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Thursday, May 3, 2012 Took the train from Madrid to Seville with Mike and Paula Kimball, friends from Fredericton. It's about 2 1/2 hour train ride which is very relaxing meandering through Spanish countryside. Arrived mid-afternoon and settled into the Hotel Becquer which is very nice Hotel close to Central Seville. Spent the balance of the day walking around getting acquainted with the city.
We did get lost looking for a recommended restaurant and ended up at an expensive Seafood place which blew the budget for a couple of days. Language barriers are always an issue when travelling and we found that there weren't as many English speaking locals outside of the Hospitality and Tourism industry.
Friday, May 4, 2012 Rented a car and drove the 2 hours to Gibraltar which was a good highway and an easy drive. Gibraltor is still a British area so we couldn't get through to that side without Passports. We were able to see "The Rock" which was very impressive. Spent the balance of the afternoon in the town of Gibraltar (Spanish Side), had lunch and drove around some of the coastal areas which had some very scenic views of the
Seville
Exposition 1992 Meditteranean.
On the way back to Seville, we took a scenic route which was interesting but not for everyone. It had some panoramic views but there were stetches of road that even Mario Andretti or my brother Daryl wouldn't attempt. However, we made it back to Seville, safe and sound in time for Tapas close to the Hotel and finished the evening off at the British Pub.
Saturday, May 5, 2012 It rained and was cool on Saturday so we cancelled plans to go to Granada and spent the balance of the day touring the Cathedral and other points of interest in central Seville.
The Cathedral, as with the one in Toledo, was very large and impressive. Christopher Columbus's tomb rests here. Seville was a staging Port for many of the Spanish explorers as it provided good protection from Pirates.
Had dinner at a very interesting restaurant, called Mojicata, which we would highly recommend. The menu was written on the window as it changes daily and we ate upstairs where there were only 3 tables and the ceiling was 6 ft high. (You can imagine what happened to me being 6ft 1 inch). We had
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Cathedral Sevila to crouch down close to the floor in order to read the menu on the window below. In spite of this, the food was exceptional and very different. The wine was 12 Euros a bottle and the total bill for 4 was 136 Euros with tip. Great value!!!
Sunday, May 6, 2012 Weather has improved and it was probably the nicest day since we've been in Spain. Sunny with highs around 22 C.
Took the tour bus to see the rest of the city. Drove by the site of the 1992 Worlds Fair, much of which has not been used and looks fairly run down. Toured the "Real Alcazar", which was a massive Garden Palace built by King Pedro the Cruel. Apparantly he did have a soft spot for Gardens but was pretty brutal when it came to persecuting the Jews. Also toured the Plaza de Espana which is a beautiful series of buildings constructed in 1929 for the Spanish/American Exhibition. The architecture uses alot of stone, brick with ceramic decorations which is quite common around Seville.
Dinner at a traditional Sevillian restaurant that had a big Bulls Head on the Wall overlooking are table!
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Alcazar Palace Mike and Paula are off to Lagos, Portugal in the morning and were off to the Isle of Majorca.
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