Spring Break 2024/Andalusia (Seville)/April 1

 For most of the day today, I have loved Seville.  This is a place that I want to come back to someday.  Today I got up mid-morning, having had a good night's sleep!  I showered and headed out. My hotel is in the area near the cathedral (10 minute walk) that is full of small, walkable streets with many shops and cafes.  I love walking around only rarely worrying about a car coming.   I was going to go to the Antiquarium first thing this morning, but when I looked at directions to get there, it said closed Monday.  Arrgh!  So I settled instead to begin at the Cathedral.  I enjoyed walking through the warren of little streets to get there--a quick 10 minute walk.  It was a little chilly, but I had capris and sandals on with a sweatshirt.  The sun was out! 

Another curved-corner building

This was natural vegetation on the storefront

Cool building

 I had tried to buy a ticket online the night before to not have to wait in line (which worked great at the castle), but is kept shutting me down.  I waited in the line which was not long and paid much less than online.  I walked around looking at the usual oddities of cathedrals.  Lots of paintings.  It was cavernous!  Huge!  I had decided to climb the Giralda Tower even though I don't do well with stairs.  The belltower is large and square and has a ramp almost the entire way up!  It is fairly steep, but very doable.  There were a lot of people, but not excessive numbers.  The ramp ran along the outside walls of the tower and many walls had a window you could stop in to look around (and catch your breath if need be).  Made it up the ramp, then a short flight to the observation area.  That was full of people.  You had to take a turn to get up to the edge and look out.  The huge bells were overhead, and I couldn’t imagine being up there when they go off—they must have to clear the tower of people for the bells.   Okay, lots of pics!

An old well, now planted

the organ!  It's fitted into the ceiling

altar

statue

they had a weird mirror that you could use to
take a picture of the ceiling (instead of just 
looking up?)

The floor tiles were in the same oval shape as the ceiling above

huge rood screen

silver altar

the chancel (I think that's what it's called)

(I told you it was a lot of pics!) Next on to the Plaza de España, another 10-15 minute walk. I stopped along the way for a gelato.  My favorite flavor, Stracciatella. I removed my sweatshirt and put it in the bag with the tile I bought at the cathedral gift shop for myself.  Much of the walk was along a very busy road, but it was surprisingly pleasant with many large trees and flowering vines crawling over walls.  I passed by the University of Seville which was surrounded by a moat!  The universities that I have attended have never taken my safety that seriously!  The moat is dry, but wow.  There is only one large building there.  The Plaza de España was nearby, one side is open, with the rest encircled by a government building.  The side that is open is open to the Maria Luisa Park which had been on my list but I didn’t think that I would have time to get to it.  The plaza is surrounded by a moat as well, except for the entrance, so it is mostly encircled.  They rent rowboats for the moat (it is quite wide).  There are archways over the moat to the building.  If I hadn’t been by myself, I may have rented a rowboat.

This is the old Seville Opera House that is getting refurbished

a huge hotel!

How they set off the bike lanes in Seville

The University moat

The University building

more of the moat--and a guard tower?

The building

The government building at the Plaza de España

the moat or waterway around the plaza

tile work even in the ground tiles

There is tile work everywhere!

Even the tops of the domes are tiled!

Some of this is painted wood and some seems to
be ceramic(?)

After hanging out at the Plaza for awhile, I headed across the street to the Maria Luisa park.  It is quite large and I only went a little ways in.  My legs and feet were sore and I just wanted to rest.  I found a park bench in some trees and pulled out my book.  I could hear people around, but could only see a few at the bike rental kiosk.  It was shady, yet comfortable, and I could see the sun outside of the tree shade. I read for awhile, smelling flowering trees  around me.  Eventually, an older couple came over and she sat on the bench next to me, so I moved my shopping bag.  Then I saw that the man with her was going to sit down, so I moved my travel bag to the ground as well.  We talked for awhile.  They live in Mexico where she is from (he’s from Pennsylvania).  Very nice.  Then I left for my Royal Palace (Real Alcazar) ticket time, giving myself way more than enough time to get there in case there was a long line.  Well, Google Maps delivered me to a street corner.  I walked each way from that street corner and couldn’t find it—not even a sign.  I was getting very frustrated, so I went into the restaurant on the corner and asked a busboy I could find where it was.  He pointed a direction down the street and said “Down there”.  Well, I walked and walked, then I saw a tourist information shop and explained the situation.  She acknowledged that Google Maps does have the wrong location.  She told me to continue down the street to the Starbucks, then turn right.  So I did, but the street then divided into two.  I asked another tourist information shop (they are everywhere trying to sell tours) and they pointed me in the right direction, then had to do it again—they told me to go through the archway.  I did and walked aways until I finally found it!  And this is after 5:30.  So I was walking around for about an hour trying to find it!  I was so frustrated and relieved.  So I went in.  Wow—tiles everywhere.  Like most important buildings in this part of the world, it was built on top of a palace from the Moors and so has a lot of their influences.  I wandered through a courtyard and a few buildings and out into vast gardens.  Each garden has a theme and a name, some simply used the garden plans from the Moors.  They moved the labyrinth however from one garden to another.  The labyrinth isn’t the same as some where the vegetation is very low to the ground  and you follow the labyrinth as a type of meditation; this is a maze made of several types of trees and bushes that are quite tall and thickly vegetated.  I didn’t get stuck for long, but some people did.  After wandering through gardens and in and out of buildings that are not in a path or a certain order for a few hours, finding myself in places I had already been,  I became quite overwhelmed and anxious and had to leave, even though I’m sure that I didn’t see everything.  I would like to go again sometime, maybe doing an audio guide or using a tour guide to bring in some plan and sense of order.  It was a cool place with a lot to explore, but my ADHD brain could not handle it.  Again, lots of pics:

Entrance to the Real (Royal) Alcazar palace

courtyard

more courtyards

Parquet floor with tile insets

All carved

carving and tile

tile

carved

tiles

The start of the gardens

After that I wandered my favorite neighborhood some more and found a place for dinner—I had croquettes using a local sausage with a smear of sauce under each (there were six).  Very fancy, but not very filling.  I walked more and then went back to my hostel to finish loading yesterday’s pics on my blog post and get packed up—need to get to the train station early enough tomorrow.  I decided to walk to the train station tomorrow since it’s only a 35 minute walk and public transport is 17 minutes.  Only a little bit longer and I don’t need to figure out the bus.   I love Seville and hope to come back here again someday.