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1. Introduction


View from the tower of Seville cathedral over the city

The beginning of 2023 got off to a gentle start, with me turning down a short trip to Berlin in favour of remaining in Oberhausen to work on a composition project due to the deadline on a commission. So I didn't do anything particularly exciting, except for a short hike in Niederrhein up near the Dutch border. The weather was mostly very mild (as high as 16°), quite windy and most days were very wet, so going on serious hikes wasn't really an option. The weather became colder in February but not spectacularly so and the end of March was quite wet. There also wasn't a huge amount of spare time, as work at the Conservatoire ramped up more than I expected and I had the Swiss solo brass championships to prepare. So any spare time was dedicated to the three major trips I made, which included separate trips to Seville and Malaga in Spain, as well as one to Bristol, Wells and Taunton in southwest England.


Snow in the Lötschental, Switzerland, a regular occasion


The mermaid statue on the lakeside at Territet, Switzerland


Beside Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) in winter

Offers at the airlines had dried up and only the Seville trip was the result of an amazing offer in business class on Air France operated by Hop! Here, a round trip to Turin from Seville (via Paris CDG Terminal 2G) cost a derisory €185.14 in business class, but I had a leftover voucher of €170 to use. In addition I got €15 cashback from the German cashback site Shoop, so with the voucher being a sunk cost I ended up paying only €0.14 cents for the whole trip, possibly my best deal yet. However, you get what you pay for and the trip from Seville via Paris to Turin really reflected the 14 cents I had paid for it. My other flights on easyJet and Vueling offered much better service and ticket costs varied from CHF13.95 to EUR40.00 for each flight segment. So there are still deals out there, you just have to look for them and get a bit lucky.


The huge cathedral in Seville, Spain


From the fort above Malaga, Spain, looking down on the city


The rejuvenated port area of Malaga

There was time to hop down to Domodossola in Italy using my Swiss GA rail pass, but I got the impression that Domodossola has lost its shine. I also had a musical work project in the Lötschental, a previously cut off valley that tapers up to the glaciated heart of Switzerland. I also had to take the CGN boat across Lac Léman from Lausanne to Thonon-les-Bains to do some things there. Thonon has lost its shine too, let me tell you (did it ever have any?). Got my mobile phone slightly hacked while there, which ended up with me being blocked from being able to access free WiFi hotspots, with a message asking me to pay some unpaid bill to the SFR Telecom company in France. I think that the phone put up some security barrier, as no other damage was done. I did work out how to circumvent the whole thing, though, and in the end the problem just seemed to disappear.


Restaurant Atelier in the Hotel Eurossola in Domodossola, Italy, where chef Georgio Bartolucci has a Michelin star


Arcaded buildings in the center of Turin, Italy


Murals dating from the 1920s cover the walls of the main hall of Basel SBB railway station

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Well, here we go again, with an interesting set of trips around Europe. Plenty of flight and hotel reviews as well as hikes, and also some trips within Switzerland, where I am currently living.

Concerto

The title of this post is a bit of a joke, although I include it at the beginning of every trip report, because there were almost no offers to speak of at the beginning of 2023. Instead, we were creaking under the weight of reading matter and information concerning major devaluations at the main frequent flyer and hotel programmes. Dynamic mileage accrual and redemption systems are no good for members like us because they effectively knock out any aspirational awards with outsized value. The point is that they reward the flyers on the most expensive tickets who tend to be travelling on expense accounts and therefore don't care about getting miles or which accounts should be used.


On the lakeside at Montreux


A sculpture on the lakeside near the Casino in Montreux


Another sculpture on the lakeside at Territet

- Flying Blue of Air France KLM have already moved to a revenue based collection and spending system and that makes the programme a lot less interesting now. Flying Blue have, curiously, just republished an award chart.
- Iberia has just moved to a revenue based collection system and BA will follow in 2023 and a revenue based award ticket concept can't be far behind.
- BA has just totally gutted the Executive Club in a most complicated manner, making award tickets much more expensive in terms of miles and ridiculous surcharges, which amount to increases of up to 92%. Glad I didn't invest too much into BAEC.
- Miles & More has had a revenue based collection system for some time now and there are murmurings of a similarly based award ticket system. The big news here is that a new mileage collecting system will be introduced in 2024, whereby you have to qualify for status each year and status will no longer last for 2 years, as previously. A new qualifying points system, similar to that at Flying Blue, will be introduced.


