Southern Spain Part 4: Sevilla
A few hours later, we arrived in Sevilla. The weather wasn’t much better, so we waited it out in our hostel, Hotel Pension Nuevo Suizo, for about 2 hours before heading out to explore the city during the night. Our hostel in Sevilla was probably the worst accommodations we encountered abroad (2 people even left to a hotel a block away because it was so bad). A few of us were placed on the ground floor, right around the atrium by the lobby, so we could hear everything going on, especially at night when trying to fall asleep. The lady at the front desk was smacking her keyboard and probably facebooking all night for the two nights we were there, so I didn’t get much sleep.
A brief walking tour with Sophia gave us a clue as to what we’d see the following day: we walked by the cathedral, the Giralda, the Alcazar and other various buildings.
The Giralda:
In the old part of the city, horse-drawn carriages are very popular:
After meandering through many winding narrow streets, we found ourselves at the Iglesia de El Salvador and its beautiful courtyard:
We were free to find a place to eat, so we decided to try to find a Jewish restaurant to eat some Hannukah food. This proved to be impossible, and we wandered in the rain for a good hour trying to find places that ended up being closed because of a holiday that was being celebrated in Sevilla that weekend. So we settled on Chinese at a place near our hostel.
The next morning we headed straight to Real Alcázar de Seville, an Alcazar much larger than that of Córdoba.
The Jardines de los Reales Alcázares:
The Jardines de los Reales Alcázares even have a Labyrinth!
After the Alcazar, we headed to the Catedral de Santa María de la Sede de Sevilla, the largest Gothic cathedral and third-largest church in the world. It was built during the 16th Century on the site of a former Mosque. The minaret tower known as La Giralda still stands.
The Catedral de Santa María de la Sede de Sevilla also happens to be the site of the tomb of Christopher Columbus:
From within the cathedral, we walked to the Giralda tower, and walked up 34 stories made of perimeter ramps. It stands as the tallest monument in Sevilla and from the top, a 360º panorama makes the climb well worth it.
Sparky in front of the Giralda:
Afterwards, we had the rest of the afternoon and evening off, save for those who did not meet with Sophia and discuss all their sketchbook drawings on the bus rides. Luckily I did, so we took the time to explore the city a little more before heading back to the hostel to take a nap.
Torre de Oro, a famous military watchtower:
Plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla (Bullfighting Ring):
After our nap, we headed over to the hotel 2 of us were staying at to take showers (nobody took showers at the hostel). Here’s the view of the El Corte Inglés holiday light show from their room:
Famous to Sevilla are flamenco dance bars, so by recommendation, we ended up at La Carboneria for our first-ever flamenco dance experience. It was free, so the place was packed. Pretty interesting..I’d recommend seeing a show, but perhaps at a more intimate or upscale place.
Here are 2 videos:
After the show, we grabbed a few pints and reminisced over the semester and shared many stories and laughs. It was our last night in southern Spain. In 2 days we would all part ways, some continued traveling in Europe, some went home, but Michael, Ian and I stayed one more night in Barcelona at the Toyo Ito hotel by the airport.
barcelona 