Sensational Seville

My daughter Charlotte treated me to a short break in Seville as a birthday present and because she now has a full time paid job!!! Having checked weather and flight prices Seville was coming up as the preferred alternative, and as it was about 33 years ago since I`d been as a teenager and it was time to re-visit this beautiful Spanish city, and we opted for the first weekend in November. We took Thursday afternoon direct flights from Manchester arriving early evening, then a short 15 minute taxi journey into the city and by 8.00pm we were checked into our hotel room, which was situated across from the Plaza De Espana and about a 15 minute walk into the heart of the city. Even though we had arrived quite late there was still plenty of opportunity to go out that evening and enjoy dinner, as the restaurants and bars stay open later. During our 3 day stay the weather was perfect, clear blue sunny skies and an average daily temperature of 22 degrees, we really did choose a great weekend!!! It became chilly in the evening and we needed a jacket or fleece, but skies were clear and there wasn’t a drop of rain! Its worth noting that Seville is one of Spains hottest cities year round, it can be very hot in the summer time, however many hotels have pools or small roof top pools, and this would be welcome after a days sightseeing to return for a cooling dip. During our stay the pool was closed but we were able to have a late afternoon chill on a sunbed around the pool in the sunshine!!! On our first full day of sightseeing we stopped by the Plaza De Espana which was a 2 to 3 minute walk from our hotel. We watched Flamenco Dancers entertaining the crowds, watched the rowers in their little boats on the moat around the square, and saw families enjoying their horse and carriage rides. The history and architecture of this beautiful Plaza was amazing. A short stroll took us through the Marie Luisa Parque and in no time at all we were in the heart of the city. Seville is pretty compact and can be done easily on foot as we did, however for those that like to travel like a local there is the local modern tram system and buses, or as every city has these days the “Hop on Hop off bus”. We had tickets pre-booked for the Alcazar, as this can get quite busy, plus with COVID daily numbers were limited. The Alcazar is the number one tourist attraction in Seville, and its recommended during peak times to pre-purchase your tickets. Once inside; the Palace and the Gardens are breathtaking, and they provide a real haven of tranquillity in this busy city. We spent about 3 hours strolling the gardens and taking in the history of the Palace. There`s a little café here that serves refreshments and resident Peacocks and Peahens can be seen wandering the grounds. There are many restaurants to choose from in Seville, and tapas is very much a popular choice! We happened upon a cute little tapas restaurant in a side street after leaving the Alcazar, and like the locals we sat in the side street on little wooden stools and enjoyed a selection of small plates and a glass of local white wine. I felt the food was good value we paid roughly 24 Euros for a couple of glasses of wine, water, 6 small plates and bread & Butter, which I felt was inexpensive in comparison to other cities visited. The weekend was busy with people in the city celebrating one of their many festivals. Restaurants and bars were busy and in hindsight we should have booked tables ahead, however we went with the flow and found that it created a lovely vibe and a great buzz to the weekend! After experiencing the Alcazar, the following day we visited the La Giralda and timed it perfectly as the priest was saying mass to a small congregation, the building is magnificent, so many different areas to the Cathedral, and it was very busy with church goers as well as tourists. As in all cities we were lured by the shops and spent some time in the many boutiques in the side streets as well as the branded stores such as Zara & C & A, which are all housed in beautiful buildings. Charlotte had booked tickets for us to see “Metropol Parasol” often referred to as the Seville Mushrooms (Setas De Seville), it`s a wooden structure located at La Encarnacion Square in the old quarter and designed by architect Jurgen Mayer. It was completed in 2011 and claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. The views from every angle of the structure were fantastic looking out over Seville in every direction. On our last day we were drawn back to Plaza De Espana and were surprised to see a classic car show was taking place, featuring every colour of vintage Seat 500`s that you can imagine. They were displayed around the square and made for a great photo opportunity for the keen enthusiast. Another walk through the Marie Luisa Parque took us the Guadalquivir River, where we followed the river to the other side of Seville to the Triana district and by the Mercado de Triana, a lively market hall near the arched Puente de Isabel II bridge, with food stalls and small eateries serving salmorejo soup, croquettes and other tapas. By the river, Calle Betis has more restaurants and bars, plus venues presenting live flamenco music. Shops selling ceramics cluster around the Centro de la Cerámica Triana, a museum about the craft. We headed back across the river before passing the largest most important arena for bull fighting in Spain – Plaza De Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla – thankfully no bull fighting was taking place whilst we were there! Another Tapas lunch and some further shopping for Seville Marmalade and Turron (nougat) and we then headed back to the hotel. We`d kindly been given a later check out room so we could enjoy the day in Seville, before we returned to the airport for our evening flight back to Manchester. Seville Airport is easily manageable however at the time of our visit some construction work was taking place. We felt COVID procedures at the airport and hotel were handled extremely well. Overall a fantastic weekend that we would certainly repeat!