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Guys Weekend - OBCB

Sevile

Guys weekend to Seville

On this weekend with the boys we also visited one of the biggest football games in the city. El Gran Derbi. Seville Betis

A really nice city for a guys trip combined with a football game.

Seville

Preface:

As big football/soccer fans, we try to visit a big game abroad every year for our guys weekend. This is always an important game with most of the time a lot of history between the clubs. For example, games such as derbies or the games that concern the top position or relegation. These matches are most of the time really important for the city and you can see and feel the atmosphere in the entire city throughout the weekend. We also like to see many different stadiums, so we try to visit games of different clubs. In 2019 it was El Gran Derbi de Seville. Seville – Betis.

When and how long

12th – 15th of April 2019

How many persons

4

Where did we book

Transavia and Booking

How much did we spend

  • € 237,- for the flights (Transavia)
  • € 80,- for the hotel
  • € 175,- per person for the ticket for the game.
  • Besides all this we spend about € 400,- per person in the entire weekend.

Hotel

    Casual Sevilla de las Letras

    The most important reason that we chose the apartment was that it was very cheap and has a very convenient location. Do not expect too much from it, but that’s fine, because why spend a lot of time in your room when you’re in one of the coolest cities in Europe. There was a bunk bed and 2 separate single beds. Whoever drew the highest card got to choose where he slept. The room had a bathroom and that was it. It reminded me a bit of when I was backpacking, but we slept well and when we stepped out the door we were right in the city center.

    Booking.com

    The sun is shining, so we drink beer

    A. Hazes

    Flights

    Transavia

    Activities

    Football match Sevilla – Betis. El Gran Derbi.

    MATCHDAY was on Saturday 13 April. We arranged our tickets through Passion Events. At Passion Events you pay a little more for a ticket, but we know they are reliable and that they will arrange the best possible seats for you. Getting the tickets was a bit cumbersome as we had to pick up the tickets at the stadium before (12) noon and the match was at 8.45pm that night. This is only for ‘high risk’ games, so most games it will be more straightforward. But it’s fine to stroll straight to the stadium and in this way we get to know the city and feel the atmosphere. What a wonderful stadium. Old fashioned football stadium. An hour in a row for those tickets, then the first beer on a terrace with a view of the stadium. It had to be celebrated that we have the tickets of course. Will Quincy Promes play? Because let’s face it…he is someone you go to the stadium for…NOT. During the day we walked around a bit and grabbed a terrace here and there. We thought it was strange that some kind of open-air theaters were placed everywhere (turned out to be open-air churches by the way) throughout the city. We would find out on Sunday where these were for.

    We went on time to the stadium to feel the atmosphere around the stadium and amongst the fans, which was great. Football is a big passion in Seville and especially on derby day. There were a few cafes around the stadium where it was really busy. And there were no rpoblems or riots or something. The atmosphere in the stadium was also fantastic. One of the better stadiums we’ve been to. ESTADIO RAMÓN SUNCHEZ-PIZJUÁN. Compact, close to the pitch, 70.000+ spectators and it was packed that night. The atmosphere was great especially before the match. In the first half it was a bit disappointing, but it was also a very boring game. Sevilla was leading 1-0 and we hesitated to go to the pub or to watch the second half after all. We would watch it for fifteen minutes and if it was still boring, we would go. But it was a wonderful second half with 4 goals and in the end Sevilla won 3-2 and it was a madhouse in the stadium. A must for every football fan and stadium fan to go here once. And in Betis’ stadium it seems to be the same, maybe even more exuberant… we were told. And oh yes, Promes. He came in as left back 10 minutes before the end and did not touch the ball and lost 0-1.

    Sunday was a walking day. We would take the hop on hop or bus, so you can immediately check off most touristy things and you can be driven through the city in the open air. When we went out on the street we immediately saw men in some sort of Ku Klux Clan outfits. Really, don’t lie. See pictures. It was really weird. And it got busier in the city and we saw more and more of these outfits. It turned out to be the first day of Semana Santa that day. That is a weeklong ceremonies of which this Sunday was the first day. We don’t know exactly what it means (even after reading Wikipedia we didn’t quite understand it yet), but it has  something to do with religion and confession and forgiveness and it is very important for the people of Seville. Literally everyone takes to the streets. There are several parades in the city on that Sunday and in the evening the biggest one is where the crucifixion of Jesus is reenacted (a bit like the Passion as here in the Netherlands, but much, much bigger). Anyway, we walked around in between these parades and took the hop on bus. Also nice to thick of Semana Santa. We don’t have to go there again, because it was also kind of scary. It kind of looked and felt like a cult or something. Especially such a parade at midnight, with tens of thousands of people on the street and you could hear a pin drop….

    Restaurants

    Usually with Guys Weekend we figure out a lot of things in advance to do. But we don’t really do that with restaurants. We just like to stroll through the city and see where we end up. Here is a short overview of the restaurants where we ended up.

    Friday night after we landed we went quickly into town. We arrived at Plaza del Salvador. A square with a number of bars next to each other that overlook the Cathedral of Divino Salvador. Very nice and busy square for drinks. Around the corner we later had some really nice tapas and good wine at Universal People Bar de Tapas.

    On Saturday during the day we just had took small bites in between, but I want to mwnion two nice streets/areas. One is Calle San Jacinto. This is a really nice  street for Saturday afternoon drinks. Lots of locals shopping and eating and drinking. All the bars and restaurants looked good. We ended up sitting at Taberna El Papelon. And the other one is Alameda de Hercules, a large long square with columns. There we had drinks and tapas at Al Aljibe and Casa Paco. Both very good food.

    Sunday was again the same as Saturday during the day. Lots of walking around and seeing different parts of the city. So every time in between small bites and tapas combined with nice wines or cold beers. A nice square where we ended up is Plaza de Gavidia. We sat here on the terrace of Dos de Mayo. That evening we had dinner at Mamarracha in a street behind the Cathedral de Sevilla.

    Bars/clubs/party’s

    We actually only went out on Saturday evening and that was after the game. We went to Calle Betis. That’s the boulevard across the river. There are many cafes and clubs. We tried a few, which were al very nice. We recommend to just do a little bit of bar hopping here. Not too late in the evening we went back to our hotel and one last drink on a terrace on a small square. And then off to bed…after all we are not the youngest anymore…

    And further

    Seville is truly one of the coolest cities in Spain. It is small and compact, and you can really eat and drink on every corner. The Seville stadium is also a top stadium with a fantastic atmosphere. If you go try to combine it with Semana Santa, it makes it an interesting weekend. We thought the whole semana Santa was a bit strange but also interesting to see and learn more about the local culture.

    Used services

    Ali express

    Transavia

    A lot of the time Transavia has destinations that KLM doesn't have. Like Sevilla for example. And it is not really expensive. A quick tip. Most of the time they fly form the smaller airports on better times and for better prices then the larger airports.

    Booking.com

    Booking.com

    Booking.com is off course the biggest and most used bookinsite worldwide. We always start here with our investigations