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In Sevilla, you basically have three flamenco options: serious — yet still touristy — flamenco concerts, where the singing and dancing take center stage; even more touristy shows that have a bar and/or food (scurrying waiters can distract from the performers); and — least touristy — casual bars late at night, where you can catch impromptu or semi-impromptu musicians at play.

Serious Flamenco Concerts
While it’s hard to choose among these three nightly, one-hour Flamenco concerts, I’d say enjoying one is a must during your Sevilla visit. To the novice viewer, each company offers equal quality. They cost about the same, and each venue is small, intimate, and air-conditioned. For most, they are preferable to the “shows” listed later; compared to those, these options are half the cost, half the length, half the seats, and earlier in the evening. (While you can hear flamenco for free in various bars around town — also described later — that scene ignites very late.) My recommended concerts are careful to give you a good overview of the art form, covering all the flamenco bases. At each venue, you can reserve by phone and pay upon arrival, or drop by early to pick up a ticket. While La Casa del Flamenco is the nicest and most central venue, the other two have exhibits that can add to the experience.
Casa de la Memoria is a strangely wide venue (just two rows deep), where everyone gets a close-up view and room to stretch out (€16, nightly at 19:30 and 21:00, no drinks, no children under 6, 80 seats, Calle Cuna 6, tel. 954-560-670, www.casadelamemoria.es, flamencomemoria@gmail.com, run by Rosanna). Their exhibit is one easy, well-described floor, with lots of photos and a few artifacts (€3, or free with concert ticket — but only open 10:00-18:00).
The Flamenco Dance Museum, while the most congested venue (with 115 tightly packed seats), has a bar and allows drinks, and you can visit the museum immediately before the show. It’s festival seating. The doors open at 18:00, allowing you to grab the seat of your choice and spend an hour touring the museum, and enjoy a drink before the show (€20, nightly at 19:00; €24 combo-ticket includes the museum and a show; 10 percent discount off museum, show, or combo-ticket with this book; Manuel Rojas Marcos 3, about 3 blocks east of Plaza Nueva, tel. 954-340-311, www.flamencomuseum.com).
La Casa del Flamenco is in a delightful arcaded courtyard right in the Barrio Santa Cruz (€18, nightly at 21:00 April-Sept, 19:30 Oct-March, no drinks, no kids under 6, 60 spacious seats, the reception at the adjacent hotel serves as the box office, tel. 954-500-595, Ximénez de Enciso 33).

Razzle-Dazzle Flamenco Shows
These packaged shows can be a bit sterile — and an audience of tourists doesn’t help — but I find both Los Gallos and El Arenal entertaining and riveting. While El Arenal may have a slight edge on talent and feels slicker, Los Gallos has a cozier setting, with cushy rather than hard chairs — and it’s cheaper.
Los Gallos presents nightly two-hour shows at 20:15 and 22:30 (€35 ticket includes a drink, €3/person discount with this book in 2014 — but limited to two admissions, arrive 30 minutes early for best seats, noisy bar but no food served, Plaza de la Santa Cruz 11, tel. 954-216-981, www.tablaolosgallos.com, owners José and Blanca promise goose bumps).
Tablao El Arenal has arguably more professional performers and a classier setting for its show — but dinner customers get the preferred seating, and waiters are working throughout the performance (€38 ticket includes a drink, €60 includes tapas, €72 includes dinner, 1.5-hour shows at 20:00 and 22:00, near bullring at Calle Rodó 7, tel. 954-216-492, www.tablaoelarenal.com).
El Patio Sevillano is more of a variety show, with flamenco as well as other forms of song and dance. While hotels may recommend this, they’re just working for kickbacks. I like the others much better.

Impromptu Flamenco in Bars
Spirited flamenco singing still erupts spontaneously in bars throughout the old town after midnight — but you need to know where to look. Ask a local for the latest.
La Carbonería Bar, the sangria equivalent of a beer garden, is a few blocks north of the Barrio Santa Cruz. It’s a sprawling place with a variety of rooms leading to a big, open, tented area filled with young locals, casual guitar strummers, and nearly nightly flamenco music from about 22:30 to 24:00. Located just a few blocks from most of my recommended hotels, this is worth finding if you’re not quite ready to end the day (no cover, €2.50 sangria, daily 20:00-3:00 in the morning; near Plaza Santa María — find Hotel Fernando III, the side alley Céspedes dead-ends at Levies, head left to Levies 18, unsigned door; tel. 954-214-460).

