Sunday – 02/15/2015
We left from Cordoba by train ( read more about our tour here) and we arrived at Seville around 2pm. Since we saw that it would take us 30 minutes to walk to the hotel, we thought it would be better to take a taxi there. We stayed at the hotel Petit Palace Canalejas, which is beautiful inside and out, with a great location.
We paid 49 euros for a double room, which included a very generous breakfast. Don't rush to breakfast, because depending on the time of day, you may have to wait for a table. We were unlucky enough to get a very small room on the third floor that smelled of cleaning products, but as soon as we complained, they moved us to a larger room on the second floor.
We left our things in the room and went out to explore the city. We went straight to the largest wooden structure in the world, the Metropol Parasol. It's located in a square and although you have to pay to go up and see the view, you're entitled to a drink at one of the bars in the square. I think it's worth it, huh...take a look:
We accidentally passed in front of the House of Memory, which is a house that has very intimate flamenco dance shows, with great reviews on TripAdvisor. We took the opportunity to buy our tickets for the next day and secured our seats in the mini audience.
We walked to the banks of the Guadalquivir River, which is very pleasant, and from there we passed by the tourist attractions indicated on the map we got from the hotel.
We stopped to eat some delicious empanadas at Pastafina and then we enter the Meson 5 jotas, to nibble on some more typical food. It was amazing how just one waiter was responsible for all the service in the place. There must have been about 15 people there and the guy made the food (nothing too fancy), served the drinks and also took care of the financial side. Of course, people went to the counter, but I thought the guy was very efficient and I felt like tipping him a lot for his effort. Later on in the trip, I realized that this is very common in Spain, because of the high costs of hiring waiters.
We tried to have a proper dinner in the Tiana neighborhood, which is on the other side of the bridge and is very lively on the weekends, but it didn't work out. We took a taxi to a restaurant we found on TripAdvisor, but unfortunately it was closed and there weren't any other good restaurants nearby, just boring fast food joints.
We decided to walk back to our hotel and have dinner nearby, but we had a nice surprise when we left the bridge! We came across the food market Barranco Store, with several stands different, and that's where we had dinner. Then we went straight back to the hotel and look how beautiful it looked lit up:
Monday – 02/16/2015
We had a hearty breakfast and walked to the Seville Cathedral, what It is the largest Gothic and the third largest in the world. We came across a huge line, but we had to face it, right? We found out later that it was possible to buy the ticket online, so here's a tip!
It is beautiful on the outside and impressive on the inside, with so many details on the main altar, the choir, the organs, the walls and the tomb of Christopher Columbus (that's right!!!). The view from the Giralda is also very nice, so don't miss it.
(PS: I know I'm getting repetitive saying that things are beautiful, but I'm really enchanted by what I've seen. I never thought I would like architecture so much in my life! Ah, Europe…)
After there we entered the Royal Alcazars, which is considered one of the most beautiful palaces in Spain, being a typical example of Mudejar architecture. The courtyards, walls and details are impressive, but I will let the photos speak for themselves.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in a not very busy square, Alliance Coffee. We took advantage of the fact that it wasn't so cold and sat outside, which was very pleasant.
We walked calmly through the city and walked to the Plaza de Espana, which is located inside Maria Luísa Park. I loved the atmosphere of the place, with people rowing their rented boats on a small canal with a beautiful building around it. I found it very romantic, but some people might find it a bit ridiculous, because of the size of the canal… lol
We went into some churches at the end of the day, because they had been closed earlier (I don't know why). I thought they were all beautiful, but since there were masses going on, I thought it best not to disturb them too much with my presence and even more so with photos, right?
We went back to the hotel to get ready for the flamenco show, which would start at 9pm. Before we went in, we stopped to eat at the restaurant across the street, San Eloy Courtyard (pretty normal food). The line for the show started to form outside the house and at 9pm, we started to enter.
The venue is quite small and has some pretty bad seats on the sides and on the second floor, so I suggest you arrive half an hour early to get a good seat. In fact, I don't even know if I would recommend this show, because I found it a bit strange, to be honest.
I expected to see an hour of dancing, men and women, that intense thing, you know? However, they spent a lot of time with just the musicians, or just the man dancing (there were 2 musicians, a woman and a man). I don't know if it was a special/different night, because the girl at the box office said that someone famous would be on stage (I didn't understand who it was), but it's not a great show, you know? It's really an intimate thing, kind of cult too much for me. I think I would have preferred to go to a very touristy show...lol
After the show, we went to dinner at the restaurant The Pepona, super well rated on TripAdvisor (and it's no wonder). We couldn't sit at the tables because it was really busy, so we sat at the counter. The manager (or the owner, I don't know) served us and he gave us the best tips ever. We ate the dish (tapa) that won the city award (wonderful!!!) and others and they were all great. We drank several half glasses of different wines, all delicious too. I think it was the best restaurant of the whole trip! Here's a tip!
Tuesday – 02/17/2015
We had breakfast (after waiting for a table), did the checkout and We took a taxi to the train station to pick up the car at Hertz. There are no signs at the station, and it was only after a while that we discovered that the store is downstairs in the parking lot. Don't go wandering around like a dizzy cockroach like we did. lol
With the help of the cell phone's GPS, we headed towards Jerez, the region where the wines of the same name come from. We called the winery we wanted to visit from the road and were pleasantly surprised by EVERYTHING they had to offer. More details about the winery, the road and the next destination of the trip can be found in the post Jerez and Vejer de la Frontera.
Want to know all the details of our trip? Andalusia, in Spain? See below:
