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Monday, February 6, 2017

Wow...impressed with Seville, Spain!

We packed up and left the campground yesterday morning just before 10:00am. It had rained a little bit overnight, but the skies were clearing and it was looking to be a nice day. Got the holding tanks emptied, and the fresh water tank filled, and we were on our way.

Heading for the city of Seville. I have to admit, I had done very little research on Seville. Most people have obviously heard of both Barcelona and Madrid, and of course we knew of Seville, but I think it flies under the radar compared to the other two. We are impressed with Seville!

When we took off, the entrance road was a little soggy. The picture actually looks worse than it was, and we had no problems getting out.

Leaving the campground. Yikes! But, it was no problem.

Oranges? €2 for 5 kilos.

Almost reminds us of Saskatchewan.

Scenery along the way.

Big bridge entering Seville.

Yesterday's drive, 112 kms (70 miles).

We had made arrangements to meet friends Glen and Steve at a carpark right near the central area that allows 24 hour motorhome parking for €10 ($14.50 CAD, $11 USD) per night. We arrived there just before noon, and Glen and Steve were already parked up and out exploring. They've been here before, so had seen the major sights but there's so much to see here that it's easy to find something new.

We found an out of the way spot for Louis, had some lunch, and set out ourselves.

Louis, parked up at GPS 37.372361, -5.99447

We had no plan, and just figured we would wander about. There are a few major, popular attractions here. The Plaza de España, the Cathedral, and the Alacazar (royal palace) are probably the top three. We'll save the Cathedral for when we stop back in Seville with Helen and Tony in a couple of weeks time. And we'll go to the Alcazar today because we have a couple of photo spots to find from my dad's pictures.

We found ourselves very close to the Plaza, so we went there first.

Crossing the river to the old town Seville.

Lots of people out on a beautiful Sunday.

The Plaza de España is a gorgeous semi circular structure built for a fair in 1928. It's an amazing building, and we found the whole plaza absolutely beautiful. Just to people watch and admire the area itself. Simply fantastic.

These busker were demonstrating flamenco dance.

In fact, here's a short video for you...


Rent a rowboat?

Wow...fantastic building.

Lots of tile work on all the bridges, and a lot of the building too.

Ruth, at the Plaza de España.

There was some kind of photo shoot going on with these two girls.


Wow.

The entire semi circle has a series of these tiled displays for the major towns and cities in Spain.

We could easily spend more time there just watching the things going on. We'll have to go back again. But, we had to continue our basic exploring...

Scenery along the way.

Palacio de San Telmo, completed in 1754.

Check out the detail on the entrance way.

Seville's only skyscraper.

That modern building is just being finished. Lots of controversy around it because UNESCO threatened to remove Seville's standing from  the list because they thought this was such a blight on Seville's "skyline". It's pretty far from the central area though, so I don't really see the issue. Needless to say, Seville still has the UNESCO listed sites they had before.

Somewhere in Seville.

Watching the world go by.

That was the view from where we sat down in a plaza. We rested for about 45 minutes and just watched the world go by. If you click the photo to make it full size, you'll see a guy with a pink shirt sitting on the bench to the right of center. We noticed with his head down that he was having a snooze. But after a while, we weren't so sure. He never moved at all the entire time we were there. People came and went from his bench, a helicopter passed by overhead...nothing woke him up. We started to think maybe there was a dead guy on the bench. He still hadn't moved when we left. Maybe he's still there.

More Seville.

The Cathedral.

More Seville.

The tower at the Cathedral.

Quite a lack of public toilets around though. So we've learned that if you go into any of the larger hotels they almost always have toilets available. We've also learned that if you're going to use a hotel toilet, you might as find a five star hotel!

Inside the Hotel Alfonso XIII. 

It only costs around €300 to stay here. Or, we saw the sign for the Valentine's Day brunch at €68 per person. But, you can use the fancy bathrooms for free. :-)

That's enough wandering around. Back to Louis for a cold beer and a glass of wine. Glen and Steve showed up after their wanderings and they came and shared a meal of pasta and ground beef that Ruth had made. Then, a few games of cards and called it a night.

Glen and Steve are heading off again, while we're staying put here in Seville. We really like it, so we'll probably stay three nights. Plus, we've got our American friends Bonnie and Dave coming to Seville to meet us this afternoon. Coincidentally, they were planning on coming to the same parking area with their motorohome, so it works well for us all.

We've made plans to meet up with Glen and Steve again on Thursday in Portugal.

We've got a stretch of really nice weather happening...20C (68F) and sunshine. 

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50 comments:

  1. Seville looks beautiful. Love the tile work on the bridge at Plaza de Espana,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have been very impressed with Seville. Gorgeous architecture, lots of history and the city is very walkable.

      I loved that tile work as well!

      Delete
  2. Such a beautiful city...you two are really seeing a country as it should be seen rather than from a tour group.

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    1. This is exactly how we like to travel and explore! We are able to see what we like and spend the time enjoying it at your own pace and not rushed one one stop to the next.