Sitting in the front row of an intimate concert venue with a powerful and intense performance going on, I found myself watching the little children (also in the front row). It helped me experience the dancer — towering, in black, with a demonic expression on her contorted face, long fingernails making her outstretched arms seem even longer and more able to take me into her grasp — from the perspective of the toddlers in the audience. Terrifying.

Parents bringing their children to a flamenco concert do more comforting than actually focusing on the music and dance. These children were terrified by the performance.

When you meet a Spaniard, it’s common to ask them which football team they support. Here in Sevilla, you also ask which Virgin Mary they favor. The top two in town are La Virgin de la Macarena and La Esperanza de Triana. On Thursday during Holy Week, it’s a battle royale of the Madonnas, as Sevilla’s two favorite virgins are both processing through the streets at the same time.

I bumped into a street-clogging procession that was actually a practice parade for the kids who carry the float. It’s an honor to be one of the 15 or so young people who stand shoulder to shoulder under the float, shuffling slowly through town.

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The best stop in southern Spain is Sevilla. The city is a delight from a sightseeing, eating, and live-music point of view. And it’s always changing. After a few days in town with the help of excellent local guides, I am right up to date for the 2014 edition of our Rick Steves’ Spain guidebook. Here are a few updates in advance:

Recently Sevilla unveiled a giant, mostly wooden canopy in an attempt to revitalize the formerly nondescript Plaza de la Encarnación. The gigantic, undulating canopy of five waffle-patterned, mushroom-shaped, hundred-foot-tall structures provides shade, a gazebo for performances, and a traditional market hall. It’s nicknamed “The Mushroom,” and, while the market is busy each morning, locals still don’t quite know what to make of the avant-garde structure. (It’s pretty lifeless in the afternoon and evening.) One ramp leads down to the ancient Roman street level (where a museum displays Roman ruins found during the building process). From the basement, a €1.30 elevator takes you up to a terrace for a commanding city view and a big walking loop. Doing this scenic stroll, you feel like you’re walking a roller-coaster track without the train. While “The Mushroom” is a bit newsy, I found it not worth the time or trouble. (You can get a fine view for free from the rooftop bar of the EME Catedral Hotel, across the street from the cathedral.)

All over Europe, cameras are photographing cars entering central zones where only taxis, locals, and those with hotel reservations are allowed. With hard economic times, traffic cops are enforcing these laws mercilessly with stiff fines. In Sevilla, the hotels recently softened the situation. Scary as the signs are, those with hotel reservations in the off-limits zone can ignore them: Drive to your hotel, park where they tell you, and — as long as your hotel registers your license-plate number within 48 hours — you are legal. But in general, driving in city centers throughout Europe is getting tricky…and potentially very expensive.

Sevilla loves its religious processions. Any time of year, you’re likely to bump into a giant crowd following the slowly plodding entourage of a float with a blaring marching band.

The Church of the Savior (Iglesia del Salvador), Sevilla’s second-biggest church after its cathedral, has a chapel featuring the city’s second most important procession statue. The Christ of the Passion chapel is filled with the sadness of Jesus’ crucifixion. It features a gripping 1619 statue of Christ carrying the cross to his death. For centuries, the faithful have come here to pray, and then kiss Jesus’ heel (up the stairs behind the altar). Like many churches in southern Spain, it’s built upon the site of a ruined mosque. In the courtyard, which served both houses of worship, you can really feel the presence of the earlier mosque. The former minaret is now the bell tower, and the arches, which date from the days of the mosque, are half-underground. The surviving mosque, now underground, functions today as part of the church’s crypt.

The heel of Sevilla’s beloved Christ of the Passion is kissed all day long throughout the year by pilgrims and local Catholics alike.

Seeing the faces of statues chiseled out throughout my travels, it seems our inability to tolerate each other has been a challenge for a long long time. Seeing this statue, once again I thought that “Can’t we just get along?” is a universal plea.

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The economic hard times seem to be hitting both Spain and Portugal very hard. I can see the sadness in the eyes of the people. A “tough times future” seems to be the diagnosis, and there’s no promising cure. The character of the idyllic fishing towns (like Salema) is changing. Fewer people are fishing, and government policies (regulation and taxation) have tightened up, causing the little widows to not bother renting their rooms. Gourmet restaurants and boutique accommodations are appearing in spite of the tough times, as fishing towns are becoming the playgrounds of the gated communities and golf clubs of the jet-setting international crowd, who stay on the hilltops a bit inland. Still, the children of the old fisherman — at least, the ones who don’t go to the big city in search of economic promise — continue to cook up the fish and man the weather-beaten fort. And Salema remains a delightful stop on any Iberian itinerary.

I hope you enjoy these images from my recent visit.

Salema, the Back Door jewel of the Algarve, comes with a delightful sandy beach overlooked by characteristic restaurants and the tranquil strum of a steady surf

In beach resorts across the Mediterranean, competition is stiff. The fish is fresh, the vegetables are crunchy, and in the case of Portugal…the wine is green.

When I first came to Salema, in the late 1970s, I was driving a minibus of tourists. We’d park at the base of Salema’s “street of the fishermen” (Rua Pescador) and find rooms (quartos) in private homes for a few bucks each. Now the fishermen do more sitting and gazing at the sea than fishing (the business is done in bigger fish markets nearby, in Sagres and Lagos). The women have been terrorized out of running their small businesses by stricter (and necessary, as Southern Europe learns to pay its taxes) government regulations. There are fewer old-school, shoestring-budget backpackers to keep them in business anyway. Still, while it feels different, the street looks exactly the same.

My friend John, from England, has run Pension Mare for three decades. I’ve been sending my readers there just about from the start, and we are like a team. I love his place. He lives in Bath and flew down to hang out with me as I updated my chapter on Salema. He was a great resource as I put the pieces of this town’s social puzzle together. This same weekend, John sold Pension Mare. The new owner promises to run it the same for my readers… but it’s a bit of a sad event for me.

Watch more of The Food Police’s adventures at http://foodpolice.it. Learn more about the producers at www.cross-pollinate.com and http://orvietoorbust.com.

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Piazza degli Affari and a towering middle finger mark the center of Milano’s financial district. The bold Fascist buildings in the neighborhood were built in the 1930s under Mussolini. Italy’s major stock exchange, the Borsa, faces the square. Stand in the center, appreciate the modern take on ancient aesthetics (you’re standing atop the city’s ancient Roman theater), and find the stern statues representing various labors and occupations, and celebrating the nobility of workers—typical whistle-while-you-work Fascist themes. Then, notice the equally bold modern statue in the center. After a 2009 contest to find the most appropriate sculpture to grace the financial district, this was the winner. Of course, Italy has its financial problems, and a similar sentiment that powers the Occupy Movement in the USA rumbles in this society as well. Here we see how “the 99 percent” feel when they stand before the symbol of corporate power in Italy. (Notice how the finger is oriented–it’s the 1 percent, and not the 99 percent, that’s flipping the bird.) The 36-foot-tall, Carrara marble digit was made by Maurizio Cattelan, the most famous—or, at least, most controversial—Italian sculptor of our age. L.O.V.E., as the statue is entitled, was temporary at first. But locals liked it, and, by popular demand, it’s now permanent.

Art from Milan’s Gallerie d’Italia takes you back into the 19th century—even into the confession booth.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II was famously the first place to be illuminated with electric lights in Italy. Imagine the wonder of it all.

An entire section of the Gallerie d’Italia is devoted to art of the Risorgimento (the fight for Italian unification). Here we see a touching scene of a mother and her soldier son with a portrait of the inspirational revolutionary leader, Garibaldi, on the dresser, calling all good men to war.

