Seville, Spain

Hi there! We’ve made it to the last leg of our mini vacation!

We’ve been lucking out for everything on this trip; getting a table at a restaurant right before it gets crazy busy, the forecast calling for rain but it actually only raining when we're inside, picking really nice hostels and happening to get nice rooms, stumbling across restaurants with great (and inexpensive) food, and most recently getting a nearly empty bus from Lagos to Seville so we have seats to ourselves!

We arrived at the hostel quite late at night, so we dropped off our things and went to the rooftop patio for a drink and to socialize before going to sleep!

We only really have one full day in Seville so we made the most of it! From our Google research of Seville, the must-dos were: the Seville Cathedral (see above the view from our hostel), the Real Alcázar, and Plaza España. We already booked our tickets for the Alcázar and we were planning to do the Cathedral later in the afternoon so we asked the woman at reception for suggestions of what to do in the morning and she was no help. She told us we were already doing everything we had to, and there was nothing else that Seville had to offer… but we weren't satisfied with that answer! We started walking along the water and the street was looking very familiar from my trip to Seville with my family back in 2016. That's when I remembered this looked exactly like the area one block away from the bullfighting museum (actually called the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla, but my name for it is much shorter to type).

Kimmy, Kenny, Aary, does this look familiar??

The Plaza de Toros is considered the cathedral of bullfighting with a rich history and very cool exhibits. We got to tour the stadium, see the matador’s costumes, look at pieces of art, and most importantly see lots of taxidermied bulls.

Fighting bulls are no regular bulls. They are selectively bred to be the wildest, most ferocious and the most noble. They have to select for bulls that will keep fighting even when they are losing, which sounds rough for the bull but somehow that isn't enough. In a bullfight, when there are when there are 6 bulls against 12 bullfighters, the crowd and the president are judging. If the crowd thinks the bull wasn't noble enough, it gets booed as it's dying, but if the crowd is pleased, the bull’s name will be remembered. Talk about hard standards to live up to when 12 guys in crazy costumes are trying to kill you!

The matadors themselves seem to need to be wild, ferocious and noble too. Some matadors like to put on a show and kneel in front of the bull’s door as it opens. And only the best matadors that had the best fights were given the honour of exiting through the Prince’s gate at the end of the fight.

We learned about some famous matadors and the procession of capes used in the fight. I also thought it was cool that the costumes were designed that way as they were influenced by Napoleon’s army!

The free breakfast at the hostel consisting of just toast and oranges was not filling enough for the day we had planned so we decided to get some authentic Spanish churros, when in Spain, right? Georgia was disappointed at the lack of cinnamon and sugar on them but the rich hot chocolate to dip them in was pretty good!

We quickly ate those and rushed over to get to the Real Alcázar for our time slot. The line for this place was insanely long so I wouldn't want to see what it's like in peak tourist season.

The Alcázar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site but started as a Roman fortress then a palace, then a combination. Today it is the oldest Spanish palace still in use, as the royal family uses the upper floors.

It is a stunning complex with detailing covering every inch of the buildings. The architecture style is a blend of Islamic, Gothic, Mudejar, and Renaissance styles reflecting the rich history starting a long time ago. We wandered through the Ambassador Hall, the Hall of Justice, the Courtyard of Maidens, and the Courtyard of the Dolls, probably not in that order though as the audio guide is SO confusing. The maps make no sense and trying to follow a logical path is out of the question. But interestingly, in the Admiral's room, this is where Queen Isabel signed her contract with Christopher Columbus to go discover the Americas.

If the above photo is kinda looking familiar (don't worry it didn't to us while we were there...), it turns out that the Alcázar was used to film the city of Dorne in Game of Thrones! Now that I know that I completely see it and it's so cool!!

The gardens outside were stunning too with countless orange trees, tile murals, and fountains.

Next, it was time for tapas! We got recommended this place by some friends we met at the hostel and it definitely lived up to the expectations!

These were the shrimp fritters but I couldn't get over the fact that the shrimp are just in there, head and all, with their little eyes looking up at me saying "Please don't eat me". So I took 2 bites, the crunching made me uneasy...

The busy day continued with a trip to the Seville Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See. This is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals and is said to be so large that people have gone mad inside, or at least when they built it, that was the goal.

We climbed the bell tower (Giralda) and got a nice view of the city through the wire fence.

Inside we admired the stained glass, the massive organ, the impressively tall ceilings and got to see Christopher Columbus's tomb. Apparently, there is debate as to whether he is in this tomb or in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) but DNA testing has shown that at least some of his bones rest here.

Tired from all the activities, we decided to take a little rest before socializing for the evening.

At 7 PM the hostel gives out free sangria, which I'm happy to report was much better than their free breakfast. Following that they have a happy hour so we stayed on the rooftop patio and chatted with all of the fellow hostel characters before having a "Galentines" tapas dinner with another Canadian girl that we met.

Later that night (when time zones aligned) I got to FaceTime my Valentine James before going off to bed.

The next morning we had a late start after being rudely awoken very early by a very noisy hostel roommate. But we headed out and had some very delicious brunch before our last stop of the trip, Plaza de España.

This is a massive square originally built for the World Fair of 1929 (called at that time the Ibero-American Exposition). The architecture here is insanely impressive as well, with every surface showcasing tiny detailing and tiled alcoves representing the different provinces of Spain.

Seville just seems to be THE place to film movies! Plaza de España was used in Star Wars as well as the Presidential Palace in the Dictator.

We had our 10,000 steps in by the early afternoon and it was time to head to the airport and back to Malta.