Sevilla… ¡Ole! (Part One)

Ah, Sevilla. Sevilla is such a romantic and beautiful city. I’m not sure what I imagined before going, but it exceeded my expectations. Just the right combination of history, beauty, culture and things to do. When I think of Sevilla, it’s the sounds that come to mind — the church bells ringing, the sound of flamenco somewhere, and the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves on the cobblestone streets. The Santa Cruz neighborhood is mostly pedestrian, with some wide and some very narrow cobblestone streets.  There are lots of tapas bars, restaurants, shops and flamenco tablaos.  We enjoyed just walking around at night, hanging out in the plazas and eating at the many cafes.

We had dinner at San Marco.  It was located inside the space where ancient arab baths were, so it was really a neat space.  We enjoyed our dinner and this is one time that we actually went to a restaurant instead of wandering from tapas bar to tapas bar.  I thought Erick would enjoy Italian! And, I had made reservations, which was good because there were lots of people waiting.

Real Alcázar

We visited the Alcázar in the morning, which turned out to be great because the lines were huge later, plus it was cooler.  The Alcazar was created in the 11th century over the remains of the Islamic Quarter and is still the official residence of the Spanish Heads of State.

Tapas

I enjoyed trying different things.  Erick…not so much.  He pretty much ordered croquetas (ham fritters sort of) everywhere we went.  I really liked Bodega Santa Cruz (Columnas) and we thought it was cool that they wrote your tab on the bar.

Shopping

We enjoyed strolling along the streets of the Calle Sierpes & Calle Velazquez Tetuan, which is within easy walking distance from the cathedral area. The streets are pedestrian only and you’ll find everything from ceramic shops to clothing stores like Zara.  Also, we found a great bakery called La Campana in this area.   I got something called lenguita that was made from almonds and it was so good!  And, Erick found a McDonald’s. Ha!

Concert in the Alcazar

Not too long before our trip, I came across the information for concerts inside the Palace Gardens at night and I thought jackpot!  It’s called Noches en los Jardines del Real Alcazar. How cool is that? I bought tickets online and then we picked them up at the Alcazar the day before the concert.  Our concert was Brazilian music – a vocalist and guitarist.  They were actually Spanish, but you could have fooled me.  They were fantastic…just beautiful music.  And, the atmosphere of being inside the castle gardens was so romantic and beautiful.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures during, but got this shot of the two of us after it was over. We didn’t get the feeling there were many tourists there, or if there were, they were all Spanish tourists.  So, maybe this is a well-kept secret?

Our apartment

We stayed at the perfect place here, called Suites Murillo, which was an apartment affiliated with a nearby hotel. It’s literally right beside the Alcazar and the Cathedral in the old Santa Cruz neighborhood. An absolute steal for 100 euros a night. It was big (an actual apartment), really nice and modern, and the absolute best location so close to everything.  They provided us with complimentary fresh fruit, a fridge full of various drinks and a bottle of white wine.  A nice touch.

View from our balcony