EU 2013: Sevilla

I spent 3 nights in Granada; The third and final was pretty much a lepak-ing (taking-it-easy) day, so I guess it'd be enough to share just a few pictures taken on this particular day.

The Capitulations of Santa Fe between Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs

Catedral

During siesta, almost all shops are closed and the streets are practically empty

So there's Pizza, Pasta and the rest is Food

Some fountain in the city

The next morning, I took Renfe's Media Distancia to Sevilla Santa Justa.  The train ride was just a little over 3 hours passing mostly olive groves and a few stops in between.  This was when I took the opportunity to do some write-ups for my trip, without which I would take even longer time conjuring up these posts.

Granada a Sevilla

Olives, olives everywhere

Wine and Pestiño (Easter sweet) left by the hotel.

The Catedral de Seville (Seville Cathedral) and Reales Alcázares de Sevilla, two main attractions in my itinerary, were roughly 5-7 minutes away from the hotel.  As I got closer to the Cathedral, I could see bleachers and chairs were being put up to get ready for Semana Santa (holy week).

Monument King San Fernando @Plaza Nueva -- The faces are pretty creepy

Getting ready for Semana Santa

I have booked a seat for a Flamenco show at Museo Baile de Flamenco in the evening, as recommended by a good friend. The one hour show was just to my liking. There were others that  offered dinner packages, but they were on the pricey side.

The 2 dancers were amazing. Stomping their feet like no tomorrow. Between the two of them, they performed 3 dances - opening act had the 2 dancers flamenco-ing (yes, I know this is not a word) together and solo dances by each. In between the Flamenco dances, we were treated to the guitar and singing performances, allowing the dancers a little breather.

Cool deco

These pictures are actually not in sequence.

The performers

The next day...
I was awaken at 3am by the sounds of rain hitting the windows. Rain was in the cards most of the afternoon and I wasn't too keen about it.

The Cathedral wouldn't be opened till 11 so the first item to be checked off was Reales Alcazares. I took the path along the Rio Guadalquivir to do a driveby-(photo)-shooting of Plaza de Toros (the bullring) and Torre del Oro (Gold Tower).

Torre del Oro on Rio Guadalquivir

The bullring

Torre del Oro

Postigo (wicket/small door/gate) bearing my dad's name :D

Frankly speaking, Reales Alcázares (Royal Alcázar) is no Alhambra.  But it's not fair for me to do a straight up comparison.  It itself didn't seek such claim.

Sorry, I don't mean to fool you, but this was taken the day before.

The inner courtyard

Hall of Justice

It certainly has its charms.  I love the Patio de las Muñecas (Courtyard of the Dolls) and Patio de las Doncellas (Courtyard of the Maidens).  The former got its name from two tiny doll-like faces in the arches.

@Courtyard of the Dolls

@Courtyard of the Dolls

@Courtyard of the Maidens

@Courtyard of the Maidens

Aren't those snakes in the mural?

@Courtyard of the Maidens

@Courtyard of the Maidens

As I was walking in the outside gardens, I stumbled upon Baths of Lady María de Padilla. The sign stated it "used to be completely open to the sky... a far cry from the darkness into which it was plunged as a result of the work carried out after the Lisbon earthquake of 1755."  Yeah, it had an eery feeling to it when I went inside to take a couple of shots.  I'd be watching behind my back if I were to take a dip in it :)

The entrance to the Baths

Kind of spooky in here

It was quite nice to take a stroll in the gardens.  It'd be even nicer later in the Spring time or early Summer when the flowers are blooming and the orange and lemon trees are fruiting.

Mercury's Pool

hey, they have a peacock

Huh

Soon after I wrapped up the visit to Reales Alcazares, it started to rain.  I took shelter in the nearby café for some tapas.

Leaving the Royal Palace

The Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral and comes in as the the 3rd largest church after St Peter's and St Paul's.  My 2 favourite things here are the (widely-debatable) Christopher Columbus' tomb and the Giralda - the Cathedral's bell tower, which was converted from a minaret of a mezquita.  It was cool that they had ramps instead of stairs to climb up the tower.

Taken the day before

La Giralda (taken yesterday)

At the entrance

This is freaky

 

Columbus' tomb

I'm not trying to be mean, but this really reminds me of Lord Farquaad in Shrek

It's not an A-wing

Real Alcazar. And Plaza de Espana in the distance

The Cathedral

The orange tree courtyard.  They're not fruiting yet :(

The other side of the city

"The Lizard", which is actually a crocodile

It was raining

La Giralda

The sky opened up even more on my way to Plaza de España.  So hard that I had to take out the poncho. Boy did I get drench from knee down. The camera was the trusty waterproof one but the pictures didn't come out nicely since there was water on the lense  Oh well, time to head back to the hotel. I needed to dry up and enjoy the siesta :)

@Plaza de España

@Plaza de España

@Plaza de España

@Plaza de España

@Plaza de España

@Plaza de España

As I was searching for info on Plaza de España, I found a Youtube video in which there's a scene in Star Wars that depicted the Plaza.  You be the judge :)

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful really.  I just walked around the city.  There was a lot of city dwellers and tourists alike on the streets on this very Saturday night.