      Delete
  3. Great price on the oranges, but Seville oranges (if that is the type for sale) are known to be good for marmalade making as they are bitter x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure what type of oranges they were. We know the ones that you see on the trees throughout the cities and towns are bitter ones, they are there basically there just for show. We will make sure not to buy any oranges if they are called Seville oranges!

      Delete
  4. The rowboat rentals look fun! Love that you stumbled across a photo shoot.

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    1. At first we didn't think the rowboats had much space to row in until we saw that the little canal went from one tower all the way by the front of the building to the other tower.

      We have stumbled upon photo shots before in other countries, it is always interesting to watch.

      Delete
  5. What an interesting city, love the architecture .

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    1. Very interesting! So much to see here and yes, we love the architecture as well.

      Delete
  6. Gorgeous! Your photos are awesome. Seville has so much beauty. The Plaza is beautiful. The architecture is so cool. I love the river running around the plaza. I think another day of sightseeing in this area is definitely in order.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Paul and Marsha! :-)

      Seville is amazing! We will head back to the park were the plaza is and see more of the park that we didn't see the other day so we are looking forward to seeing a few more hidden gems. We will have 3 days altogether here and then we will return again in a couple of weeks for another couple of days. Definitely lots to see. :-)

      Delete
  7. The only thing I know about Seville are the Seville oranges!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's funny because until yours and Helen's comment about the oranges, we had never heard of them!

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. Perfect is right! We couldn't ask for better. :-)

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  9. I think it is amazing that this lifestyle allows us to meet up with different friends all over the world in our day to day travels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, it's a wonderful lifestyle. We met up with more friends yesterday and hoping to meet up with another couple we know shortly if our will paths cross.

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  10. These photos give me the wanderlust!

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    Replies
    1. So glad you are enjoying them. Hopefully they will give you enough wanderlust that you will be booking a trip over here to see the sights yourself. :-)

      Delete
  11. Simply lovely. Nice to see Ruth without a jacket.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Contessa! It was nice not to have to wear a jacket. :-)

      Delete
  12. A beautiful city and blue skies. Pure perfection!

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  13. Love the attention to detail and colors in this beautiful city. The intricacy of the architecture designs are amazing. If the guy didn't wake up he sure chose a lovely spot to exit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The architecture is amazing and lots of detail for sure. Wait until you see some of our photos from our touring around yesterday.

      We walked by there yesterday and he wasn't there! I am sure he was just having a wonderful nap in the warm sunshine.

      Delete
  14. Have you been to the Bull Ring? Very interesting tour, great place Seville.

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    1. We went and saw the bullring yesterday afternoon so the pictures and story will be up on today's post once Kevin sorts through all our pictures. ;-)

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  15. Seville looks fantastic almost a bit like Venice with the river in the courtyard and boats. Amazing scenery! Glad you have lots of friends you can meet with and enjoy evenings of food and drinks. Glad the weather is nice for you as well. Enjoy your adventures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think that one little canal would match up to all the canals in Venice, which by the way we are hoping to see next month.

      We are having a fabulous time here and enjoying just about everything there is here. Seville is a perfect sized city to explore.

      Delete
    2. It actually reminded me more of the hotels in Las Vegas that has made itself look like Venice!

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  16. Wow, stunning! And I love the rowboats. Looking forward to more of your Seville photos. Your journey makes me want to RV in Spain, but I'll just have to settle for a trip to Barcelona in June 2018 for now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We loved Barcelona but we loving Seville even more. You are going to enjoy your trip to Barcelona. After you have been there I am sure you will come back home and will start planning a trip over here to see even more of the country. There are way too many places to explore here.

      Delete
  17. I hope you guys are getting the opportunity to meet Spanish rvers. It would be great to get their take on rving in Europe.

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    1. Actually we haven't really made the effort too. We are so busy wandering around during the day that we literally come back and just crash for the evening. We have met others that have traveled through Europe though like our friends Glen and Steve as well as Dave and Bonnie. We will try to take the time to meet some others though.

      Delete
  18. We are as impressed as well - simply stunning!!!!!

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  19. We loved Seville as well and could easily spend another 2 full weeks exploring it. Love the pics with Ruth!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, there is definitely some special about the city. If I had to live in a city this would be a wonderful choice.

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  20. Replies
    1. You are welcome and we will have more great photos in today's post!

      Delete
  21. Wow, Seville is gorgeous! I don't like that new, modern (and very phallic looking) skyscraper, though. I can see why it was protested, as it looks totally out of place. LOVE all the other architecture, though. I hope that guy was just sleeping. Eeek!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is very gorgeous! We really didn't find the new building took away from Seville, seeing it is on the other side of the river from the main central part of the city so you really don't see it until you get close to the river.

      We hope he was just sleeping too!

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  22. We took a tour when there and we were told those tiles are one for each of the 48 provinces.

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    Replies
    1. You are probably correct, we just said cities because they also match the names of cities. They were beautiful no matter if they were for provinces or for cities. :-)

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  23. Wow, we are heading here in 2 days time and you have now completely whetted our appetite - can't wait

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sure you will love Seville! I think it is one of our favourite cities in Europe.

      Delete

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