We arrived in Seville after a short train ride and after buying our onward tickets to Cadiz we taxied to our accommodation to be greeted by our host's father with a bottle of local wine. The area we were in was about a 15 minute walk from the main sights of the Cathedral and Alcazar but nearby was the huge Almeda de Hecules which I dubbed the Hippodrome (and promptly got Public Enenmy's Welcome to the Terrordome in my head). But I digress. Suffice to say we had lots of food and drink options without having to go too far. My first view of the outside of the Cathedral was impressive - lots of flying butresses. We lined up at the Alcazar to see if we could buy tickets for the next day but in that we couldn't we went in anyway. The gardens are lovely and the main Moorish recieving room is spectacular. And fellow nerds, more Game of Thrones locations - the palace at Dorne. I took lots of pictures of me in the relevant areas of the gardens and buildings. Total nerd I know!
We ate and drank our way back to the flat at various bars and ended the night drinking the Reserva version of Cruzcampo, the ubiquitous local beer which at 6.4% made for a fuzzy head the next day. But I didn't let that stop me. We headed first for the Cathedral to see the inside which is pretty awe inspiring. Its contains the not subtle tomb of Christopher Colombus and an absolutley ostentatious carved, gold altar that's about 10 meters high. We climbed the bell tower which mercifully had ramps rather than stairs even if there are 32 of them. Had they been stairs I'm sure I, and the old people in front of us would have expired half way up! The view from the top is spectacular once you jostle for position with the other tourists up there. Next we caught a local bus for Santeponce, about half an hour from the city to visit the Roman ruins of Italica. It's the outpost of the empire where the famous emperors Hadrian and Trajan were born. Its not very well preserved but as my experience with Roman ruins is quite limited I thought it was pretty cool.
Later that night we discovered the most amazing bar with incredible food and wine. So good we went twice. The tapas is not your run of the mill potatas bravas, jamon & queso and croquettas. We ate braised beef cheek, local mushrooms, honey glazed ribs, razor clams and an icecream of fresh curd which was mindblowing. Its called Eslava for anyone heading that way. And it was on the same street as our apartment! We continued our food adventures in the Santa Cruz area in a great bar with fantastic staff called Bodega Santa Cruz where they chalk your bill on the bar and I had the best vermouth of the trip so far.
The following day we did a repeat trip to the Alcazar for a tour of the Spanish royal apartments. While we waited for the tour to start we checked out a small exhibition about ceramics nearby. There was a really impressive floor projection of which I actually sat through the complete loop! Then it was off to see Plaza de Espania, built for a world exposition in 1929. A wonderful piece of fantasy architecture complete with a small canal. On which you can hire and row boats. Which of course we did. How could we not? D. had rowed at uni so at least one of us knew what we were doing! It was hilarious fun.
Then more tapas and a home cooked meal courtesy of D and our short time in Seville drew to a close. I don't think either of us quite got a handle on the city but we had fun trying! Next stop Cadiz for history and ocean views.
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