The United Nations at Geneva, Switzerland


Crowd in the street during Carnival at Sion, Switzerland


At the Swiss solo brass championships at Kriens, near Lucerne, Switzerland

Otherwise, there were no special offers from the airlines or frequent flyer programmes to speak of. All restricted tickets were rendered flexible and modifiable during the pandemic and that flexibility has finally come to an end. The only offer which looked like it was the deal of the year was a round trip Oneworld fare from Paris to New York for around €750, also available to places like Cancun from Budapest for €450. These were business class fares on British Airways, Finnair and American Airlines, and are unlikely to be honoured.



The music school at Wells Cathedral School at Wells, England, where I spent many years


The Sherford stream, beside which I played when I was little in Taunton, England


Arcaded walkway, one of many in the city of Turin, Italy

There was one final offer, which I jumped on when it appeared on Vielfliegertreff. This was a 6-month subscription for the magazine Grazia in Germany for €46.80 which came with 6,030 Payback points which made it a very good deal indeed (Payback points can be transferred 1=1 to Miles & More). A few days later the points, which had already been deposited in my Payback account, were clawed back by the publishing distributor Burda, which amounts to a breach of contract. The bloggers were all preparing for a war on Burda to get the points advertised. Several years ago I had already expressed my opinion of Burda on VFT, to the displeasure of several members, but this time I think that they were all in agreement with me. In any event, I decided to use the Widerrufs possibility to cancel the sub within 14 days and save myself a lot of hassle for something that I don't really have the time to fiddle around with.


Beside the cathedral of Malaga, Spain


Main beach of the city of Malaga, Spain


Yet another sunset over the lake at Montreux, Switzerland

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The weather during Christmas 2023 and New Year period was ridiculously warm, as high as 18° on some days. This was accompanied nearly every day by gusting winds and regular rainfall, occasionally heavy, so there were not many opportunities to get out and about with outdoor activities. But with careful study of the weather forecast I managed to avoid a soaking when I went out on 3rd January. The forecast sunny spells appeared later than expected, but at least there was a bright sunset across the Niederrhein on my way back.


The walk disappears into the forest at Reichswald


Old lookout tower for spotting forest fires

This hike again lead me into the lower Rhine region near the Dutch border, into the woods known as Reichswald near the town of Kleve. In truth, this along with one other hike is probably the least challenging in the whole Rother book (which has a total of 50 hikes). It heads straight as an arrow into the woods from the woodland parking lot, initially following a surfaced forest route. The forest road leads straight up a hill to the point where there is an abandoned fire observation tower. At this point the forest road swings to the right, but you have to continue straight on, to follow a muddy and leafy path to the top of the hill where the tower is.


In the depths of the Reichswald


Further on, as the route looped back towards the beginning, the sky opened up to let some sunshine through

The path continues on the other side of the tower, dropping down to an intersection where you turn 90° to the right to change direction and head for about 1.5km further into the woods in a northeasterly orientation. On the map in the Rother book the red line denoting the walk actually looks like a square with a couple of variants on it. You just have to be sure to turn right at the correct places on the square, which is made easier by using the Deutsche Alpenverein app if you have activated the GPS blue point. The walk is easily achievable, however, if you read the route description in the book and follow the accurately drawn map. At the most distant part of the circuit there were apparently a number of prehistoric sites, but I couldn't see any sign of them in the undergrowth. Later on, there were a couple of more light and airy sections of the walk, due to some open spaces in the woods as well as a section following the edge of the forest once approaching the start point of the walk again.


The biggest British war cemetery in Germany, where almost 8,000 men are buried


The sheer number of graves is sobering

I had thought that the overcast weather had made the woods seem very somber and forbidding, but I realised that men had fought and killed each other in their thousands all across this terrain during the wars of the 20th century. The car park is in fact located beside the biggest British war cemetery in Germany, where almost 8,000 men are buried, mostly British but a goodly number of Australians, Canadians and other nationalities too. The orderly rows of simple white gravestones along with the names of men in their late teens and twenties was shocking, especially when you think that we're just going to repeat the same thing all over again with this Russia and Ukraine conflict. Just behind the cemetery and along a very faint and small path was a small and extremely humble memorial to the forest workers of the region who were lost during the war. If it wasn't for the Rother book, I would have never known about its existence.


