Nov 12-13 Toronto to London to Madrid
Nov 14 Madrid on our own
Nov 15 Madrid on our own
Nov 16 Madrid on our own until Welcome Dinner
Nov 17 Part 1 Madrid City tour
Nov 17 Part 2 Toledo and Madrid dinner
Nov 18 Madrid to Cordoba to Seville
inSPIREd Sunday Puerto Lapice
Week 1 Recap Nov 12 - 16
Week 2 Recap Nov 17 - 23
Italics are Gate 1 descriptions.
MONDAY Nov 19 DAY 5- Seville City Tour
We didn't really see anything of our hotel last night.
The breakfast room is in the lobby and there is also a garden room.
Anne points out the whitish fruit as cherimoya which they grow on their farm.
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We depart at 9 AM.
The morning tour of Seville begins at beautiful Plaza de España...
Our guide is Fatima and she is very elegant as she leads us around.
The young couple behind her on the right, joined us two days later due to the delays in JFK. She is pregnant and feeling blah.
The Plaza de España built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 as the Pabellon de Andalucia, designed by Aníbal González, it was a principal building built on the Maria Luisa Park's edge to showcase Spain's industry and technology exhibits.
It is a landmark example of the Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of the Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival styles of Spanish architecture.
This massive plaza is home to many iconic buildings and places like the Parque de Maria Luisa.
We caught a few of the buildings as we drove by. It would have been nice to have some time to walk around the buildings.
The Plaza is situated inside Maria Luisa Park, next to Avenida Isabella La Catolica, a pedestrianised avenue with ice-cream sellers and bike rental stands.
It is a landmark example of the Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of the Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival styles of Spanish architecture.
This massive plaza is home to many iconic buildings and places like the Parque de Maria Luisa.
We caught a few of the buildings as we drove by. It would have been nice to have some time to walk around the buildings.
Plaza de Españaia a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous bridges representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain is a semi-circular brick building, Renaissance/neo-Moorish in style, with a tower at either end (tall enough to be visible around the city, these towers - north and south - are major landmarks).
Click on this panoramic and enlarge it to get a great view.
Measuring 50,000 square metres, the Plaza is the size of five football pitches. The building has a ground level portico and first-floor balustrade with balconies stretching along its length.
The Plaza's tiled Alcoves of the Provinces are backdrops for visitors' portrait photographs, taken in their own home province's alcoves.
These tiled alcoves represent a different a province of Spain.
There are 48 alcoves with benches and each alcove is flanked by a pair of covered bookshelves,said to be used by visitors in the manner of "Little Free Library".
There is stunning architecture and colorful ceramic tiles which are a huge part of Seville’s culture.
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In front of the building, following the curve of its façade, is a 500-metre canal crossed by four bridges, and in the centre of it all is the Plaza itself. You can rent small boats to row in the canal - the Plaza is known as "the Venice of Seville". A major tourist attraction, it is the finishing point of horse-and-carriage rides.
The Plaza de España has been used as a filming location, including scenes for the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. The building was used as a location in the Star Wars movie series Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) — in
which it featured in exterior shots of the City of Theed on the Planet Naboo.
It also featured in the 2012 film The Dictator.
There is stunning architecture and colorful ceramic tiles which are a huge part of Seville’s culture.
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In front of the building, following the curve of its façade, is a 500-metre canal crossed by four bridges, and in the centre of it all is the Plaza itself. You can rent small boats to row in the canal - the Plaza is known as "the Venice of Seville". A major tourist attraction, it is the finishing point of horse-and-carriage rides.
The Plaza de España has been used as a filming location, including scenes for the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. The building was used as a location in the Star Wars movie series Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) — in
which it featured in exterior shots of the City of Theed on the Planet Naboo.
It also featured in the 2012 film The Dictator.
The plaza was also used as a set for the video of Simply Red's song Something Got Me Started.
...and the fragrant gardens of Maria Luisa Park by the Guadalquivir River.
Fatima then walked us through The Parque Maria Luisa. It is a large green space to the south of the city centre, close to the river, with hundreds of exotic trees lining shady avenues, and historic, fairytale buildings, with exotic touches provided by colourful tiled benches, and Moorish fountains and pools.
The Gardens of Murillo and the Gardens of Catalina de Ribera, both along and outside the South wall of the Alcázar, lie next to the Santa Cruz quarter. They were developed from parts of the Alcazar gardens after being transferred to the City.
There is a monument to Columbus, which consists of the caravel Santa Maria between two towering white columns with a lion on top.
John spotted a peahen on the wall.
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Visiting the quaint Barrio Santa Cruz with its narrow, winding streets.
The Barrio Santa Cruz, or neighbourhood or parish of the Holy Cross, is in the oldest part of the city of Seville, being within the city walls built by the Romans in the 1st century BC, and forming the larger part of the late medieval Jewish quarter that existed here from the Christian reconquest of 1248, until the Edict of the Expulsion of the Jews, the Alhambra Decree, in 1492.
The Barrio Santa Cruz, or neighbourhood or parish of the Holy Cross, is in the oldest part of the city of Seville, being within the city walls built by the Romans in the 1st century BC, and forming the larger part of the late medieval Jewish quarter that existed here from the Christian reconquest of 1248, until the Edict of the Expulsion of the Jews, the Alhambra Decree, in 1492.
It is located alongside the seville Cathedral, the Alcazar and the old city wall.The best way in is from the Plaza del Triunfo (the square between the Cathedral and the Alcazar) through the Patio de Banderas (Courtyard of the Flags, and nothing to do with young Antonio).
The essence of its character lies in its narrow, often twisting, streets, which serve the dual purpose of providing shade from the summer sun and confusing enemies and strangers, a layout that goes back, with few changes, to the Roman era, and is in places also reminiscent of old Arab souks.
