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Goldwinghai -> Seville - One week in May- need recommendations (Jan. 18 2016 15:31:31)
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We are planning to visit Seville in May for a week after Warsaw and Krakow, Poland. This would be the third trip to Spain for us, Madrid in 2010, Barcelona in 2015. My main interest in Seville is flamenco. I have searched the forum on Seville but most posts are several years old, so I would appreciate any new info you can provide. Most likely that we would stay in a hotel around or near the old quarter of Seville. I would like recommendations on flamenco shows with guitar playing and dancing and not too much singing. (None of us speaks Spanish.) I may want to take some guitar lessons just for fun and have looked into Tallerflamenco.com; however our day trips to Granada and Cordoba may make this not possible. I also want to hear and touch a few expensive guitars (3-4000 euros) to see if I want it on my future list. I do not plan to buy a guitar on this trip unless I see something that I definitely cannot resist. I did bring home a guitar last year - more about this experience later. Any recommendations on guitar shops that sell both new and used guitars? And last but not least, recommendations on tapas joints. Good tapas is also very high on our list. We had the best tapas ever at a restaurant about 30 minute walk away from the tourist attraction in Girona.
I wanted a classical guitar so I contacted Guitarras Picado about models 60 and 62. On our way to the French Pyrenees, I stopped at the Picado workshop in Berga and was shown 2 guitars of model 62. The sound was quite different from each other. There was a French man who just happened to be at the shop to drop off a guitar for repair. He was the interpreter for us. I liked one guitar but because of the language problem and whether that particular rosewood was legal in the US, I did not buy the guitar. Later when back to Platja D'aro, I did a search on Indian Madagascar rosewood and found that it's legal in the US. Being just about an hour from Girona, I contacted Jordi Camps and went to look at his guitars. I bought the CL-20 classical guitar. Were there hassles bringing this guitar home to Virginia? Yes.
Jordi gave me 2 copies of the purchase receipts including the VAT amount. He said that was all I needed to get the VAT refund at the Barcelona airport. The Customs Officer at the airport rejected the receipts and told me that I must have the "official tax refund" form. So no VAT refund for me at the airport. I felt like I just lost several hundred dollars from my pocket. When I got home, I wrote to Jordi about the problem. He asked me to send him any document showing that guitar was no longer in Spain. I emailed him the "cabin baggage to be stored in the hold" tag that was still attached to the guitar case. He wired the VAT amount minus the bank transfer fee to me the following day.
The Air France rep at the gate told me that the plane was fully booked and that I could not bring the guitar on board and that it must be checked in. I told her that this guitar was a delicate instrument and it would be damaged if checked in like regular luggage. I told her that I would not check in the guitar. She said she would have to call the captain or plane cabin people. Minutes later she came back and told me that I would have to board the plane last. She gave me the cabin hold tag and the flight attendant put the guitar in the closet behind the first class seats. That was the flight from Barcelona to Paris. I had no hassle bringing the guitar on board the flight from Paris to Dulles - the plane was larger and not full. However, the guitar did not fit into the overhead compartment so the attendant smiled and led me to the little closet in the front of the plane. I would say the Air France representatives were very cooperative and helpful as long as we are polite.
Now it was time to fill out the custom declare form at the Dulles airport. I asked one attendant at the custom declare station how to fill out the form when the cost of the guitar is more than the $800 allowed for one person and $1600 for 2 persons. He said "that is for tobacco and alcohol, the guitar is your personal belonging, put down nothing to declare." I went through customs with guitar in hand without any issues, no tax whatsoever.
I am sorry that the post is a little long. Hope to receive your recommendations on flamenco show, guitar shops and tapas joints. Many thanks.
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