The cemetery is huge


The modest and solitary memorial to German soldiers nearby in the woods

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My stay in the Lufthansa Business lounge before this flight was very pleasant, mostly due to the peace and quiet afforded by there being few people in the lounge. Three hot dishes were on offer, as well as a decent wine selection (not the rubbish offered in lounges in cheapskate Switzerland). Boarding this completely full flight (150 pax), a real sardine tin, was somewhat chaotic and time consuming. Seeing that it was a Edelweiss plane (no warning at check-in or on the boarding pass), I initially thought, great, there'll be some decent service. But it was not to be the case, it was the same crappy nonexistent service you get on SWISS and Lufthansa these days. And why is it so impossible for Lufthansa Group to issue a seat assignment with an aisle or window seat? Why always allocate middle seats? Even the lowliest elites should be entitled to a semi decent seat assignment without having to pay CHF30 for it during online check-in. I never thought I would hear myself say it, but the European carriers have managed to descend even further than their US counterparts in terms of service, or lack of it.


The check-in area at Düsseldorf airport was totally calm


The business class lounge at DUS airport, equally calm


Goodies in the lounge, which I somehow managed to avoid touching


Acceptable hot food offering in the Düsseldorf lounge

Inflight service consisted of the usual distribution of water bottles and little chocolates, not spectacular but better than nothing. Wait until that is taken away from us, any day now. Service was faceless and robotic and there was no connection with the young crew. They wandered up the aisle trying to flog that overpriced duty free junk from the Inflight Shopping magazine, no doubt because they get commission on it. At least the flight was punctual, given the wet and windy weather.


This LH-coded flight was operated by Edelweiss Air (WK)


A look at the Edelweiss Air economy class cabin


The countryside while approaching Zurich, with an image of the edelweiss flower on the wing tip

Rating 6.5*
Seat 34B
Aircraft 320
Registration HB-JLS

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The lounge in Zurich was crowded but I had a pleasant stay there, partly because I shared a table with a frequent flyer from Hannover and we were able to share a few frequent flying points of view. The cooking station offered pretty decent freshly prepared food and I had my favourite dish, penne pasta with Steinpilze mushrooms. There was also a risotto option using Ebly, which was interesting because I did not know Ebly could be used to make a risotto.


The busy SWISS business class lounge in Zurich airport with the cooking station in the background

At gate A66 there was a large crowd of people although boarding groups were strictly enforced. I was allocated Group 5, bottom of the pile, but I had a decent aisle seat towards the rear of the A220 aircraft. I reckon this sort of aircraft is far too small for the busy Zurich-Geneva route, because every last seat was taken. Although there wasn't a huge amount of crew interaction the service felt better and resembled the old days to a certain extent. Water bottles were distributed followed by a round of SWISS branded chocolates. (By way of comparison, in the latter days of Swissair you would be offered a choice of water, orange juice or cola, from a tray of pre-filled plastic cups. On the morning flights you would be offered a croissant and coffee. So I feel that not too much has changed).


In the airbridge while boarding the flight to Geneva


Looking down through the cabin on the Zurich to Geneva flight

The plane finally reached reached Geneva 28 minutes late, almost as long as the flight itself (35 minutes). The real highlight of the trip, though, was my Slovakian seat neighbour who was intelligent and well spoken, with an open-minded outlook on life and travel. I hope she took my advice and joined Miles & More, given the number of flights she will make during the coming weeks.

Rating 8*
Seat 27C
Aircraft 223
Registration HB-JCU

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I managed to make a couple of trips up to Basel in January and February. It's always a question of pulling myself out of bed at an unearthly hour and facing the crowds commuting to Lausanne. Then I have to navigate through a station far too small for the hordes of people pressing through it, over to platform 1 for the train to Bern and on to Basel. Usually by the time I get past Lausanne (around 08h) the trains are much calmer and are empty in some cases. (As a side note, the Swiss train company SBB has said that the renovations of Lausanne station won't be ready before the year 2038, an absurdity in a place like Switzerland).


Lausanne railway station, on the way back from my trip to Basel


Main hall of Basel SBB railway station

It's quite nice to go back to Basel from time to time, ostensibly to complete some errands there, as well as things in nearby Lörrach, which is in Germany. But in reality I waste an awful lot of time in the bookshop Bider & Tanner, a traditional store in the center of Basel situated next to the Bankverein tram stop. It's one of the few places which have knowledgeable staff who don't crowd you to buy something and who leave you to browse in peace. (In French speaking Switzerland, Payot is just awful and snooty to boot, with staff rattling pens next to you and loudly stacking and banging books into the shelf right where you're standing: I make it a policy to browse as much as possible and never buy a single thing there, but who wants to spend time in a shop like that?)


