait for the illuminated streets, it feels like all of Spain is waiting too. And then the time has come, around 6.30 p.m. it goes "pling" and a murmur goes through the crowds. I don't even want to know what the fun costs in electricity, but it's beautiful to look at! We can't believe how crowded it is now, the tram has to be escorted through the crowd by the police, otherwise there is no way through here. Where did all these people suddenly come from, madness! We push through the masses and find a small restaurant in a side street, order some tapas and eat our first real paella with seafood. Delicious!

At around nine o'clock we set off, totally blown away by this glowing and beautiful city. We sit in front of the bus for a little while and think about where to go next day, because the campsite is closing and we have basically moved Christmas Eve forward by one day.

Also, we haven't found a Portuguese or Spanish family to spend Christmas with... so we're thinking of returning to our original plan and spending Christmas Eve by the sea! Let's see if there's still a spot available for us there, or if the places here are really all crowded...! Well then, goodnight Seville!