Seville, Spain

We left Sagres, Portugal and returned our rental car to Faro, Portugal (2+ hour drive). From there, we took a 3.5 hour bus ride to Seville, Spain. We spent 3 nights in Seville.

Highlights of our time in Seville, where the weather was hot (highs of 30C) and I was happy about it:

Real Alcazar

This royal palace is well known and highlighted as the top experience in Seville in many travel blogs. We bought tickets ahead of time online, which was great because we only had a short line up at a specified time. 

We walked through the old Moorish and Castilian buildings, admiring the intricate details on the walls and ceilings. Then we enjoyed walking around the gardens. Our favorite things:

1) finding the dolls in the 'doll room' where the architect left his signature baby doll faces in his archway

2) the underground old bath section

3) walking the maze in the garden labyrinth

4) the water organ that still played music for a few minutes every hour. At 12:00 we were wondering the gardens and noticed the time, and sprinted across the way to see if we could listen. As we sprinted around a corner, hearing the music, we stopped in our tracks as we saw about 60 boy/girl scouts all sitting and listening politely so we stopped and sat nearby and listened politely also.

5) the ducklings in the pond in the gardens. There were a few parent ducks and maybe 20 ducklings, but 2 of the ducklings were pure golden coloured and one just wouldn't stop chirping. We called it the 'chatterbird' and enjoyed watching them all scurry around for several minutes.

The Cathedral and Giralda (tower)

We also pre-purchased tickets to the cathedral and tower, so after a short walk and a quick lunch, we went up the tower and learned about gothic style architecture and saw some flying buttresses. We walked up 34 ramps (not stairs) to get to the top and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, it was really crowded up top and hard to get enough space to get a great view or look around for too long.

Then we went inside the cathedral, which is huge, with very high ceilings and grand treasures and gold details. 

The tomb of Christopher Columbus

Plaza d'Espagne

The rest of the family went home to rest but I continued to walk and explore my way to the Maria Luisa park. I knew that there were some Star Wars filming sites (the palace of Naboo) there. But I was blown away by the beauty of the Plaza. The columns, bridges, towers, waterways, and fountains were gorgous. This was my favorite part of Seville and I was sad that I didn't have the kids with me to row a boat around and enjoy the scene. I did have fun taking photos.

What I saw in real life

Anniken, Padme and R2D2 in the movie

The plaza with movie additions

Me on the bridge with fountain in the back

Movie characters on the bridge with fountain in the back

real life

movie

The next day, Rachel and Jason went to Cordoba for a day trip (upcoming post) while Ava and I hung out and walked around Seville some more.

The Seville Setas (mushroom structures providing shade and a viewpoint)

 

All in all, Seville was a cool city and we enjoyed it.

Plus, on our last evening there, a special visitor arrived! Jason's Aunt Cynthia came to join us for our next adventures. Unfortunately her luggage didn't make it, so after she landed, there was some fun power shopping at the Seville department store to get her some clothes... hopefully the luggage comes soon!