A selection of German language Swiss crime thrillers


Crossing the river Rhine in February

Bider & Tanner has an extensive selection of English and French books. But I like to spend time browsing through the Swiss German language Krimi (crime novels) section. There are different series which take place in the backdrop of the Graubünden (Grisons), or in the sunny Tessin, or in the city of Zurich and, of course, stories which take place in Basel. These latter are filed in a section upstairs near the walking guides (and don't get me started on those Rother hiking books), beside other books that are written about or based in Basel. Also, upstairs has a really good travel and maps section, including all the Michelin maps as well as other brands such as the excellent Kümmerly & Frey series, along with most Swiss and French equivalents of ordinance survey maps of the mountains (nothing will wean me off paper maps). Bider & Tanner also has a huge selection of travel guides, including Lonely Planet, The Rough Guide, Le Petit Routard and many others. The Lonely Planet guides are cheaper in English than in German, presumably because of translation costs. They always seem to have the guides that I need when I go there, although orders have been known to take less than 24 hours in some cases. There is also an electronic loyalty system which rewards you with a voucher after a certain level of spend within one year.


A traditional payphone in Basel which was operational


Advertising with Swiss humour on the rear side of the payphone, "just as sexy as other tins of peas"

But the highpoint of a visit to Bider & Tanner is the carefully curated CD section in the basement, containing both classical and jazz rarities as well as LPs. On one visit I picked up a recording of Bruckner Symphony No. 5 with Andris Nelsons directing the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; on another visit I got a new recording of Hans Rott's Symphony No. 1 which sounds amazingly like Mahler's 1st Symphony, interesting given that it was written years before Mahler penned his symphony; another gem was jazzman Uri Caine recomposing a version of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations with the period instrument orchestra Concerto Köln. So they really have interesting things there and I believe it is the only remaining large store with a decent CD section in Switzerland.


Number 16 tram in Basel, which makes a loop and becomes the number 15 at the halfway point


Former ticket office for the Basel tram company, now a small kiosk

As for food, there's no end of places in Basel although I have yet to strike pure gold. Maybe the closest I got to it was the lunchtime menu at the restaurant Atelier in the hotel Teufelhof, which is a class act. I enjoyed stepping into the Markthalle near the main station and trying one of the international food stalls there (last time I tried the Jerusalem one). A beer called Uelibier is apparently brewed in a beer cellar pub in Klein Basel, just across the Rhine, although I am told that most of it is brewed across the border in Germany. The huge Feldschlösschen brewery is very much present in the area, but I am not a fan of this beer (no wonder, as it is owned by Carlsberg).
The trams are fun ride around on and some of the lines extend over great distances, even crossing into nearby France. And little ferries will pull you across the Rhine river in little motorless boats, using only the current of the water in both directions.


Restaurant Atelier in the hotel Teufelhof


Very good steak served as a midday meal in the Atelier

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I​ went to Geneva airport appropriately early for this easyJet flight to Seville, but I needn't have worried. Security was of an efficiency that could only be described as Swiss, and the airport was calm. I was on a "Standard" class ticket, with no amenities such as lounge access and priority boarding, and the experience was surprisingly good. The flight was fairly full, with all three seats in my row occupied, but I did not feel too cramped. The staff were friendly and welcoming, with a greeting as I boarded, which was better than that I have received in business class on other legacy airline flights.


The A gates at Geneva airport are also used by easyJet these days, probably because they are the biggest carrier at GVA


Boarding the flight to Seville through the airbridge


A look at standard easyJet seating


And a general look down through the easyJet cabin


Taking off from Geneva with easyJet, with Mt Blanc in the background

The flight itself to Seville was on time and we arrived early at Seville airport, which was small enough to make the arrival experience very pleasant indeed. The flight was enjoyable in the usual easyJet way and onboard BoB service was very efficient, with service from the rear reaching my row (25) just a few minutes after take-off. I opted for a meal deal for CHF9.95, which included a Grisons dried meat and rocket salad sandwich, a snack (Zweifel chili chips) and a nonalcoholic drink (I chose the rather good Segafredo coffee). Not even the cheapest café in Switzerland would be able to offer such a menu for less than 10 Swiss francs, so I felt that this was a very good deal indeed. So, the flight price plus meal deal cost a total of CHF41. I did not check any baggage, but chose a "small bag under the seat" tariff which meant I was able to put my rucksack in the overhead compartment. The only negative comment I have about the flight is the seat and how it gave me back pain by being incredibly uncomfortable.


