Día Mundial del Agua

Today is World Water Day and Emasesa’s Autobus del Agua will be parked in front of Metropol Parasol in Plaza Encarnación until 8 pm this evening. Normally the bus visits schools and educates children about the importance of saving water and simple day-to-day ways this can be done.  Other activities this week include special public openings on Friday and Saturday of the Estación de Ecología Acuática in the Cartuja, where you can visit the aquarium and see the water life native to the Guadalquivir River. And Saturday and Sunday the Jardín Botánico El Arboreto de El Carambolo, which was created by Emasesa in 1986, will also be open to the public. I didn’t know before today that either of these places existed and the aquarium is usually only accessible if you take part in a guided group tour, so this is a good opportunity to stop by and see it, and would make for a great outing with kids.

Estación de Ecología Acuática
Leonardo Da Vinci, 10 (Cartuja)
Friday 17.00 – 20.00
Saturday 11.00 – 14.00

Jardín Botánico El Arboreto de El Carambolo
Ctra A-472, frente a Coco de la Piñera (Camas)
Saturday and Sunday 10.00 – 14.30

www.aguasdesevilla.com

Seville Orange Days

It’s a sure sign of spring coming in Sevilla when the orange trees lining the streets and squares are harvested.

This year for the first time there will be week-long “Seville Orange Days” festival (starting Monday), sponsored by the provincial tourism board and Hosteleria Sevilla, with 38 restaurants in and around the city taking part by creating special dishes made from Sevilla’s emblematic bitter oranges.

I think it’s a great idea and some of the dishes sound terrific. Check out the PDF list of participating restaurants and their offerings here…

I Jornadas Gastronómicas de la Naranja de Sevilla

Semana Santa Practice


Bet you don’t see this where you live! And as many times as I’ve seen it, including the guys above a couple of nights ago, I am always stopped in my tracks and, well, a little bit in awe. They are costaleros practicing for Semana Santa, when they will carry the statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on the backs of their necks throughout the processions. Here they are practicing with weights instead of statues while they perfect their moves because, as you can imagine, it’s quite difficult to manouevre these things, and taking corners is especially tricky. During the processions you never see the costaleros (other than those taking breaks and having beers at nearby bars) and I find it fascinating to see them at work like this.

Semana Santa 2012
1 – 8 April

Wabi Sabi Vintage Market


This afternoon I stopped into Wabi Sabi Shop & Gallery to check out their Sunday Vintage Market, an exclusive one-day-only event that they were hosting with Mary Jo Torres from Mulita Couture. I was told that this is just the start of regular “every-other-Sunday” events, which will include poetry readings and wine tastings, along with fashion, furniture and art workshops.

Owner María Lopez Vergera opened her bright new space just off the Plaza Encarnación in part to help make people feel less intimidated about walking into an “Art Gallery”, which I think she mostly does by just being herself.  I love the mix of art and fashion, retro furniture and cool chachkas on display, but it’s the friendly and open welcome you get from María and Manolo that really makes you feel at home.  Seriously my kind of place.

Wabi Sabi Shop & Gallery

Viriato 9
Tel. 954 214 065