Gallerie d’Italia
This museum fills two adjacent palaces that were once banks with the amazing art collections of those banks. One palace dates from the 19th century and boasts  the nicest  Neoclassical interior I’ve seen in town; the other is 20th century—Tiffany-like Historicism, with a hint of the coming Liberty Style. Impressive buildings in their own right, they are filled with the exquisite work of 19th- and 20th-century Italian painters. One has romantic landscapes; hyper-realistic, time-travel scenes of folk life; and Impressionism. And in the adjacent palace, marble reliefs by Antonio Canova are displayed in appropriately Neoclassical rooms, while upstairs you’ll find dramatic scenes from the Risorgimento—showing the thrilling story of the unification of Italy. You can even go downstairs and peer into the original bank vault, which now stores racks and racks of paintings not on display.
Cost and Hours: Free entrance, free audioguides (for as long as the bank is feeling generous), Tue-Sun 9:30-19:30, Thu until 21:30, closed Mon,  across from La Scala Opera House at Piazza della Scala 6, tel. 800-167-619, www.gallerieditalia.com.

Milan’s rejuvenated old industrial canal is becoming one of the city’s top nightspots.

Naviglio Grande
Milan, while far from any major lake or river, has a sizable port. It’s called “The Big Canal.” Since 1170, a canal has connected Milan with the Mediterranean via the Ticino River (which flows into the Po River on its way to the Adriatic Sea). Five hundred years ago, Leonardo helped further develop the city’s canals and designed a modern lock system. Then, during the booming Industrial Age in the 19th century—and especially with the flurry of construction after Italian unification—the canals were busy shipping in the marble and stone needed to make Milan the great city it is today. In fact, a canal (filled in in the 1930s) once circled the walls of the city and allowed barges to dock with their stone right at the building site of the great cathedral. And in the 1950s, landlocked Milan was actually the seventh-biggest port in Italy, as its canals were instrumental in the rebuilding of the bombed-out city. Today, disused train tracks parallel the canal, old warehouse buildings recall the area’s working-class heritage, and former workers’ tenements—once squalid and undesirable—are much in demand and being renovated smartly. While recently rough and characteristic, today the area is trendy, traffic-free, and pricey—thriving with inviting bars and eateries.

The canal district, with its lively restaurants and bars lining the old industrial canal that once so busily served the city, is an understandably popular destination for dinner or evening fun. To get here, ride the Metro to Porta Genova, exit following signs to Via Casale, walk the length of Via Casale one block directly to the canal, climb halfway across the metal bridge, and survey the scene. To the left, on both sides of the canal, are plenty of great places to eat and drink. The best bars line the canal within a half-block of the bridge.

Eating at the Canal
Consider ending your day at the port of Milan. The Naviglio Grande has a bustling collection of bars and restaurants where you have your choice of memorable and affordable options that will come with a great people scene.

La Vineria is a fun place, serving wine from giant vats and cheap and fun plates of cheese and meats to a cool crowd with streetside seating (open daily, June-Sept dinner only from 15:30, Oct-May lunch and dinner except no lunch on Mon, Via Casale 4, tel. 02-8324-2440).

Pizzeria Tradizionale is a local favorite for pizza (open daily, at the far end of canal walk, Ripa di Porta Ticinese 7).

Ristorante Brellin is the top romantic splurge, with a dressy crowd and fine food. The menu is international while clinging to a bit of tradition (€14 pastas, €24 secondi, daily 12:30-15:30 & 19:00-24:00, behind the old laundry tubs at Vicolo dei Lavandai, tel. 02-5810-1351, www.brellin.it).

Osteria Cucina Fusetti is a charming little place serving good Sardinian cuisine. What’s that? Giuseppe speaks English, and enjoys explaining (€8 pastas, €15 secondi, closed Sun; near the curved bridge with the zigzag design at the Japanese restaurant, go away from canal to Via Fusetti 1; mobile. 340-861-2676).

Pizzeria Spaghetteria La Magolfa is a local fixture offering good, cheap €5 salads, pastas, and pizzas. You can sit inside, on a veranda, or at a table on the street. For €15, two people could split a hearty pizza and a good bottle of wine and get full…and a bit drunk (no cover, a long block off canal at end of Via M. Fusetti at Via Magolfa 15, tel. 02/832-1696).

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This ritual was almost comical. After the fireworks blew off, a fireman climbed up the little tower to see if the dove was OK. He was. And that was great news, as it brings good luck to the town and fertility to the last couple married in Orvieto.

When you travel, you can’t help but bump into festivals. I have to admit, I don’t plan for them. But they seem to come to me.

