Seville

One of my favorite cities in Spain is Seville. For me it is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen – not only in Spain, but in Europa, and maybe the world. There is so much to see and do in this city and it is a mix of different cultures. The city tells its own historical tale through the buildings and streets. But that is kind of the story for most historical cities :-).

When we arrived in Seville we picked up our rental car and went towards our hotel. At that point I didn’t like Seville very much :-). Our hotel didn’t had a parking place (or it did, but it wasn’ very good indicated) AND it was located close to the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán AND that night Sevilla FC was playing against Moscow. Great… But in the end we found a parking garage (that was cheaper than supposedly in our hotel), left the keys (oh no we didn’t…) and walked to our hotel. After checking in – without saying I spoke Spanish, so it wasn’t a very warm welcome due to language problems – we left and searched for the 100 Montaditos. It was a Wednesday and it is my ritual… when in Spain on a Wednesday or Sunday I’m going to the 100 Montaditos. Not because it is soooo good, but more out of nostalgia. In this cerveceria there are 100 sorts of little sandwiches you can order. On Wednesday and Sunday the sandwiches are all € 1. The drinks used to be € 1 as well, but now it’s a little more expensive.
How does it work? There’s a menu on the table, together (normally) with a pen and a paper to write your order down. After you’ve written everything down you go to the bar and order everything. You get the drinks immediately. You also have to leave your name with the weather (I always write it down on the paper, because that’s how they used to do it). After a while they call out your name via a microphone and then you can go and pick up your order in the ‘pick-up’ stand.

After our evening meal, we headed back towards our hotel, ready for the second (actually…only) day in Seville.

We started our tour in the Plaza de España. Last time I was here (2010) they were renovating the place, so it was the first time I could see it as it was. Yay! And it was as beautiful as I remembered. Even with the clouded weather. Although, I have to be honest, every time there was a ray of sunshine I started taking pictures like crazy :-). The Plaza de España lies inside the Parque de María Luisa and was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. Nowadays the Plaza mainly consists of Government buildings. But you can still walk around freely outside the buildings and shoot pictures of the tiled Alcoves of the Provinces.

We left the Plaza via the Parque de María Luisa and went towards the Guadalquivir to walk towards the Torre del Oro and the Plaza de Toros. The Plaza de Toros of Seville is also situated in Mini Europa in Brussels (for as long as it’ll still exist here). Fun fact ;-). Because I’m very fond of doing things that I haven’t done before, we decided to climb up the Torre and enjoy the view we had from above. For a simple € 3 per person, you can go inside. Not so spectacular… but better than the Torre de Serranos in Valencia :D.

We went further inwards the city center and waited in line to visit the Catedral de Sevilla and its Giralda. Both times I was here, I only saw the cathedral and its tower from the outside. Time to see it from the inside! It wasn’t the best time to visit the place, as the Orange Garden wasn’t really at its best… with the oranges still growing, but still green. There’s only so much you can tell about a cathedral… it was nice ;-). The view from above was great as well.
After climbing back down, we walked around the Barrio de Santa Cruz, a district of the old part of the town before we had to go towards the Real Alcázar de Sevilla. We bought online tickets before we left for this holiday. And we were lucky, because without knowing it, we also included a visit to the Cuarto Real Alto. No pictures were allowed here and it has a limited entrance! But it was so beautiful! The whole Real Alcázar was beautiful. A highlight of the city, for sure. The gardens and the buildings are really nice to walk through and you can spend a lot of time here.

I also wanted to visit the Metropol Parasol, but during the sunset. So after visiting the Real Alcázar we walked towards the Metropol and went shopping along the way. That way we were just in time to take the elevator to the Metropol and walk a few times around ;-). This wasn’t here back in 2010. I don’t quit see why it was built here neither… but you get a nice view over the city.

We went eating in Al Aljibe, which was recommended to us by friends who were extremely positive about the place. And now… we are as well. I recommend making a reservation before going, because it is really popular! And really really good. We sat outside in the little terrace, which was very cozy. We closed the day (and night) with a visit to La Carboneria. The entrance is free and you can enjoy some free music and Flamenco starting about 22:00 or 23:00 – I can’t remember. Be early enough, because this place gets crowded rather quickly.

The day after we left Sevilla in the pouring rain. Our 10 minute walk to the car changed us in a swimming pool. And it would be raining for the most part of this day. Whoop whoop…