We’ve been in Sevilla the past 3 days and have had a blast exploring and wandering about the streets seeing the sights and sounds that this wonderful city has to offer. We got a little lost the first night here looking for a restaurant that Stef had seen on our map of Sevilla but ended up at a different restaurant called the Restaurante de Santa Cruz. Stef ordered chicken with a garlic sauce with rice and vegetables and I ordered the special of the day which came with a fried fish plate, paella, and pudding for dessert. However, the lady forgot to write down Stef’s chicken and she only got vegetables and rice. My fried fish plate arrived with variety of fish including calamari and anchovies. I’ve never had an anchovy before so I gave it a whirl. It didn’t really have much taste to it. It was actually very bland. The paella, which I’ve never had before, was very good. It had mussels, pork, shrimp, and rice with peas in a cheesy like sauce. It was very delicious. I finished off the meal with some delicious pudding, of which Stef ruined for me because she told me it was made from egg yolks and then made gagging sounds. I ate the rest however and it was still delicious.
Our second day, which was our first full day, we had a city tour scheduled for us via bus. The tour included four different stops around the city. The tour ran from 10am – 8pm and had busses at every stop every 20 minutes. Our first stop was the Plaza de Espana. It was a beautifully constructed plaza that was enormous in size and beauty. The plaza was in the shape of a half circle with a huge fountain in the middle. We wandered about taking tons of pictures and admiring its beauty for about an hour or so before going back to the bus. We stopped off in a café right next to the bus stop to get a “café con leche” and then jumped back on the bus. Our second stop brought us to a monastery which was converted into a contemporary art museum. It was actually kind of boring so we ended up leaving and getting on the next bus that came. Our third stop led us to the Isla de Magica, which is a theme park that recreates Columbus finding America. It was closed however, so we walked across the bridge to take pictures of the graffiti that decorated the walls. The graffiti here is very beautiful and artistic. We wondered if the graffiti here was seen as a bad thing or as a good thing because there was so much of it around. It seems a lot different than the graffiti back home. After we took pictures of the graffiti we walked back over the bridge and waited for the next bus. About 25 minutes later the bus showed up and we were on our way. Our last stop was where the bus had picked us up, at the Torre del Oro, or Tower of Gold. It was an old watch tower that lowered the bridge to the city by a chain to protect it from outsiders. It has since been turned into a museum that people can walk through and climb. After our tour we decided to get some food. We walked by the Plaza de Torros, which was an old bull fighting ring turned into a museum. We decided to get food first then go take the tour of the museum, so we found a café right down the street and ate there. We both had the special of the day, which was pork loin. It was probably the best piece of pork I’ve ever eaten. It had so much flavor that it didn’t need any sauce. We sat next to a couple outside that we had seen at our hotel before. While we were waiting for our check we started talking and they told us they were from Boston. It was nice to actually speak English for a change. After we talked to them we left for the museum and took the tour there. It was quite interesting and lasted about 30 minutes. After the tour we decided to head back to the room to try and see if we could change one of our days in Córdoba. We decided to cancel one night in Cordoba and add it in Madrid, since there is really only one thing to see in Córdoba; La Mezquita. As we made our way back to the hotel we had the hankering for some churros, so we found a place near the hotel that had some and indulged. When we got back to the hotel we made some phone calls and were told to call back Monday to change things so we decided to look at the pictures from the day. Stef took almost 400 and as we were looking through them we both started falling asleep. We decided to take a quick 30 minute nap at 8:30pm and would go to dinner after we woke up. Well, we woke up at 9:10pm and decided we were both too tired to get up and go to dinner, so we fell back asleep and ended up sleeping until midnight. We woke up and had a protein bar for dinner, if you want to call it that, and then went back to sleep.
We awoke the next morning to find that it was already noon. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw my watch. I seriously couldn’t believe I had slept until noon. We slept for 15 hours that night, a feat which I had never accomplished before. It was ironic though considering our bed is as hard as a rock. LITERALLY! We sat on it when we got here and laughed. It was like sitting on a piece of plywood with springs. After we got up my back was immediately sore and got worse over the course of the day. We failed to realize it was Sunday until we went to eat breakfast and sat down at this little café right next to the hotel. We started looking at the information Joel (our AAA travel agent) had given us and decided we wanted to go see the Real Alcazar and the cathedral, which also had the Giraldar. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, the Real Alcazar was already closed by the time we were eating, but the cathedral was supposed to be open from 2:30pm till 6pm. We finished eating breakfast, which was pork loin, potatoes, and two over easy eggs, at 2:30pm and headed over to the cathedral to go have a look. Well, the one day we decided to go see it there was a special religious service going on and it was going to be closed all day. We were pretty bummed considering we had walked past it the whole day previous and didn’t go in. The three things we were supposed to see in Sevilla and we didn’t see any of them. We got to see them from the outside, which they were beautiful, but didn’t get to see the inside. The cathedral is apparently the biggest gothic structure in the world. After our disappointment we started walking around and decided to get a coffee at Starbucks. After about 40 minutes we got up and started to do some shopping. The souvenir shops had pretty much the same things, which weren’t all that great, so we bought a few goodies and called it a day on shopping.
Stef had seen these horse carriage rides the day of our tour and wanted to go on one but it seemed a little too pricey. Well, she REALLY wanted to go and we decided to take the tour at night around 7:30pm. It was actually a great tour, which took us all around the city. It was quite romantic and relaxing as well. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy the ride and take in the sights without having to snap pictures and walk around everywhere. Our tour lasted about an hour and we decided to have dinner afterwards at a café we saw while walking around earlier. We got our favorite dish on the trip, Fideguay, which is like a mix between macaroni and cheese and rice-a-roni. It was tasty as usual. Of course, what’s a meal here without sangria? We’ve tried the sangria from every café we’ve visited and they’re all unique to their respective owners. Some are sweet, some are strong, and some are just plain GOOD! After dinner we headed back to the room to take care of some things before heading back out to grab a quick bite to eat and a glass of wine before heading back to bed. We’re on our way to Marbella tomorrow and that’s when the fun begins. We get our rental car and it’s a stick! Good thing I know how to drive one because it seems like all the cars here are sticks. It’s also good that we have a GPS system to keep us on track because I’m afraid I might get lost here. We’re going to stop off in Rhonda on our way down, which is this old historic town that has a HUGE bridge. It’s only 130 miles down there but we want to get an early start because we only stay down there for one day. Marbella is apparently the Beverly Hills of Spain and has all the ritzy shopping. Oh yay! (that was sarcasm). Well, good thing for me we’re staying on a golf course. I can go golf while Stef is shopping. Haha. After Marbella we have a quick 70 mile trip up to Granada and then another quick 60 mile drive to Cordoba. I’ll be sure to write and keep everybody posted. Enjoy these pics in the mean time. Adios!
In the Plaza de Espana
On our fabulous horse carriage ride
The world's MOST uncomfortable bed!
