The day dawned beautifully with blue skies and wispy clouds. The rain was gone for this one day. We needed to take advantage of it.

John and I really, really wanted to tour the Real Alcázar of Seville. The Real Alcazar is one of the main symbols of the city of Seville for multiple reasons. It is the oldest active royal palace in all of Europe and the gardens are also the oldest gardens in the city. It may be best known to Americans as the place where Game of Thrones was filmed – the 5th and 7th seasons. Its gardens, courtyards and oldest rooms were used to create the kingdom of Dorne.

All of that said, we waited too long to try to buy tickets online 🙁 This is one of the downfalls of not planning too much when I travel. I always assume there will be availability for sites like this. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The website did mention that there would be some in person ticket sales so John and I set off early in the morning to see if we’d be two of the lucky few.

We got a little turned around! And that is an understatement. We walked in a few (big) circles until we finally found our way and by then tickets were sold out. The silver lining is that our walk enabled us to see more of the city, particularly points within Santa Cruz, a former Jewish quarter and now a must-see neighborhood in Seville. More to come on Santa Cruz…and I think we’ll try again for in-person tickets. The Real Alcazar is a must-do here and I’d really like to see it.

John had scheduled a tour for us in the neighborhood of Triana. On the way there we stopped for a much-needed(!) pastry in Panypiu. This is a place that we’d been passing for two days now and it looked scrumptious. John wisely chose Napolitana de Almendras, which is a chocolate or custard filling wrapped in a puff pastry made with the 
same dough as croissants. It was flaky and messy and delicious!

Triana is a charming neighborhood across the Canal de Alfonso XIII (one of the arms of the River Guadalquivir) from Seville. Seeing Triana is also a must-do as it’s radically different from Seville and has it’s own unique and storied history. THIS neighborhood is where flamenco originated.

The Puenta de Triana (Triana bridge) is one of the bridges that connects Seville to Triana. I’d read that this bridge was not only gorgeous but also afforded amazing views of Seville and Triana. It is not that old – the bridge was built in the 19th century. Prior to that – since the 11th century – Seville and Triana were connected by a “boat bridge”, which was a series of boats connected by chains with planks on top for walking.

The first thing you see upon crossing the bridge is the Castillo de San Jorge, a medieval fortress built on the bank of the river. It was used as the headquarters and as a prison during the Spanish Inquisition. The Castle was torn down in 1823 and now a museum sits in it’s place along with Triana’s famous Mercado de Triana. More to come on that…

Our tour started in Plaza del Altozano, just across the street from the Castillo de San Jorge. It is a large square just across the bridge and serves as an entry point into the neighborhood.

This was another free tour and, I thought, a bit better than yesterday’s. Alba was the tour guide. She provided facts and anecdotes on historical events and walked us through a small portion of the neighborhood, hitting some of the highlights that tourists should see.

We strolled down Betis Street, a touristy, yet picturesque riverfront street boasting many tapas bars and restaurants and also providing amazing views across the river to Seville.

We stopped in the ostentatious La Esperanza de Triana, whose incredible main attraction is the Virgin de la Esperanza de Triana, Our Lady of Hope Triana. She sits on an alter entirely surrounded by gold and wears a gold crown and fabulous robes. This church is a big part of the Semana Santa, or Holy Week, in Seville.

We continued to walk and see the lovely architecture and additional churches. We saw – and heard – flamenco dancers training with castanets, the wooden instruments they hold in their hands which contribute to the incredible sounds and rhythms of the dance.

The tour ended at the infamous Callejon de la Inquisicion, Inquisition Alley, a 35-meter alley where those arrested and executed took their last steps.

We were on our own again and simply had to peruse the Mercado de Triana, a famous food market in the neighborhood. They had stalls of all types of fresh foods – meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, breads, fish of all kinds. In addition, there were a few tapas bars and plenty of places to get a beer or glass of wine.

I’d read about La Casa Fundida on a blog post during my research for the trip. The small restaurant happened to be right in the market. I cannot say it was welcoming to tourists as everything was in Spanish but I hoped that was going to be a positive things.

