Sevilla: Día 3 - The finale

Breakfast and the Metropol Parasol:

On the third day of our trip, we had fairly limited time (our bus to Madrid left at 2pm), so we made sure to tick as many things off of our 'to-do' list as possible. Personally, I was dying to visit the top of the 'Metropol Parasol' - that funny wooden structure I posted a picture of on day 1 - where you are supposed to get great, 360 views of the city. So, after a lovely breakfast opposite la Catedral de Sevilla, we went on our merry way to what the locals call 'Las Cetas', or the mushrooms to you and me. If I'm not mistaken, the ticket to get to the top of the Metropol Parasol was 3€, but that also provided you with a free drink voucher, which we wasted no time redeeming! The views were absolutely stunning, and the blue skies over Sevilla made the experience just that bit more amazing. The Metropol Parasol is a bit of a controversial topic in Sevilla (as you can see, it sticks out a bit like a sore thumb) but I personally think it's a lovely contrast to the gorgeous architecture to the city. Plus, it attracts tourists and provides on of the best views in Sevilla (Grace says she prefers the view from La Giralda, but then you can't see La Giralda so it's a bit of a toss up!) Like I said, the 360 views are spectacular, you can see La Giralda, El Alcázar, and many of the wondrous winding streets down below. Well worth a visit in my opinion. 

Some sort of procession that we bumped into on the way to breakfast.

The trip home:

Before long, 2pm had rolled around and it was time for Catherine and I to jump on the bus that would take us back to Madrid. I was a bit uncertain to say the least, as the journey was going to take just over 6 hours, but to be honest, it went by pretty quickly. The bus was really comfy - a fair amount of legroom, free (if not slightly rubbish) wifi, and decent toilets on board made the journey much more pleasant than I was expecting. After 2 hours we stopped in the middle of nowhere where we had 15 minutes to stretch our legs, take in a bit of sun and grab a bite to eat from the cafe/canteen whilst they swapped drivers. Unfortunately, once we were moving again, I discovered that I had managed to buy perhaps the soggiest sandwich known to man (seriously, I couldn't even pick it up without it breaking), but luckily we had thought ahead and packed some extra snacks. After a few hours of napping, gazing at some incredible scenery out of the window, and watching the entire Top Gear Burma Special, the end was in sight, and just after 8pm, we we off the bus and headed home on the metro. 

All in all, our trip down to the incredible city of Sevilla was one of the best experiences of my life - the city was amazing, the weather gorgeous, and I got to spend a few days catching up with my favourite girls over countless glasses of Tinto de Verano. If you plan on visiting Spain anytime soon, I simply can't recommend Seville enough. Hopefully you have seen from my photos what an incredible place it is, and if I have the chance to go back one day, I'll be jumping on that opportunity!

Thanks to the lovely Grace for being a great tour guide - if not a bit shaky at first ;) and if you want to see more about life in Sevilla, you can check out her YA blog to see what she's been getting up to! 

I'm a bit bogged down with uni work at the moment, so nothing really exciting has happened since that trip, but if anything does, I'll be sure to update you all!

Until next time,

Isobel x

Sevilla: Día 2

Apologies that it's been a while between posts, but I've had so much work! Day 2 was a busy one so there's a lot to write and a billion pictures to whittle down, but day three should be a lot quicker to write! Anyway, here's a look at our second day in the beautiful city of Sevilla.

The Alcázar:

The Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in which was originally a Moorish fort. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, and it's absolutely stunning, a must-see if you get the chance to visit Seville. You go in through these magnificent arches, through the royal rooms and then out into the gardens. I'm not going to talk much about it, as the pictures really do the talking for me, but the islamic style architecture is stunning and the colours are amazing, especially with the bright blue skies up above.

La Plaza de España:

Next we popped over to La Plaza de España, one of the places that was on the top of my list to visit since seeing it in one of Grace's blog posts. It was  built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. I think this was actually my favourite place that we visited - the architecture is amazing and the whole space is just stunning. As you can see, it's a semi-circle shape with a canal of water parallel to the buildings. You can actually rent the paddle boats and have a quick float around too if you so desire. I've included a few panoramic photos at the end, so hopefully you can get a better idea of it - however these do make it look a bit flat - I can assure you that it is a semi-circle shape! Again, if you want to see a bigger version of the picture, just click on it!

Evening Drinks, Ice Cream and Flamenco:

After wandering around the entirety of La Plaza de España, and strolling back to our hostel via el Parque de Maria Luisa, we got changed and ready to head out for the evening. Like I said in the last post, we had tickets to see a flamenco show, but before we got there, we just had to sample some of the ice cream that we had spotted earlier whilst wandering (it was amazzzingg!) After that, we had an obligatory glass of Tinto de Verano, and then headed to the Casa de la Memoria, where the flamenco show was going to take place. 

The venue itself was lovely - Grace had told us that it was small, but I wasn't quite expecting it to only have 3 or 4 rows! It was an intimate performance, and trust me, until you go to a flamenco show, you won't believe just how much noise 4 people can make! I actually managed to sneakily film a tiny bit, but I'm not sure how it turned out, so if it's any good I'll post it later. I was a bit unsure about the singing at first, but when it was combined with the unreal skills of the guitarist and the dancers, it was an amazing experience. You honestly couldn't believe how powerful the dancers were. Their shoes are somewhat like tap shoes - with the metal on the bottom - so each step was insane. The show was about an hour long, and I don't know how they did it, because each stomp was like 110% power. Okay, I'm not making sense, but if you ever get the change to see authentic Flamenco, then you'll see what I mean. 

After the show we headed for some tapas, and then back on to the hostel for a well deserved rest before our last day in Seville. 

Like I said, this was a monster of a post to upload/write, so that's why it took so long to get up (well that plus pure laziness on my part), but day three wasn't as exciting as we were back on the bus to Madrid by 2pm. Hopefully I'll get the next post up ASAP!

Until next time,

Isobel x