Seville
Being a small ship we were able to travel up the Guadalquivir River and dock right in the city of Seville. The ship traveled up the river overnight so we didn’t get to see the sights along the river, but our return will begin tomorrow at 5PM so we will get to see what we missed overnight. I did wake up as we passed through the lock where you could practically touch the side of the lock.
Our stop in Seville was a long one with an overnight stay. We slept in this morning since we have the entire day. We enjoyed coffee out on our veranda as we watch rowers coming down the river.
Our stop in Seville was supposed to be shortened because of a port pilot strike so I cancelled our 2 excursions. Within 24 hours the strike was called off but I was unable to get our reservations back. At first we were disappointed but it turned out fine. I think our time in Seville was better than it would have been had we taken the excursions. Taking time to just explore on your own can bring surprises - good and bad. For us it was all good this time.
I didn’t do much research on what to do or where things were located in Seville but as chance would have it when we left the ship and crossed the street there was a horse carriage looking for passengers. The driver said it was 45 Euro for almost an hour tour around the old part of the city so we decided to do it.
We had a pleasant ride through the nearby park where many people were enjoying the beautiful morning. We then traveled along some of the busy and quiet streets of Seville.
We ended our carriage ride in front of the Seville Cathedral, a massive structure that was built as a mosque in 1172 by the Moors. It was converted into a Catholic church in 1248 after Ferdinand II conquered the Moors. The one original tower of the mosque remains. Unfortunately it was closed so we couldn’t climb to the top. The excursion we had originally planned gave us access to the Cathedral, but luck remained on our sides and a portion of the Cathedral was open without tickets on Sunday morning so we did get to see a part of the beautiful interior.
The narrow streets of Seville are primarily for pedestrians but there are horse carriages and a few vehicles. We walked down a number of the streets and ended up in a shop selling hand made fans and beautiful ceramic pottery. We purchased a few souvenirs here. We also found a tiny shop called Casa de la Guitar (House of Guitars). Rochesterians will get a chuckle our of that. We had to go in. The shop also has flamenco shows that seat about 30 people in the evening. Since this was something else we lost with our cancelled excursion, and there was availability for the evening we decided to purchase tickets. The woman selling tickets assured us this would be a phenomenal performance and the tickets were only 20 Euro so we booked the 9PM show.
There are tapas bars everywhere near the Cathedral with patrons sitting outside and in. We chose one that had indoor seating since it was so hot. When we entered we found the restaurant was entirely dedicated to bullfighting with bull heads mounted on every wall, and news articles posted on the walls about famous toreadors dating back more than 100 years. Not quite what we expected but the food was good and the wait staff delightful. We enjoyed a few different tapas with sangria in the cool air-conditioning. Before we left I visited the restroom. Much to my surporise, the restroom is where they store unopened beer kegs.
Yesterday I was able to secure tickets to the Alcazar Palace for 2:30PM. This was a little later than we planned to stay in Seville because of the heat but I really wanted to see the Palace. The Palace is located across the plaza from the Cathedral. It was originally an Islamic citadel built in the 10th century. In the 13th century it was rebuilt after the Castilian conquest of Seville. The many connected buildings and courtyards are beautiful but we found the immense gardens that seemed to go on forever the most beautiful part of the complex. Peacocks, parrots and ducks roamed freely in the gardens. Currently the King of Spain occupies a quarters in the Alcazar. It was also the site of filming for scenes from The Game of Thrones. I’m really glad we got to visit despite my not so graceful attempt to fall backwards into one of the fountains as I backed up trying to get a good photo. I did get one foot totally in the fountain however.
We headed back to the ship after spending about 2 hours in the Alcazar and just relaxed in our room. It was great to get out of the 95 degree heat and into the AC.
We’ve had a lot of rich food on this trip so for dinner we went to the buffet and just had salads before heading back out to see the flamenco performance at 9 PM.
The show was excellent. A terrific guitar player started the show with traditional Spanish music. A singer with amazing voice control joined him and sang some traditional flamenco music which almost reminded me of a Hebrew cantor. After a few songs a flamenco dancer joined the other 2 performers on stage for 2 different performances. She was spectacular. We sat in the second row and were mezmerized by her movement. The entire show lasted about an hour. We were so glad to have found this.
After the show we walked the mile or so back to the ship and turned in for the evening. Tomorrow is our second day in Seville. We will see what we want to do but we are pretty tired tonight so I am leaning towards a down day.