Seville:

Oranges and the pope.

How beautiful is Seville?!!? We could not get enough of this place. There are orange trees everywhere, but sadly they are bitter oranges. I tried to eat one, and it was the equivalent of eating a lemon. Apparently the government goes through the city a few times a year to pick all the oranges and sells them to the UK who turns around and makes jam from these little gems. I was sad I couldn’t eat them, but in the end, the bright green of the leaves and bright oranges make the whole city look like a work of art. We absolutely loved it!

View from the Giralda

But first, let’s quickly talk about the annoying route to Seville. It seems to me that Portugal is not as to Europe as other countries. For example, the trip from Lisbon to Seville requires two trains and a bus. First, we had to take the local train to get to the main Lisbon station- no problem. From there, we took a long distance train to Faro, the last city in the south of Portugal- no problem again. From here, we had to take a bus from Faro to Seville because there are no trains or connection of trains from Lisbon to Seville. We had been so spoiled with the train system in Europe thus far, that we found this trip a little inconvenient and quite long. 😛   

Seville Cathedral

On our first day, we decided to take the free walking tour in the morning to get a jump start on the city. Javier set the alarm on his phone, but couldn’t connect to wifi in the room, so the time didn’t update. We woke up an hour late! Oh well, we found our favorite, Granier, and decided to walk to grab some breakfast. The 20 minute walk to breakfast was so pleasant. The streets are narrow, cobbled-stoned and confusing- very much like Venice! When we arrived, we were saddened to see that our precious Garnier was closed for a revamp that day, so we settled for a little cafe across the street. We decided to try and check out the afternoon walking tour instead of waiting until the following morning. We had a couple hours before then, so we decided to squeeze in the Cathedral. 

Seville Cathedral

Seville is home to the third largest cathedral in the world-second only to the Vatican and St. Paul’s in London, and the largest medieval Cathedral in the world. It used to be a mosque, and therefore has a beautiful blend of Moorish and European styles. It also has a large courtyard that was used for washing back in the mosque days. The courtyard still has the little fountains all over, and is covered in orange trees! Definitely different than other Cathedrals we have seen. We took our time walking through, and learned a good deal thanks to the audioguide. The coolest part of this Cathedral is the tomb of Colombus.

Seville Cathedral. C. Colombus Tomb.

We learned that there is no actual body inside the tomb, but rather body pieces.There are debates whether the pieces inside truly belong to Columbus or not, so in 1997 they carried out DNA tests, and they came back positive. So, the pieces in the tomb, do in fact, belong to Columbus. After we toured the Cathedral walked up to the top of Geralda, the bell tower. Unlike most bell towers that have narrow steps, this tower has wide ramps. We learned that the bell tower used to be the minaret of the mosque. Because it was a minaret, someone had to travel to the top of the tower 5 times a day to call for prayer. This would be very tiring for a person, so they would ride a horse up to the top and back, hence the ramp.

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Seville. Jewish Quarter

Our tour was very informative. We learned about the cathedral and Alcázar, then made our way to the Jewish quarter. The Jewish quarter is the oldest neighborhood in Seville, and used to be completely surrounded by a high wall. Our guide told us of the Jewish massacre in the 14th century. The wall had been built and the single entry and exit gate locked at night supposedly for the Jew’s safety. 

We took another tour the following day. The highlight of this tour was Plaza España.

The Plaza de España

Plaza España is quite possibly the most beautiful plaza I have ever seen. The plaza is shaped like a half moon, with gorgeous buildings along the perimeter. There are many tiled sitting areas along this perimeter. The beauty of the sitting areas is that all of the cities in Spain are represented in alphabetical order. Each sitting area depicts a scene that is pertinent to that city, as well as a small map on the ground that shows where the city is located within its region in Spain. The tiles are beautifully decorated and very colorful. There are also little shelves built into the walls that were placed there to encourage a book exchange.

The Plaza de España

When the Plaza was built, the King wanted it to be an area of learning, so there were books placed in the small shelves. The idea was that the books were free, but if you were to take a book, you should replace it with another book. Of course, over the years, the books have all been taken, and none replaced, but the area is still full of people reading, socializing, as well as tourists snapping pictures and riding in boats. 

We visited the Real Alcázar. Such a beautiful place. The building is truly gorgeous both inside and out.

The dome ceiling. Real Alcazar

We slowly made our way through the rooms, admiring the tiles and colors and overall architecture. The gold dome is absolutely magnificent. We spent a good deal of time outside walking through the gardens. It was very peaceful and the weather, perfect. We heard music playing, but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Turns out, there is a hydraulic fountain that plays music every hour. I have no idea how it works, but it’s really cool. We sat on some benches and enjoyed the music. There are orange, lemon, and grapefruit trees everywhere. Even in the winter, there were beautiful flowers and many trees. We were told that this was a smaller, less glamorous palace than the Alhambra in Granada, I guess we’ll just have to see.

To see more picture of Seville, click HERE.

Real Alcazar