Last stop in Spain - Seville

We arrived in Seville! We took a cab from the train station to the apartment we rented (another airbnb place), but the cab driver didn't know the street and it took him a few minutes to figure it out. Someone named Sebastian met us to to let us in. The apartment was pretty spacious and had two bedrooms. 

The "dryer" 

The lighting wasn't good enough for him... but he was prepared.

We headed out to find a flamenco place. You can see Flamenco anywhere in Spain, but dad had read that the best was in Seville and since we didn't find the place in Granada, we were determined to see it in Seville. The night was warm and there was a lot going on in the city. It felt a little safer to me than Granada did though. The flamenco show we found was an hour long and had flamenco guitar, singing and dancing! They move their feet so fast! It was impressive.

Saturday - Got up around 8:30, but had no hot water in the shower. Yikes! Dad emailed the owner and they responded pretty quickly and said someone would stop by and fix it.

We stopped at a little coffee place and had an americano and toast with marmalade, then headed to the cathedral. It didn't open until 11 and there was a line. I had read in our guide book that you could get tickets at a different church a few blocks away. So, we ventured... got our tickets and came back to pass the whole line and go right in. Thank you Rick Steve! 

The Seville Cathedral is the biggest in Spain, 3rd largest in Eurpoe and the largest Gothic church anywhere. Inside is the tomb of Columbus. Four kings carry his tomb and the clock above it has been ticking since 1788 (weird fact!).

The Tomb of Columbus

You can also go to the top of the Giralda Tower - 330 feet up - with a great view of the city. It was crowded up there. We didn't stay too long. And even though it wasn't a lot of exercise, we decided we needed to try the cookies from the Nun place nearby. Rick Steve says they're the best, but dad and I would disagree - at least the ones we tried (El Torno Pasteleria de Conventos is the place). 

Found a Starbucks... to go with our cookies!

Next was the Alcazar. The Seville Alcazar was a 10th century palace built for the governors of the Moorish State. A part was added for King Pedro I in the 14th century. It's confusing in there... we got turned around once or twice. The most amazing part of the place are the gardens though. They go on forever and are beautiful!

We had read about the 'doll faces' in the guide book

We looked for a long time and finally gave in and googled it on dad's iPad... found it!

This used to be a tennis court... I said I'd never remember that

Dad's solution... he's brilliant

After the Alcazar we went to find lunch. We went to a tapas place and they actually had a "cerveza sin alcohol" on tap! First one I had seen over here. So I had one and it was pretty good... especially because it was a hot day. We ordered some tapas - all which were delicious! Then I ordered another beer - one more of the same is what I said... but I don't think that's what I got. The second one tasted a little different, but we were eating things with pesto and curry, so I thought maybe my tastebuds were off. After a few more sips, I had dad try it and he thought it was the same (he had tried the first one). I drank a little more, but worried a little and thought I was just being paranoid. I didn't finish it however and when she brought us the bill I looked and she had charged us for one of the beers without alcohol and one regular beer. I was a little bummed... but I didn't drink it on purpose and there was nothing I could do about it then. I'm not going to start over on my days of counting either! 

Tapas

Plaza de Espana

After lunch we wandered over the University and then to Plaza de Espana. It was one of the more beautiful plazas I've seen. It had a little river around it and you could rent a boat to paddle around for 5 euro (we didn't though). There was also a huge park next to it that we walked through. It felt a little like Central Park - and I could definitely get lost in there. We walked back along the river - which is probably even nicer at night and when it's not as hot, but it was still pretty. We stopped for coffee and a chocolatey dessert on the way home. 

Sunday - I actually got up and went for a run in the morning. I wanted a run on my Garmin that would be in Spain. I ran up and down the street where we were staying to ensure that I didn't get lost. Wasn't very adventurous, but oh well. I managed three miles. 

Dad and I went and had coffee and toast and then got our bags and took a taxi to the train station. We stored our luggage in a locker there and then wandered around Seville some more. We stopped and had an americano, then walked a ways and found the tapas place we had gone to the day before. I ordered another beer, but made sure she heard the sin alcohol part. :) We also had some more delicious tapas. 

It was a hot day! We shopped a little and found a place with delicious smoothies which were refreshing! Then we read in the park and headed back to the train station. We took a train back to Madrid and then took the overnight train to Lisbon. Bye bye Spain!