Plaza de España

Last night we had a delicious dinner out, it shows that local knowledge is best and we were very grateful to the concierge for her recommendation. It was also so very reasonable, nothing like Surrey or London prices!

Sunrise here is only at 8am - back home in the UK it is currently around 6.30am so it was a treat to have such a late sunrise. We were up at 7am and walked the 30 minutes to Plaza de España as I wanted to see it before the daily crowds arrive and I thought we may get a good sunrise. It was wonderful to be there with hardly anyone else, just one woman doing crazy Instagram posts that her poor partner had to photograph as per her instructions, and an American photographer who was also enjoying the beauty of the place as I was. Plaza de España is apparently the most visited place in Seville. It is a plaza in the Maria Luisa Park that was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American exposition of 1929. It is designed in the style of Art Deco mixed with Spanish Renaissance revival - there is a large fountain, a moat and beautiful tiled alcoves representing the provinces of Spain. This is a photo of the plaza and buildings.

We got back to the hotel in time for a quick breakfast as we had to be at the Alcazar for a booked entry at 10am. The Alcazar of Seville is a royal palace, originally built as a fortress. It has the most beautiful architecture and rooms with intricate mosaic tile decorations, in the style known as Mudéjar which combines Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles. The royal family of Spain still occupy the rooms here on their visits to Seville. In the extras is a photo of the baths of Lady Maria de Padilla (a mistress of Peter the Cruel). We spent nearly three hours there as each room was more beautiful than the one before, and the gardens were also so attractive with very tall palms, cycads and orange trees throughout (see extra). The palace was used as a location for Game of Thrones.

We had lunch at a nearby restaurant, tapas style dishes of calamari which were very tasty (there is a lack of salads on the menu which I am finding tricky) then we went back to the hotel to freshen up before going back out again as we had tickets for a visit to the cathedral in the afternoon.

The Seville cathedral is a UNESCO world heritage site, it was originally built in 1172 as a mosque and the cathedral was built on the same site in 1248 - it is the largest Gothic church in the world and the third largest church in the world after St Peters and St Pauls. We started our visit with a view from the top of the tower, the Giraldo - very sensibly the route to the top of the tower is via inclined ramps instead of steps which makes it easier to ascend. In the heat a few people turned back and could not make the ascent to the top of the tower (to be fair they did not look fit and healthy). Then we descended and explored the cathedral. It has the tomb of Christopher Columbus - who discovered America - and some very ornate chapels filled with gold. We had an audio guide to help us explore the cathedral. It is very beautiful and I was reminded of the wealth of the Catholic Church with all the gold in that cathedral. 

We then wandered around the pretty shopping area but it was so hot we retreated to the hotel to relax and cool off. Tonight we are having dinner at the hotel in the Abaceria restaurant as they have an evening of entertainment with Flamenco dancing - Andalusia and Seville is famous for its Flamenco dancers.