Gracias Seville

 

After our short stint in Morocco we landed back in Seville for a few days. The weather was hot, but I'm pretty sure we were the only people in the country applying sunscreen. Our hostel was on a great walking street full of bustling people frozen yogurt, croissants, and espresso. Seville was the city where our trip started to turn from very packed days full of handfuls of stops to a more relaxing kind of vacation, thank goodness we were getting tired. :)

 

 

 

 

We walked a ton the first day and toured the Seville Cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and third largest church cathedral in the world period. The spires all loom over the walls and poke up toward the sky in a way that would be totally creepy if it wasn't a sunny blue sky. It was a stunning structure and the ramped walk up to the bell tower afforded some lovely views over the whole city.

Then we wandered the Plaza de Espana until we were too hot to continue so we had some kebabs and giant glasses of sangria at a streetside café under a luscious shady umbrella. I'm pretty sure we rounded out the afternoon with frozen yogurt with sprinkles and a nap.

The next day we roamed the Royal Alcazars of Seville which was originally a Moorish fort turned palace. Words aren't enough for this space. The rooms are flooded with elegant hand made tiles and patterns from floor to ceiling where they meet hand carved wood domes and carved ornate arches. There are a myriad of courtyards peppered throughout with themes and reflection ponds and landscaping. The influence of the Middle East starts to appear in places and add depth to the design. It all opens to a giant outdoor park with large shady trees and little forests of orange and lemon trees, we even saw some orange trees with lemon branches spliced on pretty cool. It came complete with giant fountains and a hedge maze to wander. One of the most beautiful places we saw hands down and such a peaceful visit, love the off season.

 

 

 

That night we went to the top of the Metropol Parasol for only 3 euros each. It's a wooden structure in a plaza that from the ground appears as mushrooms reaching to the sky. We went up to watch the sunset over the city which was so beautiful. I love the skies colors against all the white buildings, it transforms the whole city! Then we grabbed a drink underneath it while it's blue lights began to create it's glow. That night we found some Indian food that blew our minds and sat outside drinking beer until we were ready for bed.

 

 

 

 

We ended the trip the next morning stopping at San Leandro Convent where you can get yemas- egg cookies from the convent to help keep it alive. We walked into it's entryway rung a buzzer, a small voice appeared, we said 1/2 kilo yemas, we put the money in the wooden lazy susan and spun it around, she spun it back with a wooden box of yemas. If you can't tell by the photo, I was beyond excited to do this. You never see the woman and you get to walk away with authentic and a very passed down recipe Spanish cookies.

Then we hopped the train and headed off to Madrid!