In my opinion, this was the BEST meal we’ve had. As I said, nothing was in English and the waitress didn’t speak English so we guessed a bit on what we were ordering. John got the Menu del Dia, the menu of the day, which included an appetizer, 2 courses, a dessert and bread. He wasn’t positive what courses he ordered. He ended up with Tortilla Espanola, which is similar to quiche made with egg and potato. His first course was Lentejas which is cooked lentils. His second course was veal and french fries (I don’t know the Spanish name) and his final course was a vanilla pudding with a cookie smack dab in the middle of it. ALL WERE DELICOUS!

I also got Lentejas and, my favorite, Chorizo ​​al Infierno, which translates to chorizo on fire. And that’s exactly what it was. The waitress brought out 4 pieces of chorizo on a skewer suspended above a bowl. In Spanish, she told me to keep moving the meat for 3-4 minutes and then douse the flame. Then she lit the bowl beneath the meat and left! First, fire is cool. Second, this chorizo was the best I’ve ever had. It was so delicious. Best meal in Seville…..so far!

After our amazing meal, we headed back into the heart of Triana to look at some artwork I’d seen in a window during the tour. The artist’s name is Norberto Leon Rios, from Columbia, whose son was in the workshop selling his wares. His name was Cesar (like the salad, he said) and we were able to chat both in Spanish and in English (John is so much better than I am). It was a lovely time and we purchased 2 lovely watercolors. There’s nothing like remembering your vacation when you see art on your walls.

Then, we wandered along the river and headed back to Seville on the other bridge that connects the two. We were headed to Plaza de Espana, another major landmark in Seville.

Plaza de Espana had been talked about by both of our tour guides as a must-see. I agree wholeheartedly. It is phenominal. It was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. The architecture is fascinating and a bit overwhelming. It is a mix of Art Deco, Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival (Neo-Mudejar). It was designed by a local architect to showcase Spain’s industry and technology exhibits at the World Fair.

The complex is a massive half circle and there is a moat surrounding the building, in which you can rent a rowboat and tool around enjoying the incredible architecture. The plaza is surrounded by Marie Luisa Park – a lush, gorgeous park with fountains, pavilions, walls, ponds, benches and more.

It is worth noting the tiled alcoves around the plaza. Each one represents a different province of Spain. Beautiful and fascinating. Also, there are four bridges that connect the building to the square in front of it. They are decorated in deep blue, white and yellow ceramic tile and represent the 4 ancient Kingdoms of Spain: Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal.

This was an incredible place to walk around, check out the plaza and all of the interesting tiles, as well as have a rest on one of the tile benches and people watch. As we were walking to the center of the plaza, we happened upon a Flamenco show. There were 4 dancers (one of which was over 75) and a Flamenco guitarist. They were very fun to watch!

After a brief rest at our apartment, we were back out to explore. The weather was simply beautiful and we had to take advantage of that.

One of the things I love to do in a foreign city is see it at sunset from above. Today, John found our chosen rooftop – La Terraza at the Hotel Inglaterra. The bar is located on the 7th floor of the hotel – 4 floors above where we were last night. Because of this, the views were even more stunning than last night.

The entire cathedral was viewable as well as the bullfighting ring, the Real Alcazar and many other buildings we didn’t know. It was lovely up there and I had “dos copa de vino blancos” while John tried a non-acholic drink.

These are the nights I live for! In an incredible foreign city, seeing a stunning view, being with the man I love, and having deep meaningful conversations (DMC as Lauren would say). It was priceless.

Quite hungry, but not starving enough to settle for any old tapas bar, we walked back to Santa Cruz where we managed to snag a table at El Librero Tapas Y Queso (literally translated to the Tapas and Cheese Bookseller). They are known for their cheese and paella.

The menu wasn’t in English but we made do. We ordered a 4-cheese board, Morcon chorizo (again) and Chicharon de Cadiz which is pork belly served with lemon juice and Cumin. Of course the cheese and chorizo was to-die-for but I wasn’t a huge fan of the Chicharon.

This was definitely a locals joint as, during dinner, a family came in and started decorating the tiny restaurant for a 29th surprise birthday party. It was pretty cute!

If you’re still reading, I’m very tired (10.3 miles walked) so many apologies for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Also, “mi español es malo” (my Spanish is bad)!