Sevilla! Actually

Seville was nice and warm after Valladolid. I mean, it wasn't warm, but it was like California winter warm. So spoiled. The main things to see in Seville are the Cathedral (the second largest gothic cathedral in the world) and the Alcazar. And that's pretty much what we saw. Well, that's what I saw. Not everyone went to everything because part of the group was leaving for Ronda.

So this is a street in Seville

The track in the middle is for a commuter train. It just goes right down the middle of the sidewalk so you have to be aware of whether it's coming or not. We wondered how they prevent injuries. It also reminded me of those trains in Mario Kart in Mushroom City that just drive right down the middle of the street.

Fancy building.

One of the cathedral doors

The Alcazar from afar.

Baby pomegranate trees!

We went to the Alcazar first because it opened first and wandered around. . .

Construction as well

Cool patterns

Amazingly intricate patterns

I think the thing that impresses me most about these buildings is the sense of symmetry. The elegance of the lines.

Andy and Chris in the gardens

Sammy in the gardens. . .

And here is the cathedral

Love love love those lines. And soaring arches.

pipe organ

Also, there is a tower (39 flights of stairs/ramps) from which you can look down on Seville.
But like the top of the Washington monument, it was also very crowded.

The bells also chimed while we were up there which was kind of cool.

some fancy pillar

This is the floor in the treasure room where they have all the bejeweled stuff. It doesn't interest me. Like it's just a bunch of stuff. (Sure it's really expensive stuff, but it's not particularly beautiful and it's all so . . .material?) So that's why you have this macro picture of the floor.

After the cathedral, Alan, Tyler, Sammy and I (the remainder of our group after the Ronda people left) wandered over to plaza España getting Burger King on the way. And let me say, this was the oil and vinegar dressing I got with my salad:

But anyway, plaza España was built for some Hispanic exhibition or something in 1929 so it's a really fancy building/plaza but we weren't sure if it actually serves a function today.

You can kind of see it from this picture, but there's a U shaped building thing with a plaza in the middle, with water going around the plaza.

And we were touristy and rented a rowboat :)

Along the side of the building they had a mosaic for every major city (or maybe province) and so we found Valladolid!

And then we got to try some roasted chestnuts because that is a fall/winter thing here to have roasted chestnut stands on the side of the road. Not my favorite because they lacked a nutty texture--more like mealy apples. But worth the money to try it.

And then we got on the bus to head to Granada!