Stately Sevilla

Sevilla (Seville) is the capital of Andalusia, replete with gorgeous government buildings, palaces, cathedrals and museums. We stayed close enough to the old city to walk almost everywhere.

One day, Paul took me on a walking tour of Seville that he designed, First we went to visit the aqueducts, not very much left, but existing in the middle of the bustling city. Next we went to the Plaza de Espana where we planned on lunch. The Plaza is gorgeous, Renaissance era buildings house Spanish government offices. Beautiful fountains grace the center of the Plaza, but, astonishing to us, no restaurants. So we forged ahead through the lush Jardin de Maria Luisa, to a local lunch stand at the edge of the park. As we walked, we passed churches galore, sometimes two churches in the same plaza. It turns out, my husband is a great guide.

One of the delights of Seville, the Museo de Bellas Artes, flourishes in a beautiful old hospital building. The collection focuses on Spanish masters, but I felt the joy of the collection was as much in the building as the art.

In Seville, we ate some great food! At La Azotea, we dined on the rice of the day with pork cheeks and mushrooms.  We enjoyed the deliciousness twice at Al Aljibe in the Alameda de Hercules. Sharing a dining room with an English and an Australian couple, we dined on a beautiful salad and gazpacho in a bottle.

A day trip to Jerez was a great success. We planned an early train and arrived at the Lustau winery at 10:00. I was confused by the info on the internet and our appointment was for 1:00. We enjoyed the time at the castle in Jerez, grabbed a quick sandwich on the plaza, and returned for the great tour and tasting at 1:00. Later, we strolled through town, had a sherry at one of the sherry bars, and headed back to Sevilla.

Seville was our last stop in Spain. Then we flew to Lisbon for our three week tour of Portugal. Hasta luego!