Seville Spain

Sunday, May 2, 2010 – Cadiz Spain for our private Ensemble tour to Seville
Beautiful sunny day – 80 degrees!

We met our guide at the port in Cadiz, Juan Antonio, at 8:45 and there were 26 of us headed to Seville (about 1+ hour away) - - along with an entire highway of motorcycle riders! There was a race today, similar to ours at Dover Downs, and the roads were full of motorcycles. We passed Jerez, where Spanish sherry is made. Saw fields of sunflowers, vegetables and wind mill farms and drove by some quaint towns with white picturesque churches perched high above the town.

In an hour+, we were in Seville and had a nice panoramic tour of Maria Luisa park, Palace of San Telmo, the old government buildings….we met another guide, Joachin, at the bullfight arena Maestranza built between 1760 and 1763 for a tour and visit to the chapel and museum. Then a walk through the old city streets to the Cathedral, the third largest in the world, behind only St. Peters in Rome and St. Paul’s in England, the largest and highest cathedral in Spain and the largest Gothic building in the world. Its construction began in 1401 on the grounds of the center mosque constructed during Arab occupation. The remains of Christopher Columbus are thought to be in the Cathedral. You can climb to the top of the Giralda, the minaret that dominates the skyline.

Most of the group continued on to the Alcazar (Royal Palace) built in the early 10th century and is one of the best examples of mudejar architecture in all of Spain. A few people had walking sticks with the chair attached so they could rest during the tour and they were told they were not allowed to sit in the castle UNLESS THE KING SAT FIRST. Well, he was nowhere in sight, not even in the building, yet they still were not able to sit.

I took a carriage ride with some members of the group (our surrey even had fringe on top!) and we passed Palacio de San Telmo (first naval academy and residence of the Bourbon Duke of Montpensier), rode through Maria Luisa park with its formal design, wild vegetation, sculptures, fountains and 1929 Exhibition buildings, the Plaza de America, Toro de Oro (Tower of Gold) with its 12 sides which were once covered in gold tiles to reflect the sunlight making the tower that more visible to control maritime traffic into the city, Hotel Alonso XIII (names for the king’s visit to the 1929 fair) and the Museum of Fine Arts (17th century Convento de la Merced). It was a gorgeous sunny Mother’s Day afternoon and the families were out enjoying the parks and walking streets. It was a very enjoyable ride.

We met the other group at the Robles Placentines restaurant for a nice tapas meal and we had three very special birthday cakes for the group members.

Back on the ship with ten minutes to spare we had a beautiful sailaway, dinner and entertainment. Reports were written and I crashed into bed.

“Seville is a pleasant city famous for oranges and women” – Lord Byron