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Orvieto is one of the most striking, memorable, and enjoyable hill towns in central Italy. And part of the charm is arriving by train or car (parking in the big, free lot just beyond the train station) and joining the locals to climb the town’s natural fortress hill on a slick funicular. As you step out of the funicular station up top, like clockwork, the hardworking little bus A meets you and zips you deep into town (covered by the same ticket), depositing you right in front of my favorite Gothic cathedral in Italy. From there, you are in a delightful, perfectly preserved, and virtually traffic-free world — within steps of great hotels, restaurants, and museums… not to mention a chapel slathered with dramatic Signorelli frescoes.

All day long, this bus shuttles loads of visitors enthusiastic about eating, sleeping, shopping, and sightseeing in Orvieto. There are lots of other great hill towns in Umbria and Tuscany, but none of them provides such a thoughtful welcome to the tourists who stoke the local economy.

But now, sadly, in a misguided attempt to cut costs, the town council of Orvieto is about to drop the handy shuttle bus from the funicular to Piazza del Duomo. By cancelling Bus A, they’re condemning those arriving in Orvieto to either take a long walk through town with luggage, or take their chances with expensive taxis.

I’ve never done this before, but I’d like to ask anyone who has enjoyed Orvieto’s “Bus A Welcome” to email any or all of the city officials here and briefly explain why you appreciate Bus A, and why canceling it would be a sad move for Orvieto. Thanks.

Orvieto Mayor: sindaco@comune.orvieto.tr.it
Orvieto Councilor of Transportation: g.luciani@comune.orvieto.tr.it
Orvieto Councilor of Culture: m.marino@comune.orvieto.tr.it

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With a million vistas, each one different, I could look out the window all day.

My favorite town to sleep in is Positano — much better than Amalfi or any other town on this stretch of coastline. It’s one of those places made to order for a romantic getaway. And late in May, the weather is just right.

In even the most resorty of places, you can always find a rosticceria, where classic local dishes are cooked up and ready for you to buy by the weight and take out. I don’t know a lot of Italian, but a key phrase I do know is “da portar via” — for the road. You can take your rosticceria meal down to the beach, grab a nice perch, and enjoy a cooked meal at not much more than picnic prices.

Ravello — famous for its views — is perched more than 1,000 feet above the Mediterranean. And it takes full advantage of every vista. This bar’s little balcony is at what’s called “The Terrace of Infinity.” When you go there, you’ll know why.

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Naples’ street plan is 2,500 years old, dating back to the days when it was the Greek city Neapolis. And for all those centuries, an arrow-straight, razor-thin street has cut the city in two. It’s Spaccanapoli, which means “Split Naples.” Exploring it, you become part of this vivid and exuberant stripe of life.

If exploring Naples, you can just park yourself on a street corner and watch the world roll by — much of it on motorbikes. It’s not unusual to see families of three, or even four, all sharing the family vehicle.

A big joy when researching a guidebook chapter on Naples is sorting through all the great restaurants. Characteristic mom-and-pop places cater to locals, serving family recipes at family-friendly prices. My criteria for a good restaurant: in a low-rent location; busy with locals; and with a small, handwritten menu in one language. (It’s small because they’re selling everything they’re cooking; it’s handwritten because it’s shaped by what’s fresh today in the market; and it’s in one language because they cater to locals rather than tourists). Here, pastas and secondi are just €6 (about $8) each. Everything’s delicioso — and I speak from experience.

Naples is a busy cruise port, and the terminal is right in the town center. Adventurous cruise travelers can hop off their ship and venture directly into the urban jungle. I met this American couple deep in Naples, having a great time…with ripped-out pages from my Mediterranean Cruise Ports guidebook. Their big smiles and the way they were using those pages made my day.

For twenty years, I have made TV shows about European culture. I have shown controversial aspects of many cultures, from force-feeding geese for foie gras in France to bullfights in Spain. In each case, I’ve heard from people — whose opinions I respect — who are passionately against what I’ve shown. They have wanted me not to put these things on television. But in my role as a travel writer and TV producer, I have made a decision not to make judgments about institutions that are important to a culture, whatever my own personal feelings about them might be. It’s not my job to censor them from you, my viewers. These things exist, regardless of whether I (or you) agree with them or oppose them. And as travelers, we all have the opportunity to see them, learn from them, and then draw our own conclusions.

Now, back to Italy!

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