Seville

My final stop for this summer jaunt was Seville. I ashamedly have very little experience of Spain so was excited to wind down and relax after the Portuguese cities. I took a bus from Faro which only took a couple of hours. My hostel was near Alameda de Hercules, wouldn’t really recommend this area, there are good restaurants and bars but if I were you I’d try and stay more central to the city to reduce your walking time.

Day 1:

I was completely fed up of maps at this point in my trip so I sacked that off in Seville and just wandered! Vaguely following tourist site signs I first came across Mary Magdalene Church which had some stunning exterior architecture.

Walking on I popped out at the river and headed to the bullring. I had reservations as I didn’t really know how I felt about bull fighting but I was keen to see the ring to look at the architecture.

I booked a tour which takes about an hour, ending up inside the ring. I felt quite torn on the way round, uneasy about all the artwork depicting bulls with spears in them and mounted heads of bulls everywhere, but the tour also conveyed the passion behind the sport so it was overall quite enlightening.

The rest of my day was spent cafe-hopping for fruit juices because it was heading to 34degrees! I had two more full days here so I wanted to eek out sightseeing, and keep activity to the morning because of the heat.

That evening I walked around the Metrosol looking for a good place to eat, unfortunately got roped into a tourist trap, the food wasn’t great but the area was really lively with lots of performers and couples dancing in the street.

Day 2:

Thought I was being really smart in getting to the Alcazar early (before 9am) but the rest of Seville had this idea too. The queue at this time was genuinely about 200m so I’d recommend booking your tickets online to skip the queue, but if you don’t mind queuing for about 45mins then at least at this time we were in the shade (you could have a standing breakfast and coffee). The Alcazar is pretty amazing inside, and obviously GOT fans will know that it was the filming location for Dorne.

Juice break.

Stop two was Torre del Oro, I wanted to see this the day before but didn’t have any cash, so returned on the Monday and it was free entry (its only 3euros anyway). The tower has a small naval museum and you have good views form the top.

Juice break.

Walking past the University (its a very impressive building itself) I then went to the Plaza de Espana, easily my favourite site of this trip, as soon as I rounded the corner to the building I was amazed. hung out here in the shade for a while and then walked around the Parque de Maria Luisa which is almost like a tropical garden compared to anything I’ve seen before.

Juice break.

Nap.

Tapas at Azotea (recommend).

Day 3.

I walked across the river to the Triana Quarter for breakfast. This area is famous for ceramics and flamenco and it was really busy but it felt more local than with swarms of tourists. Wandered around the market, bought souvenirs near the Inquisition Corridor then walked along the riverside.

Juice break.

Stop two, the cathedral. Didn’t really expect the cathedral to be as impressive as it was. After the ticket office there is a small art gallery, you walk through a dark corridor and then all of a sudden you are in the biggest cathedral ever! There’s so much to see, and tours to go on, but the coolest thing is that Christopher Columbus’ tomb is there.

Juice break.

Tapas.

Back to hostel to pack up.

I liked Seville but it took me a while to get used to the idea that the Spanish do everything on their own time; it can take 20minutes to get given a menu! I’d probably deal with it better on returning but I did enjoy the culture difference and now completely understand the need for siesta!

Ciao for now x

Marlo