Seville, pronounced Se Vee Ya. Started the day with a guided tour with Mariangles who asked us to call her Maria. Seville is a beautiful city. We drove past the Parque de Maria Luisa. A beautiful park and gardens. The road led to the area designed for the 1929 Ibero-American World’s Fair and still contains the buildings that were exhibits for most Latin & American countries. At the end is the Plaza de España, the center piece of the fair, and the palace of Star Wars’ Queen Amadala. The Plaza is massive and has a intricate tile display from every Spanish province.
This is only about 1/3 of the full size of the Plaza
From there we visited the Alcázar (in Spain pronounced Al Cath Ar), built by Pedro the Cruel in the 14th century and later the home of Prince Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The Alcazar has a very Moorish influence. It borders the Jewish district of Santa Cruz, with very-very narrow streets. The walking tour ended in a flower-lined courtyard in which we stopped for coffee (Bica is Café Solo in Spain) and I got Strawberry Ice Cream…which was my fave on this trip since I couldn’t have chocolate.
Next stop was the cathedral which occupies the site of a mosque built by the Almohads in the 12th century (yes this is out of the guide book). The cathedral is the 3rd largest in the world according to Maria and contains the dna-proven remains of Christopher Columbus.
Chris is in the casket that the lords are carrying
We were turned loose after the Cathedral. Ceil, both Pats and I ate Paella at an outdoor café. After lunch we wandered the streets of old Seville and then met Roberta at the appointed spot at 3:00. From there we walked (me, very slowly) across the Rio Guadalquivir back to our hotel. It really wasn’t that far, I’m just out of shape big time.
The day ended with a carriage ride through the old town to a Flamenco show. Loved both the carriage ride and the show. We had front row seats and were encouraged by Roberta to shout ole when there was something we liked. We each got a free drink...water, soda or Sangria. I had the Sangria and survived, even though red wine makes me ill.
Our bus driver picked us up after the show and dropped us at the hotel. From there most of us walked to the river with Roberta and had tapas on the sidewalk/riverbank. It was about 9:00 pm and Seville was just revving up. Most restaurants don’t even open until 9:00. After dinner, Ceil, Pat and I stopped in the hotel bar for a nightcap.
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