All options on the reasonably priced inflight menu were available


I had the menu for CHF9.95 which included a snack, a decent sandwich and a coffee (or water, or a soft drink)


This sandwich, which was generously filled with Grisons dried meat, is available only on easyJet Switzerland flights


Disembarking at Seville airport

Rating 8"
Seat 25B
Aircraft 32A
Registration HB-JXO

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This lovely hotel appeared to be an enchanting oasis of comfort in the middle of Seville's network of alley's and lanes, down which endless cars, vans and scooters are allowed to roar. Designed in the Moorish style with a central courtyard of greenery with comfortably arranged seating and lovely corridors radiating out from the central area. It must be one of the only hotels that I have visited in my life in which I preferred to spend more time in the corridors than in the rooms! To be honest, the comfort was not stellar in the rooms (with a room change I was able to try two separate rooms).


Exterior of the Hotel Abanico in Seville, Spain


Moorish style interior courtyard


Looking down from the 1st floor balcony
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Period details in the open courtyard of the hotel

The old building consisted of irregularly shaped rooms and the first room (105) I was assigned to actually had no window or natural light. But the bed was extremely comfortable and the room was very quiet, so I ended up sleeping really well there. I accepted an upgrade for the remaining two nights to an upper floor room (202) overlooking the street, but the room turned out to be extremely noisy due to the traffic roaring past below and the bed was much shorter than the bed below in 105. It was also quite a bit smaller, with bathroom hardware that was clonking around a bit. But both rooms had much charm with different restful colour schemes and tasteful, Moorish décor. The internet network was serviceable but tended to cut out from time to time. I had breakfast on only one of the three days I was there but I felt that the charge of €10 was too high for what was on offer. Staff at reception were very friendly without being obsequious and they spoke good English.


Corridors on the upper floors
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The first room I was offered had no exterior windows, just a small one overlooking a miniature interior courtyard


The bathroom was lovely, with tiles covering the walls


The second room was prettier, but the first one was more comfortable and less noisy

Concerto

I think that Seville is, along with many cities in the world (think San Francisco, Vienna, Capetown), somewhere that is intoxicating and needs to be experienced in a special way - like the Flamenco concert I went to. In fact I would probably place Granada above Seville on the intoxication spectrum, but that's mainly because of the amazing Alhambra there. Seville has a similar collection of overwhelming sites to visit, including the main cathedral and the nearby Alcazar (I did not visit this latter).


The Metropol (Setas de Sevilla)


View over Seville from the Giralda, the tower of the cathedral


Seville's amazing decorative bus station

The Catedral de Sevilla costs €11 to visit if booked online and it includes climbing up the 35 ramps (so that soldiers could ride up on horseback) that lead to the top of the Giralda tower. The cathedral is the biggest Gothic cathedral in existence, I believe, and there is so much to see inside that it took me quite some time to get oriented and work out where everything was. There was some significant artwork in the chapels and a noteworthy chapterhouse. The middle of the cavernous building contains the main altar with an impossibly high gold leaf retable with hundreds of figure carvings. The amount of gold and glitter everywhere with so much ornate embellishment was almost too much to take in. The highlight was probably the burial tomb of Christopher Columbus which was in the main body of the cathedral without being shut away in some chapel. The ticket also offered entry to the nearby Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador, a lovely church which was so peaceful after the heaving masses in the main cathedral. I'm not a fan of paying to enter churches but I think it's essential in this case, because there are so many treasures in the cathedral and maintenance and cleaning must be a huge job. Certainly, incessant heaving mass tourism is beginning to destroy the things people want to see, because it's just relentless.


Exterior of Seville cathedral


Tombstone of Christopher Columbus in the cathedral


The Giralda, the tower of Seville cathedral

Luckily there are a number of old churches that you can visit for free when wandering through Seville, along with several stately old townhouses described as palaces (which are not free). One place that was surprisingly interesting was the old tower down on the river, which had great views over the city. The small maritime museum inside made me realise that we could all have ended up being Spanish speakers if their navy and military hadn't gone into recession in the 1800s, when other powers like England moved to the forefront.


