Seville

Off to Sevilla! Another day with a private tour. This time Linda had arranged the tour and there were 8 of us: Hank and I; Linda and Larry; and Henry, Kathy, Jennifer and Colleen Topkin all from Orange, California. Seville was an hour and a half drive from where the ship docked in Cadiz. Hank and I originally thought we would do something else but decided that since it was unlikely we would be back to Spain, we would go ahead and go to Seville. The ride was uneventful. The “guide” who picked us up was not going to be our guide for the city which was good. She had a very heavy accent and was difficult to understand. The entire ride to the city, she talked non-stop to the driver so none of us were impressed!


Once we got to Seville, our local guide Claudia met us. Claudia was very good. Seville (Sevilla in Spanish) is the capital of Andalusia. It’s known as being a romance city - the home of Don Juan and Carmen. The town was very pretty with a lot of trees and parks and horse-drawn carriages.

Our first stop was the Alcazar which is a 14th century Mudejar palace. We wandered through the palace and Claudia talked about the history and the fact that this is where Christopher Columbus was welcomed on his return from finding America. The tiles throughout are beautiful. We spent at least an hour going through the palace.


We went by the Hospital de la Santa Caridad although we didn’t go in. This was a 17th century hospital built by Don Juan to “atone for his sins” is the legend.

On to the Catedral de Sevilla and Giralda Tower. It was beautiful! It’s the largest Gothic building in the world and the third-largest church in Europe. Only St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London are bigger. It was begun in the late 1400s on the site of an ancient mosque and took centuries to complete. It contains the remains of Christopher Columbus and one of his sons. Of course Columbus’s’ remains have been moved 5 times she said so he moved more dead than alive. There were numerous beautiful statues and the walls were gorgeous. Again we spent about an hour going through here.

Claudia also took us through the Barrio de Santa Cruz. Again you saw the influence of the Muslims, Jews and Christians in all of the buildings and neighborhoods. It was actually originally a ghetto for Spanish Jews who were forced out of Spain in the late 15th century in the wake of the Inquisition. Now it’s a colorful district of Seville. Medieval streets wind around and of course there is shops and some lovely hotels with courtyards.

After our tour, we stopped and had Tapas at one of the local restaurants in the Barrio. I tried the local white wine while Hank and Larry and a local beer. Afterwards we caught our transportation for the ride back to the ship. We then cleaned up and ate in Toscana which is the Italian specialty restaurant on the ship which is our favorite before going back to our cabin and enjoying an after dinner drink. Another full day.