To Sevilla

As much as we loved Valencia – today was the day we had chosen to move on, so good-bye beautiful apartment on a beautiful street, goodbye the best oranges I have ever eaten, good-bye Central Market 3 minutes away that we love-love, goodbye to turning a corner and losing your breath because there was another unbelievable sight- and hello to a new adventure named Seville.

We walked to the train station and boarded a train to Madrid. There is only one a day to Seville and that train was full – but just by adding an hour of travel we could go to Madrid and then onto Seville from there. That train was packed. Jim and I couldn’t even find a seat together but we both got a seat in coach 7 and on we went.

We arrived in Seville about 5 pm and splurged for a cab to our Airbnb. We usually do buses or metro but didn’t study ahead much so thought we better just get there and then learn what we have to. We arrived to a very Spanish gate in front of an inner courtyard and found our little apartment off the courtyard. Very basic but clean, neat and feels very Spanish.

The little old streets in the historic centre were packed with young people – I was going to say half our age but more like 1/3 our age, drinking beer and laughing in the streets. Many with instruments sitting by their chairs or benches. My bet is it will be a fun night out there. We won’t see it tonight. We went for a walk around the neighbourhood – found the arches into the historical centre and the old city walls. We walked into a beautiful church by the gate…. and then grabbed some cheese and fruit for supper and headed back to our place to make tomorrow plans!

Sevilla Day 2

We had decided to do a first sight-seeing of Sevilla by bicycle. We found a 3 hour tour offered by a company only about a kilometre from our place and it got really good reviews….we signed up. Elaina was our guide and we were joined by a couple from England celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Seville. Since we are very close to our 50th wedding anniversary, we were once again, the oldies. But I was proud of us- we kept up and didn’t get frightened of the busy traffic zipping by in places we had to cross. Bikes are the perfect modes to tour historical city centres. The streets are minuscule and often closed to car traffic and we were able to stop often at sites to hear about the history or to take a walk around. We toured Santa Cruz (central lively tourist area, El Arenal (district known for its Plaza de Toro – bull fighting arena) Alfalfa (lively district of the old town known for its wine and tapas bars);Macarena (artistic and bohemian district); the Guadalquivir River and Triana (district on the east side of the river).

It was a sunny day and really warmed up during the tour so once we turned in the bikes and said goodbye to Elaina, we found a nice outside cafe to have a sandwich for lunch. We chose a meandering path home passing by some famous landmarks, churches and a market. Five kilometres later we reached home – tired but in love with Seville and excited to see more tomorrow. We went to a local bakery shop and bought an assortment for supper; some ham croquettes, mushroom croquets, two pork and chicken chuletas (kind of like cutlets) and a potato stew in a delicious sauce to pour over all. We also grabbed tarts, and cream puffs for dessert and headed home to do laundry and eat supper.

The washing machine is on the roof for all in the building (4 suites) to use but there is no dryer. Someone had beat us to the clotheslines up there so we have laundry hanging all over our apartment. Hopefully it’s dry by tomorrow.

We made a deal with ourselves when we left home there would be no souvenir purchases. When travelling with no checked luggage – space is at a premium. BUT today we kept seeing shops of beautiful hand painted Flamenco fans. They were gorgeous and folded small – perfect for our beautiful gals. So another travel rule broken!! Isn’t that what rules are for!

Day 3 Sevilla

We had booked a 10 o’clock tour with Carlos a local historian to see the Real Alcázar de Sevilla. The oldest Royal Palace in Europe still in use! The Royal family reside in Madrid but use this palace when they come to Sevilla. It is a place filled with history and intrigue and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a Seville highlight for sure. Carlos was so knowledgeable and interesting, we were glued to his every word. These tours that give you the back stories and insights to what you are seeing are so worth it. We always book with a local and although they are small group tours – not private – we lucked out today and had Carlos to ourselves. The two hours sped by.

The Alcazar is on one side of a square and on the opposite side is the Cathedral of Seville. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site as well and is the third largest building of its kind in the world. It is a beautiful Gothic Cathedral and houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus and his son Diego.

After walking through the cathedral we found the restaurant we had chosen for our Seville meal. We have decided to do one nicer authentic meal in each city we visit. Usually we coffee in the morning, cafe at lunch and then fruit or some take-away from a patisserie or shop for supper. But in each city we will have one nice sit down meal “date”. Today it was at Mirador San Fernando. We shared a Burrata Salad and a cold gazpacho soup to start and then mussels in a spicy sauce and Iberian meatballs on potatoes and truffles. Sitting outside in the sunshine, enjoying delicious food, 10 out of 10!!

After lunch we walked to the Plaza de España complex – a huge half-circle building that was built to showcase Spain for an Expo in 1929. The buildings are accessible by four bridges over the moat, which represent the ancient kingdoms of Spain. In the centre is the Vicente Traver fountain. Surrounding the interior rim of the plaza are 48 colorful alcoves with benches, each representing a different province of Spain. Each mini-pavilion includes a gorgeous depiction of history from that area, as well as a map showing its location within Spain. It is breath-taking (a word I’m using way too often but so accurately depicts these sites.)

A great ending to Seville; another beautiful Spanish city. Tonight we sleep and repack as in the morning we are heading to Morocco. The first time we will ever have stepped onto African soil. We were going to take the ferry but we’re able to get Ryan air flights for 24 dollars so will fly into Tangiers tomorrow morning. We are excited!