The old tower by the river in Seville


View from the top of the tower over the river


One of the side chapels in the cathedral

The parkland and buildings of Plaza Espana are well worth visiting and there no cost. The impressive and imposing buildings, with extensive grounds and fountains, were constructed in 1929 for the national exhibition. It was quite atmospheric at sundown when I was there.


The Plaza de Espana, Seville

Fabo.sk

I really need to go to Spain more.

hugolover

Interesting to see the DS meal. It shows the delusion of LH Group that DS offer a menu to sell, rather than the mad prices to scam pax that LH Group have because they're so expensive to fly, especially ex-CH. I bet DS operate the meal service themselves and not for Retail in Motion as some kind of profit sharing deal because they didn't want the risk themselves, hence the mad prices.

The LO Sky Bar and the pre-order meals on LO are the best in Europe in Y and beat most carriers in C as well.

Concerto

Spain really is worth spending time in. I recommend the north and northwest because they are full of amazing sights and there are few tourists.

As for easyJet Switzerland (DS), I think that if you were travelling several times a week you would get very bored with that BoB menu. But DS is now an infinitely better airline than LH Group in terms of service and I never thought I'd see myself write this. And LX has quickly developed an arrogance worthy of its predecessor, Swissair, not to mention cavalier treatment of their passengers such as refusing rebookings and refunds during irrops.

Concerto

It wasn't difficult to get legless in Seville. The only difficulty was knowing how and when to stop. I found that there was a lot of variety in the quality of the bars in Seville and you needed a good nose to suss out the decent ones. Most places served tapas and some doubled up as a sort of cantine serving normal food, in the form of a Cervecería (a beer bar). Some places were less scrupulous: one charged €10 for two big beers, another charged €4 for the same. The main beer that pours out of the taps is Cruzcampo, which hails from Malaga and has unfortunately sold itself to Heineken. There aren't going to be many traditional brands left which haven't sold themselves out, but there is a burgeoning craft beer scene in Spain which can easily be seen on the shelves if you go into any of the little Carrefour Express supermarkets. Cruzcampo is surprisingly drinkable, especially in hot weather, and seems to lack that yuck aftertaste that most of the beers which have been taken over by the chemical companies have.


There are endless orange trees in Seville, unsurprisingly


Some great meat here


You can get almost anything from street vendors in Seville

Once I decided to progress beyond beer I found some real enjoyment in Spain's excellent wines, with many options from the Seville region itself. Even the smallest bar was happy to offer advice and carried decent bottles, such as the nice Beronia Rueda Verdejo from Seville. This was in a little bar called Taberna El Miguelete, just a few dark streets away from the main action in Seville, which had no tourists at all in it. It was well worth the trip because the tapas turned out to be outstanding and represented some of the best food that I had on the whole trip. The bar also had white Vermouth which not all places have, although the red version of Vermouth is probably better.


Like orange trees, Seville is full of bars and restaurants




One of the offbeat places that I found, away from the touristy center, which served excellent tapas and drinks

La Bodega in Calle Alfalfa, just outside the hotel, was my favourite mainstream place with numerous friendly and helpful servers (don't bother with the one man show offering seafood tapas just a couple of doors away - he's just too mean to pay for a couple of helpers, so you're left waiting forever). The tapas were excellent at La Bodega and there was a real choice of quality wines for reasonable prices. Standing or sitting at the bar or one of the high tables was a lot cheaper than sitting down at one of the low tables.


The Campana bar and patisserie, where I had a great breakfast


Some of the goodies on offer in the Campana


Inside La Bodega in Calle Alfalfa

The highlight of this whole trip was, certainly, the Flamenco concert that I visited. This followed a visit to the nicely outfitted Baile Flamenco museum. On the stage were a guitarist, two male singers, two female dancers and one male dancer. Flamenco is a style that slightly resembles jazz in its execution, a series of improvisations on a chord series with harmonies that are typically "Andalusian". The show was gripping all the way to the end and vaguely reminded me of a snake charming ritual, as the sensual female dancers gradually emerged to the calls of the singers while supported by guitar riffs. I hope to hear more Flamenco on an upcoming trip to Malaga!


I have to slip in one selfie from this report, so this is it


Pictures were not permitted during the performance so I took these in the Flamenco museum

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I added a photo right at the beginning of the trip report. Every time I tried to forward the link to friends by WhatsApp, a picture of the frozen Lötschental would appear in the link, which was slightly incongruous for a report about Seville. Now, no photo appears in the link.