We said goodbye to the mountains and coast and pointed our rental inland and headed for the third largest Spanish city - Sevilla.
We thought we had experienced skinny and twisty streets in Bath, but they were thoroughfares compared to Sevilla's intercity passageways. Our car was small but we narrowly avoided getting it stuck between the buildings at several points. We found La Casa del Conde Galdez, our apartment in central Sevilla. After quickly unloading the car, I cruised the streets and eventually squeezed the car into a parking spot where it would sit for 3 days.
La Casa del Conde Galdez (http://www.lacasadelconde.com/ingles/) was so named because Galdez was one of the two counts among other notables who had owned it since the 1600s. It was refurbished in 2007, and now is a lovely modern place to stay in a great historic building. In contrast to proper and at times distant Brits, Maite and her boyfriend (the apartment owners) were warm, fun, emotional, and exciting. They shared a list of their favorite tapas bars and markets and other locales. After talking music, they burned a great flamenco CD for us.
Our days in Sevilla were splendid. Rachelle and I agreed we could live a long time in that city. Outdoor cafes; orange trees (decorative only - Noah, Liv, and I tried them and they were incredibly sour); open markets selling fresh fish, fruit, vegetables, and flowers; kids kicking soccer balls; and Sevillanos laughing, drinking, talking, and hugging filled all of the streets and passageways. The squares were lined with wonderful little churches and there was always wonderful energy of happy people enjoying food, drink, and the sun.
The food in Sevilla was marvelous. Most restaurants served tappas, and we would order 5 or so different dishes and share. We were especially fond of those dishes that included Spanish olive oil and seafood. After having oranges in Sevilla, I worry that we will never eat another elsewhere without thinking of its better tasting relatives in Southern Spain.
On our first day we explored the cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest in the world, behind St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London, and climbed the ramps (so in days of old horses could go to the top) of the Giralda, the watch/bell tower, for views over Seville. We also visited the Alcazar, the royal palaces, which were originally built and inhabited by the Moors. Like the Alhambra in Granada, the Alcazar was exquisite with detailed carved stone arches, mosaics, tile work, and wonderful and immense gardens.
On our second day, we toured the Sevilla bullring (the bullfighting season does not begin until April), which is one of the oldest and most famous in Spain. From there we walked through an enormous park, which allowed Liv ample trees to climb and Noah and I had a fun time tossing oranges at each other. That night we attended a flamenco performance at the Flamenco museum. The kids sat in the front row, and Rachelle and I enjoyed watching the dancers as well as the astonished expressions of Noah and Liv who were mesmerized by the emotional, dramatic, and loud dancing and music.
The next morning we had some final strolls through town and enjoyed some fresh goodies from the markets. We encouraged Maite and her boyfriend to visit us in Atlanta and then we left and found our car, still safely nestled into its parking spot. We pulled out and headed for Ronda.
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