We started the day in Segovia with a pretty walk to the bus stop. The moon was framed in the aqueduct while we waited for our bus.
From there we took a train to Madrid, and then a high speed train to Sevilla. After a hot walk from the train station, we were glad to finally arrive at our place.
Our rented house was gorgeous! It was located on a tiny alley and only accessible by foot.
We went out for tapas at a nearby restaurant. Tapas works well for our family, as we can get a big assortment of things and try a bit of everything. We were still struggling with jet lag and went to bed soon after dinner, although dinner doesn’t start here until 8 pm or so.
The street signs were even pretty! There was tile work everywhere.
The next morning, we had a walking tour booked through Magic of Seville. Our guide Emilio met us at our front door and we set off into the town.
Emilio was fantastic, and told us so many interesting things about the history of Seville. It was founded by the Phoenicians, then taken over by the Romans, then again by the Muslims, and finally by the Christians. He pointed out the small bricks indication North African Muslim construction, and the larger Gothic/Christian construction.
This area of Spain has a unique building style called Mudéjar. It’s a mix of renaissance, Baroque, and North African Muslim styles. It was primarily created by Muslims who agreed to stay and live under Christian rule.
We walked around the old center of town and through some beautiful courtyards. There are a ton of orange trees growing here, but they’re bitter oranges that are used for making marmalade, rather than for eating.
We walked around the cathedral and the palace, but we didn’t go inside. The kids have limited patience for historical sights, so we chose the Alcazar.
We went to the top of a building for a view, and were within touching distance of some of the crenellations at the top of the wall around the Alcazar.
We went inside the Real Alcazar with Emilio. He had a lot of interesting stories to go with the things we were seeing.
We saw a few locations where they filmed Game of Thrones, including the parts set in Dorne.
The gardens were gorgeous and extensive. There were a lot of peacocks, and Willow was incredibly excited to be able to pet a duckling.
We went back to our house for a siesta during the hot part of the day, then we took a bus to the Triana neighborhood. It’s a kind of bohemian area across the river from the rest of Seville.
We saw a flamenco show at Bakara. It was such an intimate venue that we were sitting right by the performers. We could feel the air from the dancers skirt when she spun. It was clear that the everyone involved was passionate about their art, from the guitarist to the singer to the pair of dancers. Watching them improvise together was incredible. They welcomed photography during the last couple of minutes of the show.
We asked the hostess at the tablao for a dinner recommendation, and the place was full of locals and delicious.
We walked back across the river feeling full in more ways than one.
