Today was an 8 hour tour of Seville led by Aunt Carmen and her friend, Manuella. We started at the University and one of the fanciest hotels in Seville... Then we walked through the Barrio de Santa Cruz where the Don Juan family stayed. It is part of the former Jewish quarter with narrow white washed alleys and tall houses with absolutely beautiful patios. In fact, Aunt Carmen sent me an email months ago with pictures of breath taking patios from Seville and I think I saw a good chunk of them today. Stunning. They have a competition each year for the most beautiful patios in the city...
Next, we stopped for a tapas break- ham, tomato and olive oil sandwich and fresh squeeze orange juice. I think I'm going to mix up my sandwiches when I go home... they are way more exciting here!
*SIDE NOTE: Did I ever mention the typical eating schedule for Spaniards? It's been really interesting! I like having the biggest meal at lunch but it takes some getting used to :) Dinner is very late here though and people generally don't go to bed until like 11 or so but of course you can tell by this post we are up much later!
7-8:00am... light breakfast: cereal, fruit
10:30am... breakfast #2: toast with olive oil, ham and tomato, small snack
2-3:00pm... BIG lunch (American dinner): the meat and potatoes!
5-6:00pm... tea time: coffee, tea, pastry
9-10:00pm.. small dinner (American lunch): sandwich and fruit or yogurt
*SIESTA occurs from like 3-6 and many stores close in town*
Back to Seville!
Then we strolled on to the Alcazar, a 14th century palace, with intricate tile work and fancy patios. The high ceilings and chandeliers make this place fit for a king and it is in fact where the King and Queen of Spain stay when they visit Seville! My absolute favorite part is the bathroom in the basement. It was a cool chamber with arched ceilings over a bath tub that stretches for over 100 yards. Yep. I'm taking notes for my own palace some day :) The gardens? Immaculate. Gorgeous. All of the above!
Oh yeah... and there are orange trees EVERYWHERE. I definitely had to pick one and eat it right out of the garden and it was pretty much like eating a grapefruit. YUM. I stumbled upon an artist in the street painting beautiful watercolor scenes of Seville with the oranges and cathedrals. Of course I had to support a local artist and add another city to my growing collection of European art.The Catedral de Seville was a 15th century masterpiece that boasts as the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. It had awesome tall ceilings and enormous altars all around the church. A picture is worth 1000 words... check out the picture blog! We also got entry into a smaller, but just as ornate El Salvador Catedral just up the street and apparently its where all the rich and famous Spaniards get married.
We continued with City Hall, the Triana (once gypsy quarter), walked along Rio Guadalquivir and saw the iconic Torre del Oro which was once a storage for boats along the river. Our evening finished up at Plaza de Espana and Maria Luisa Park. I learned about Flamenco dancing (traditional Spanish dance) and just "had" to buy a hand painted fan from a street vendor ($5... why not?) because of the sweltering heat! Today it was almost 95 degrees!
Dinner concluded the tour and we headed back home for lounging at the pool and family time. Uncle David twisted my arm and made me have ice cream as I shared pictures of the day with him... (he had to work today)
Tomorrow is a full day of Cordoba with Uncle David! More to adventures to come...
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