Street to Street Oranges

Seville, Spain was our last stop before heading to Portugal. What a city it is! We were lucky enough to be there when it was only 31 degrees Celsius. The previous weekend and next weekend, it's supposed to be in the low forties. Meanwhile, 31 degrees is hot enough for most Canadians.

Seville has old and new parts with the Guadalquivir River between them. There are a number of bridges crossing the river and our hotel was near one of them. The city is clean, green, with streets lined with trees that contain oranges in various stages of ripening. These are Seville oranges.

  Looking toward the Arabic wall of the Cathedral, Seville

I have bought marmalade made with Seville oranges. These are bitter oranges, not suitable for eating like most oranges but perfect for marmalade. These oranges are sold to the British apparently because they like this marmalade so much.

                  Orange tree lined street

Meanwhile, some trees have ripe looking oranges on lower branches and small dark green ones up higher. It's as if the lower branches have the old crop and the higher ones have the new crop.

There are thousands of these trees lining the streets of Seville. They must be able to withstand the heat. Even the vendors close their small shops during the hottest part of the afternoon. The trees, depending on the size, can provide a bit of shade during the early and later parts of the day.

                         In front of the hotel

Whoever decided to put the orange trees along the streets of Seville, inspired!