We’ve looked for any spontaneous adventure since we got here, so why not explore a city by ourselves? Sevilla it is! People had either told us that it’s the most beautiful city to visit in Spain or we should stay away from the heat stroke attack. As our art history professor put it, your shoes will stick to the ground each step you take! We were up for the challenge of 104 degree Fahrenheit weather (El Paso and Atlanta prepared us well) and recruited two other friends from our group, Anna and Jordan, to join us. Our motto for the day, “We will see everything in eight hours. Go!”
Our train left Cádiz at 9am and we arrived in Sevilla at 11am ready to experience all of it! The trains are such a comfortable way to travel, and I wish we had a comparison to this efficient transportation in the United States! Since we didn’t have a tour guide for the day, luckily we’d learned important information about each feature in Sevilla from art history class and Lina’s guidebook. First stop, Starbucks coffee. Oh how we’ve missed overpriced American coffee! Energized and ready to go, we found the Cathedral. This gothic building is the largest and highest Cathedral in Europe! On the inside, the baroque embellishment plasters every wall, but also decorates the memorizing Main Chapel, which also holds the largest altarpiece in Christendom. Besides the pure awe of the Courtyard of Orange trees, Christopher Columbus’ tomb, and royal treasures, we hiked 35 ramps up the Giralda. This tower remains from the Muslim mosque that once stood in the same location, but it provides a panoramic view of Sevilla from the bell tower. Sorry for the overload of art history, but the surplus of scenery pictures began here. (Disclaimer: Fodor’s Spain 2011 provided most of these facts)
2 hours spent at the Cathedral, 6 left to explore! We both absolutely loved the Alcázar and agreed that it’s the most magnificent building we’ve seen so far! Apparently the Alcázar is a Christian Mudejar palace that was built to copy the Alhambra in Granada but on a smaller scale. The patios, tile work, and gardens were overwhelming. Each room of the Palace of Carlos V seemed to outdo the one before, but the gardens were the most breathtaking. The Alcázar blew us away, so our expectations are definitely high for the Alhambra when we travel to Granada this weekend!
After knocking out our two main attractions, we walked the entire city to Plaza España (there’s one in every city) and wished we were the people relaxing in Parque María Luisa right beside it. I wish we had a pedometer on us at this point, but just our luck we’d have to walk all the way back (45mins total) to find food in el Centro, the plaza with the Cathedral and the Alcázar. Finally, we had paella for the first time, and it tasted so much better as tired as we were! Then, we ventured through Calles Sierpes, the main shopping location, but soon realized everyone takes siesta time seriously in this hot city! Basically the only ones walking through the streets, we passed 20+ churches, Pontius Pilots’ house, and finally a palace before we realized we were near the train station! Our pace definitely slowed down after lunch, but we finished all we could in a day!
With over 400 pictures combined (mostly of the scenery, Alcázar tiles, and churches), satisfied stomachs full of paella, and legs begging never to be used again, we made it back to Cádiz by 10pm!
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