Be informed

Early new year’s day in Seville is tricky for breakfast – don’t try it before noon. Our favourite place, Picatoste, was closed. We ambled along to the Cathedral area and found a hungover cafe bar with torched croissants on offer. Full of charcoal, we ambled further along the river to Puente del Barquita walking south east towards the district of Macarena. There one finds the remains of the 12th century city wall (left) and gate. Most of the wall was removed in recent times to facilate the expansion of the city. It does, however, face the parliament building, a converted hospital! Nestled in between is the baroque façade of the Basilica de Macarena. It’s not really baroque. It is also closed, like most places, to visit on 1 January.

We then walked south along San Luis, a wonderfully narrow throughfare with a mix of dereliction, exquisite restorations (Santa Marina) and local people. This is not really tourist central. San Marcos has a Mudéjar tower, a reminder that the 14th century church was actually built on the site of a mosque. We managed lunch in a fast-running-out-of-food tapas bar close to Santa Catalina. In the sunshine. Unfortunately, 5 minutes later one is back El Centro. Back to the hotel for a cup of tea.