Andalucia is the part of Spain I remember the most from my trip here in Grad school. Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, and Cadiz are on the itinerary this trip, but staying in Sevilla and visiting the other places as day trips.
We really like to savor a place and have lots of time to wander and check out the local markets and shops. So that is what we are doing. Here are the highlights of our trip.
Friday night arrival
Smooth flight, changing planes in Barcelona. Ride from the airport was uneventful and our driver was fluent in English. He pointed out many things on the way. We are staying at a hotel in the center of old Sevilla; the Fontecruz Hotel, just 50 meters from the plaza in front of the cathedral. We walked the last little bit to the hotel as the lanes are so narrow it is almost impossible to drive it.
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| Cathedral at night |
The hotel is upscale and very modern on the inside. Our room has a terrific view of the little narrow streets of Sevilla. We wander for a bit, get a glass of wine and dinner, and we are ready for bed.
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| Ceiling of the hotel |
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| Johnnie outside hotel |
Saturday
Today we wandered on our own, exploring the streets around the hotel and the cathedral area of Santa Cruz. This area is very much for the tourists so in one sense it was good there were lots of people that speak English, on the other hand prices were kind of high and the merchanidse was very touristy -- not the the quality we were looking for.
The sweet smell of oranges is everywhere in Sevilla. There are beautiful, luscious looking orange trees lining every street. We discovered one small plaza where the oranges were being harvested.
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| Beautiful oranges everywhere |
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| Harvest from a few trees |
As it turns out, these are ornamental oranges, raised for their nice shape and color. The fruit is bitter and is only good for making marmalade or cointreau (is what we are told).
Sunday
Change hotel rooms, no hot water.
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| The new room |
Walking tour of Sevilla with a guide. Due to the Procession, the
cathedral tour was cancelled. So we toured the Alcazar, Plaza de
Americas, and Plaza de Espana. As it turned out, the Procession was
cancelled because of the forecast of rain, but it really only sprinkled.
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| Tomb of Christopher Columbus inside the Cathedral |
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| Tile floor with a 3D appearance |
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| Face of the Cathdral in Sevilla |
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| Room where cardinals and pope meets; floor is actually flat but floor is designed to looks like the globe |
Monday
The Setas (large wooden structures in the shape of a mushroom), the market and a Tapas tour.
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| The Setas - Mushrooms, a wooden monument in central Sevilla |
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| From the top of the Setas |
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| Rabbits at the market, bottom of the Setas |
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| Rabbits in the market |
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| Variety of vegetables in the market |
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| Huge strawberries at the market |
Tuesday
Plaza de Americas, the Archaelogical museum and the Pabellon Mudejar museum of clothing and domestic items.
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| Archaeological museum of Sevilla |
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| Imagine this garden in Spring, between the museums in Plaza de Americas |
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| Plabellon Mudejar - museum of domestic arts |
The Plaza de Espana was built for the
It has an amazing display of ceramic tiles that tell the story of the different regions and history of Spain.
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| Certamic tiles cover the rails, the posts and bridges |
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| Plaza de Espana |
Wednesday
Granada tour.
Alhambra and Generalife
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| View of the Alhambra, walled city, from the summer palace Generalife |
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| Garden in the Generalife |
Thursday
Jerez and Cadiz
Wine tasting at the Sandeman wineries, Jerez de la Frontera
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| Sandeman Sherry is known for the symbol of the cape and hat |
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| Miniature of the process of moving barrels (before cranes) |
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| Barrels at the bottom are the most mature |
Horse show
The Andalusian horses are amazing. We visited the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art and Jerez de la Frontera. Students attend this school for four years to learn to work with the horses. Both horses and riders train here. The school has produced many Olympic champions and top notch performers over the years. The performance we saw included several very experienced riders and horses that had more than one Olympic competition to their name.
http://cadizandbeyond.com/JerezTours/RoyalHorseShow/tabid/133/Default.aspx
Tour of Cadiz, the cathedral, port, lunch at El Faro
Friday
Another relaxing day wandering the streets of Sevilla
Saturday
Cordoba
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| Moorish part of the Alcazar - amazing symmetry in the arches |
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| Leisurely lunch with our guide after a long day of walking |
Sunday
Up early for a 7:30am flight. Our last leg from Barcelona to Napoli was on Via Air which appeared to belong to a Russian airline as the signs were all in Russian and English. There was Vueling staff on board as well as Via Air staff, and based on the incredibly rough landing in Napoli, we decided the pilot was definitely Russian and trained in the bush of Siberia. After our return, we got an email from Vueling saying they apologized for the inconvenience of having to place us in "an alien aircraft" and we got a 10 euro discount on our next flight. We laughed about flying in an alien aircraft -- which indeed, it was!
What a great vacation and a wonderful place! We will be back!
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