I've always heard that Seville (southwestern corner of Spain) is a very cool city. That it's the heart and soul, the artsy center of Spain. Hold on, let me wiki it. Okay, it's the "artistic, cultural, and financial capital of Spain". It was an easy drive from the Algarve to Seville, although once we got into the heart of the city, it was tough to navigate. Our Honda Fit is pretty small, but it was still a very tight squeeze for a lot of the streets. As our GPS navigated us closer to our hotel, we realized the streets were getting narrower and narrower. All of a sudden, they turned into pedestrian alleyways only about 5 feet wide! It seemed we shouldn't have been driving on them anymore at that point.... So we dropped off our luggage at the hotel and then found a parking garage.
Our first order of business? Tapas and sangria, of course.
After lunch, we wandered through the Barrio Santa Cruz, which is where we were staying. The buildings are so close to one another that the lanes are called "kissing lanes", because the balconies are so close that you could easily lean out and kiss your neighbor!
We stumbled upon very unique entryways and courtyards of homes, like the one below.
Seville's huge, gothic cathedral is gorgeous. We also got to go up in the bell tower, which was quite a hike. At first we wondered why it was ramps you had to walk up inside the bell tower, as opposed to stairs. Our guidebook let us know that it was because the Muslims originally built it that way, so that someone could easily ride a horse all the way up to the top five times a day to do the call to prayer. I'd say that was a good idea, because I would have preferred a horse do the work of getting me to the top! Here we are checking out the pretty views of the city.
One of the must-see sights is the Alcazar, which is the royal palace, converted from a moorish fort. The upper levels of the palace are still used to house the royal family. It's beautiful, with tiled walls everywhere you look.
The gardens of the Alcazar are almost as impressive as the building itself, with fountains, all sorts of flowers and trees, even garden mazes! Here is Brooke trying not to get lost in the maze, and a group shot of us.
For dinner that night we did the usual tapas crawl. It's so fun to go from place to place and get a few tapas and a drink; especially when it only works out to few bucks per person at each place. One thing I really enjoyed was cold gazpacho soup served in a glass with an ice cube. Very efficient to eat! (Or drink?)
We had to see a flamenco show, which has its roots in the same region (Andalucia) as Seville. We had a great time and saw some fantastic dancers. I was also very impressed with the flamenco guitarists, as their fingers just fly over the strings. Here is the stage from up above before they started. I love how the wood is worn away where they dance.
They allowed us to take pictures at the end, when they all came out and danced together. Their outfits are so colorful! Here are some pictures and a video I took.
Adios, Seville!
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