Check out the inside of the Hotel El Rey Moro.
The neighbourhood of Santa Cruz was the scene of the impossible love of the mythical character of Don Juan for Doña Inés.Don Juan (also Don Giovanni (Italian)}, is a legendary, fictional libertine. The first written version of the Don Juan legend was written by the Spanish dramatist Tirso de Molina (nom de plume of Gabriel Téllez). His play, El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest), was set in the fourteenth century and published in Spain around 1630. The name "Don Juan" is a common metaphor for a womanizer.
Now a museum, housed in a former hospice for ageing priests, the artistic highlight is collection of 17th-century paintings in the Centro Velázquez.
Continue with a visit to the Cathedral of Seville, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world and burial site of Christopher Columbus. Built on the site of the former great Mosque, its original minaret, the Giralda Bell Tower, still stands.
On our way to the Cathedral.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville (Andalusia, Spain).[1] It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alcázar palace complex and the General Archive of the Indies.. It is the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. Larger are St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London.
After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world ( It is the former Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal cathedral, later an Ottoman imperial mosque and now a museum (Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul, Turkey. Built in 537 AD at the beginning of the Middle Ages, it was famous in particular for its massive dome. It was the world's largest building and an engineering marvel of its time.
Christopher Columbus and his son Diego are buried here.
Just inside the Cathedral door stands a monument to Christopher Columbus. His tomb is held aloft by four allegorical figures representing the four kingdoms of Spain during Columbus’ life, Castille, Aragon, Navara, and Leon.
John and Bob climb to the dome.
The Giralda (Spanish: La Giralda) is the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral.
The minaret, which still stands as the Giralda, contains a series of ramps winding around the perimeter of several vaulted chambers at the tower's core. These ramps were designed with enough width and height to accommodate "beasts of burden, people, and the custodians," according to one chronicler from the era. The decorated facades and windows on the tower are stepped to match the ramps in order to maximize light to the chambers inside. This exterior brick decoration was mainly done by 'Ali al-Ghumari, a Berber craftsman who also did repair work on the interior.The facades of the tower did contain some plaster embellishment, but they were removed during a modern restoration.
John got some great shots.
PLAZA DE TOROS DE LA MAESTRANZA - BULLRING
This magnificent bullring is considered to be one of the finest in Spain and is one of the oldest and most important in the world. Although many of the younger generation in Spain abhor the sport, it remains phenomenally popular, especially in Seville.
This magnificent bullring is considered to be one of the finest in Spain and is one of the oldest and most important in the world. Although many of the younger generation in Spain abhor the sport, it remains phenomenally popular, especially in Seville.
And you have no idea how the four of us are happy to wander on our own. But first, lunch.
Word to the wise, when in Spain, bread is never complimentary! So unless you want it, tell the server to take it away. Today's lunch was a good example, he charged for the bread on both bills even though none of us touched it. We would just wave it away and say "sin gluten"!
Caramelized onions and melted goat cheese.
Guacamole with nachos, fries with dipping sauces and ham and cheese.
Fortified we determine what we want to do and it starts to rain, so we duck in for coffee. The shower blows over and we decide to visit the Alcazar.
The Alcázar or ‘Reales Alcázares de Sevilla‘ as it is known is Spanish is a royal palace which was built by the Moorish rulers who occupied the peninsula from the 8th century onwards. It is by and large considered to be one of the most outstanding examples of mudéjar art to exist today.
This building was so outstanding that I will do a separate post on it so just a few highlights here.
The Alcázar is still a royal palace. In 1995 it hosted the wedding feast of Infanta Elena, daughter of King Juan Carlos I, after her marriage in Seville’s cathedral. The Cuarto Real Alto (Upper Royal Quarters), the rooms used by the Spanish royal family on their visits to Seville..
We finish just at its 5 PM closing and go to an ABM machine prior to taking leave of Bob and Anne as they are staying to look at the Christmas market and we take a cab back to the hotel.
Tonight, enjoy an optional Flamenco Show performed by some of Seville's leading Flamenco artists
Optional: Evening Flamenco Show (PM) BOOKED Approx 2 hours
We meet in the lobby at 7 for the ride to the Flamenco show. We meet Bob and Jane from Florida.
On our way to the venue we passed the bullring.
We arrive and am immediately disappointed. We expected a cabaret setting. Instead it felt like a grade school talent show in a church hall with cramped tight seating. The one drink provided was a crappy tiny glass of wine (the worst we had). They then announce no photography!
At the end they allow photography.
We head outside to wait for the bus but it can't get to us because the taxi drivers are staging a protest to demand greater restrictions on ride sharing services.
This was our highlight!
Dinner on your own
Back at the hotel we check out their dinner menu but it was a buffet so we headed across the street and found a small place.
My salmon ceviche.
Overnight: Seville
Back at the hotel we check out their dinner menu but it was a buffet so we headed across the street and found a small place.
My salmon ceviche.
Overnight: Seville
Exquisite architecture, especially the cathedral.
ReplyDeleteGenerally when on tours our included meals have been ok. It must be very disappointing to have included meals not up to standard in a country like Spain.
ReplyDeleteWe've only done one other bus tour and it didn't have any meals included, which is fine by me. Other tours with this company have been river cruises and the food is always pretty good.
DeleteThere were four meals on this tour and we did two, that was enough. I want to eat local food, not chicken I can make at home.
Plaza de España is my favorite place in Spain and one of my favorites in the world. Its beauty is breath-taking!
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos, Jackie! Brought back many happy memories of our trips there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking part in the "Travel Tuesday" meme.