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Published: October 23rd 2020
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Sevilla - capital of Andalusia. We have a leisure morning to enjoy coffee and breakfast before meeting at 10 am for a short walk to the city centre of Sevilla. A beautiful day for experiencing the mysteries of Sevilla. A stroll through the gardens of Alcazar and then into the narrow lanes of the city to the square abutting the Sevilla Cathedral and Alcazar. David takes us to the meeting place at 3 pm and then we are off to explore. We really wanted to tour Alcazar which is the Royal Palace and still in use by the royal family when they come to Sevilla. Alcazar was used when filming The Game of Thrones and there is already a mile long waiting line to get in for a tour. David says we can avoid the line up by buying tickets on line, however when we checked all tickets are sold for the rest of October. Darn - no way we can get in. Not to worry, there’s lots more to see. Down the narrow alleyways towards the river looking for the Bullfight arena. After one wrong turn we get set straight and find the arena. One can buy a ticket to
tour inside without seeing a bullfight but the line up is quite long and we don’t have that much time. It is Sunday in Sevilla and everyone uses their day off to enjoy their city attractions so it is quite busy today - heavy crowds.
We make our way back towards our meeting place using different streets - never travel the same road twice if you can avoid it! David recommended a couple of tapas bars to try and we are fortunate to find one of his favourites that has an empty table. A bottle of wine, a basket of rolls, plates of old cheese & Iberian ham (like prosciutto) starts our tapas meal. We finish with a crispy salad topped with goat cheese, olive oil & wine vinegar. Off again to wander the streets, we stroll past City Hall, through the park and voila! A Gelato kiosk with handmade rectangular dishes of luscious looking ice cream in about a dozen or so different flavours. So hard to choose...but I finally decide on one that has huge juicy dark red cherries in it. OMG it is so creamy and rich, I am glad I only chose a small cup.
As much as I love ice cream I don’t think I could have finished a larger cup.
Time to meet our city guide to go into the Sevilla Cathedral (Santa Maria de la Sede) which was converted from a mosque that was built in the early 1100’s. It is the third largest church in the world and the largest Gothic church; 253,000 square feet. The Giralda bell tower is 343 feet high. This cathedral holds some of the greatest treasures of the Catholic Church, including an oil painting by Murillo ”The Vision of Santa Antonio of Padua”.
We get a guided tour through the alleys and lanes of city centre that resemble a tangled ball of yarn - very easy to get lost and in fact a couple of ladies from our group did just this. David had to go back and find them. It is a lovely area full of flowers and little squares with outdoor tavernas where you can get a little food, a drink or some ice cream. The last stop on the bus tour of the city is the Plaza d’Espana. I was thinking this was another city public square - was I wrong!
Off the bus and into a massive building and inside is the most amazing spectacular sight. It is an “exhibition” - a circular court with canals, bridges, towers and columned buildings displaying all the regions and provinces of Spain. Built in 1929 for the Iberian-American exhibition, Renaissance-neo Moorish in style, and the size of 5 football fields. Four bridges represent the ancient origins of Spain: Aragon, Castille, Navarro and Leon.
13 kilometers
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