Part 4 - Sevilla

From Granada we drove to Sevilla, during the drive from Granada to Sevilla we stopped off at a small town called Ronda.  Ronda is well known for its small cobblestone streets similar to Granada, but also for its famous bridge over a gorge, which has excellent views of the surrounding area.  We drove through Ronda a couple of times looking for a park and then decided to have lunch at a small restaurant just down the road.It was a grab place filled with locals, we opted for some traditional dishes. 

After having lunch in Ronda we continued on our way to Sevilla, arriving and returning our hire car at the main train station.  From there we took a taxi to our beautiful hotel in the middle of the old town in Sevilla.  We think it was the cheapest taxi fare in our lives. The hotel we were staying is was very interesting with a quite a few musical instruments the guests were allowed to play e.g. Violins and Pianos.  The hotel had a great view from its rooftop terrace of the cathedral and palace in Sevilla.  During our first afternoon in Sevilla, we went on a self-guided tour of the old city.  Walking through the old town and visiting various sights, such as the cathedral, and the palace.  After the tour we went out for dinner and then had a late night drink in a bar just around the corner from the hotel.

The following day we woke up and had breakfast on the roof of the hotel.  After breakfast we went and tried to go into the cathedral to have a look around. It is the third largest Cathedral in Europe behind St Peters Basilica and St Pauls.  However, the line was very long and we found out via our handy tour book that we could get a sneaky ticket to enter the cathedral from another church just a little walk away from the cathedral.  So we headed over to the church and had a look and got the vital ticket to enter the cathedral not having to queue at all. The ticket allowed us to bypass the extremely long line.  Once inside the cathedral, we had a look around at many of the small chapels of to the side and visited the spire, which had excellent views of the city.

For lunch we headed to the other side of the river in Triana.  On the way we went past the bullring and some markets, which weren't very open and we suspect they are busier on the weekend.  We had lunch in a small area in Seville, which we expect not many tourists visited.  As everyone seemed to wonder why we were there.  We ate at a small restaurant with tables in the sun.  There was only one man waiting tables and he was very busy and got confused with some of the orders. I think we were the only English speaking people there. Luckily we had the help from some Spanish people next to us to convince him that we did not order one of the items he brought us.  However, the food was very tasty and more than covered for any problems that we experienced.

In the early evening we visited the palace in Sevilla, it was very beautiful and had many Moorish carvings similar to the ones we missed out on in Alhambra.  So it was great to have a look around. We then sat in the Palace gardens having a well earned rest.

In the evening we went to a very nice restaurant, that the hotel recommended. We had 'gourmet' tapas such as stuffed anchovies. After dinner we finished with an ice cream for dessert.

The next morning, quite early,  we made our way back to the train station to pick up the hire car again and begin the long journey to Madrid.