Sevilla - the continued exploration

With a bit of history covered on our first day and yet more to come today we decided to take a break and make our way to the Metropol Parasol, a modern structure completed only as recently as 2011. Literally 3 mins walk in another direction from our perfectly located place near Plaza del Salvador, we turn to see this big wooden structure which initially looks like a few mushrooms joined together to provide a lot of much needed shade. It is large and looks like a flying waffle as described by others but definitely gives Sevilla a face lift taking into a new era.

We then went underneath to take a look at the markets that have been around in Plaza de la Encarnation for years. You get everything fresh food related; fruits, veggies, cheese, meats, meats and more meats with artist like hands cutting the extremely thin and popular slices of iberico ham for you. 

A coffee surge at one of the most local spots and we walked further inland to explore the Feria markets which are quite small but yet again very local before making our way to the Alcazar. 

The Alcazar of Sevilla doesn't look like much from the outside except for some old stone castle type walls surrounding it but wait till you get inside and see what it's 11 centuries of existence have in store for your eyes. Again I would highly recommend taking the audio guide for this. There are so many rooms and it is so vast that you would get lost and most definitely miss some small gorgeous spots. Keep a good 2-2.5 hours for this as well. 

I won't go into too much detail but there are some notable rooms and areas that must be explored: Hall of Ambassadors, Hall of the Half Orange, Patio of the Dolls, Prince's room, King's Quarters, Patio of the Maidens and many more around the Palacio de Don Pedro. The gardens were one of my favourite as well and so well landscaped with peacocks and other birds around and we almost missed the summer cooling bath area which besides having beautiful reflections was a much needed break from the sun in the gardens. 

Lunch and then an afternoon just spent relaxing was perfect to soak in the atmosphere of Sevilla. Having eaten so so much for the first time ever I think my belly just refused to eat another meal and so willingly we all skipped dinner and well just had some drinks, the best kind of dinner ;) At plaza de la Encarnation there is a place you get €5 buckets of beer and was perfect for our needs ready to prepare for the rest of our days in Andalusia. 

The next day we got our car but I'll write about those towns in another post as Sevilla was our base to explore the southern coastal cities of Andalusia. So i'll complete this with our last half day spent in Sevilla where we were about to miss one of the most gorgeous and spectacular plazas I've seen in Europe so far - Plaza de Espana! 

A grandiose semi circular brick and tile confection with a beautiful fountain in it's centre. We made our way to this early on a Sunday morning. As much a cities in Spain are alive and bustling in the evenings that's how quite and peaceful they are in the mornings. The city is tranquil at 9.30 on a Sunday morning and has a very different feel with the history of the place catching you off guard at the smallest turns, architecture taking you back into different eras. We walked through the Parque de Maria Lusia to reach the plaza and knew we were near it before we set eyes on it by the sound of the water and some calming middle-eastern European music. Even though it's a bit off track from the rest of the sites in Sevilla, if time permits I would suggest it's worth a visit. 

Our last stop before leaving this fun loving and friendly city was some local Churros. Even though it's a Spanish meal you really don't find enough places that have it on the menu and do it well. Our host in Madrid recommended Plaza de Alfalfa and she was so right. We found this small hidden away cafe run by a middle aged friendly couple. The churros were delicious, soaked in oil and most definitely not healthy but delicious. And so we were satisfied and ready to hit the road driving through Andalusia to Cordoba.