Sevilla, Spain

Wednesday 30th November 2022
Today we decided to spend the morning with Shona and Mark exploring the city of Sevilla. It was a lovely Old Town with many, many churches, a bull-ring arena, palaces and a wooden mushroom. We walked for hours and hours. We then enjoyed a lunch of mixed paella, Sevilla pizza and a variety of desserts. It was a very nice lunch. We then headed to the Cathedral (12 euro each) which was magnificent. The opulence was beyond belief. There were little alcoves in all directions with all different artefacts (chalices, tabernacles, vestments) plus statues, paintings and many, many altars. We then walked up the ramps of the tower. The view on every level as we went up the ramps was different. At the top the cityscape was spectacular. Church spires everywhere along with the many white buildings made for a very beautiful view. There were many bells at the top of the tower and we were lucky enough to have them ring whilst we were up there. We said goodbye to Shona and Mark at about 4.30pm as they are ontheir way to Cordoba tonight. We have decided it is too late to continue anywhere today, so we booked another apartment and continued touring the rest of the city. We walked down by the river, to the golden tower, then to Spain Square which was a magnificent building with amazing ceramic ornamental railings and then we walked back to our hotel. We managed to secure tickets to the Flamenco performance (34 euro each for premium tickets with a drink) at Teatro Flamenco. We had enough time to collect our bags from the car, checkin to our apartment, get changed and head straight to the theatre. We had fantastic reserved seats and enjoyed the performance immensely. There were four female and one male flamneco dancers, two singers and an amazing guitarist. Flamenco dancing is like an aggressive tap dancing with clapping, strong movements and skirt twirling. The performance was amazing. We both enjoyed the hour show immensely. We came out to wet pavements, it must have rained whilst we were in the show. We enjoyed pizza by the piece for dinner (2.50 euro a piece) and a cookie each. We walked passed a few more amazing buildings on the way home. We have had a very full day and night and are totally exhausted. We have done a few calculations on ways to get m]back to Benny over the next 6 days and they are both very long. Directly through Spain and France is 2656km 25hrs or through Portugal, Spain and France is 3435km 33 hours drive. Either option is a very long way over the next 5 or days. Eekkkk! Looks like I will have to do some more driving. Wish us luck!

: The early morning view from the rooftop terrace of our apartment in Sevilla..

: ..love the half pipe tiles on the roof..

: ..a maze of antennas..

: As we walk through the Murillo Gardens – they are dedicated to Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, a famous 17th century painter..

: ..a lovely ceramic tile fountain..

: ..and a lovely building facade..

: Plaza de Santa Cruz with a magnificent iron cross

: The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, better known as Seville Cathedral..

: ..is a Roman Catholic cathedral..

: .. The Giralda is the bell tower of Seville Cathedral..

: ..a lovely street..

: ..I love the angular corner buildings..

: The Plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla is a 12,000-capacity bullring..

: ..outside the bullring..

: Puente de Triana Constructed in 1852, it is the oldest bridge in Seville..

: ..another beautiful building..

: Royal Parish Church of Santa Maria..

: ..its inside was spectacular..

: ..The main altarpiece is the second largest in the town.

: Monument a Pastora Imperio

: ..another corner building..

: ..old mosaic tiles..

: Church and Hospital of Nuestra Señora de La Paz

: I loved the facade of this building..

: ..look at the close-up detail..

: Setus de Sevilla, initially titled Metropol Parasol..

: ..is a wooden structure located at La Encarnación square in the old quarter of Seville..

: It was designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer and completed in April 2011.

: Bell tower of the Church of de San Pedro is a Gothic-Mudejar Catholic church built in the 14th century..

: ..a painting on its wall..

: ..David didn’t notice all the orange trees lining the streets until after lunch. They were everywhere..

: Shona in the entrance to a palatial style house..

: ..with amazing tiles in the entry..

: Palace of the Duenas..

: ..It was built in the late 15th century in the Renaissance style with Gothic and Moorish influences.

: Church of Santa Catalina

: ..it was constructed in the fourteenth century.

: Church of Santa Ildefonso was constructed in the 18th century and is one of the few churches built in the neoclassical style.

: Pilates House is an Andalusian palace which serves as the permanent residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli

: The palace is located in this Plaza of Pilates

: ..another tight squeeze..

: David and Shona making sure we haven’t missed any sights this morning..

: ..as we enjoy pizza and paella for lunch..

: ..followed by a little decadence..

: ..we all tried something different..

: Another closeup of the Seville Cathedral facade..

: ..San Fernand Cape decorated with ermine tail..

: ..see the black tip on the ermine’s tail..

: An altar of opulence in the Cathedral..

: ..and a tabernacle..

: ..and some beautiful tiles..

: ..as we walk up the bell tower the views are amazing..

: ..looking out to the city..

: ..to the Church of Santa Cruz..

: ..the buildings of the cathedral..

: ..and one of its many bells..

: ..an ewer..

: ..it was a spectacular building..

: ..it was a struggle to fit it in the photo frame..

: The Lion’s Gate is the entry point to the Royal Alcazár, built in the 12th century, named for the tiled lion at its apex. This is 4.2 acres of historic and opulent buildings. Real Alcázar is still the royal family’s residence when visiting Seville.

: The Torre del Oro (The Gold Tower) is a dodecagonal military watchtower in Seville, southern Spain. It was erected by the Almohad Caliphate in order to control access to Seville via the Guadalquivir river. Constructed in the first third of the 13th century, the tower served as a prison during the Middle Ages.

: The Palace of San Telmo This magnificent palace was built in 1682 to serve as a marine university, training ships, pilots, navigators and high ranking officers

: San Telmo Pavillion.

: The old and the new – Horse and carriage with modern day cars..

: Argentine Pavillion – has a Hispanish-American Neo-Baroque style based in architectonic Sevillian, Peruan and Argentinian elements.

: Fountain in Maria Luisa Park..

: Maria Luisa Park is a public park that stretches along the Guadalquivir River. It is Seville’s principal green area.

: The Plaza de España is a plaza in the Parque de María Luisa, in Seville, Spain. It was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It is a landmark example of Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of the Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival styles of Spanish architecture.