Friday 5 October 2018

We landed in Seville around 7pm. And it was hot!

After getting a taxi to the city, it was immediately time for gelato!

We are staying in the city centre – barrio de santa cruz- the Jewish quarter. Full of narrow winding streets, just next to the cathedral. Despite being around 9pm, the streets were full of people having late evening tapas.

Saturday 6 October 2018

First point of call today – the Alcazar.

This palace was built during the dark ages – around 1,300. Over the years, many parts were added to it. The palace was later made a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987.

We were staying really close, just a quick walk around the edge of the cathedral and we were there.

The queue was huge. Wrapping around the entire outside road and around the edge of the cathedral. But as we had already bought tickets online, this queue was zero people! Wow.

We spent around 2 hours wandering around. Getting lost in small gardens and endless mosaic corridors.

It was really pretty. But soon began filling up with hundreds and hundreds of people.

From here, we wandered heading South, past the university and towards the Plaza de Espana. In photos this place looks so out of place in a city centre – but in real life, it’s more of a park. A wide arching building, with a patio in front, and a small river-shaped lake that you can boat on. And is set within a large park.

The river runs nearby to here, we walked along the banks for a while. Watching the weekend rowers. Until we got stuck – the river banks were closed for a food event. And it was crowded. The queue backed up down the river a significant distance. So we had head back inland.

We passed the bull fighting arena. There were adverts for fights happening later that week.

Then made it to a food market. In here is a vegan cafe. A random place for a cafe! In between the fruit and vegetable stalls and fish stalls.

I had a burrito. It wasn’t very good. Not a fan of the food at this one. Disappointing.

There was a vegan gelato place nearby – so got some pistachio and almond gelato. Much better!

We weaved back through the streets and ended up at the cathedral. You have to pay to go into this one – quite expensive at EUR10 per person.

Inside is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. A massive organ. And some fancy altars. Being able to sit down after a lot of walking was nice!

Our bus to Granada was at 5pm. The bus station was just a short walk away.

The bus took three hours, mostly along a motorway. And we had carrot cake for the journey!

We arrived into Granada around 8pm and took a taxi to where we were staying in the Albaicin area. The streets were so narrow the taxi could barely squeeze through. He did have to leave us a few streets away, as he couldn’t get any further.

We are staying in an old house, which has been converted into a B and B. And our room has the most amazing view of the Alhambra.