Seville, Spain
Seville, capital of Andalucia is a great city full of history and culture and famous for Flamenco and Tapas. It is a good tourist stop; you can get a feel for the Spanish culture, and have all the amenities..hotels, restaurants and great shopping (a must see is El Corte Ingles, an unbelievable department store with the works..high-end grocery store included) Now it is decorated for Christmas and bustling with shoppers .
The city has Orange trees lining its streets, big, beautiful parks and lovely walled gardens adorned with decorative tiles. The architecture is a mix depicting its history..Roman, Moorish, Gothic and Renaissance. Our photos show the Catedral y Giralda and Playa de Espana. The Cathedral is the third largest in the world, after St. Peters in Rome and St.Paul’s in London. Bullfighting originated here. We visited Seville’s Bullring “Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza ” and learned the history of bullfighting. It was in Seville that the sport went from being done on horseback to fighting on foot. Fights are held 40 times a year; 3 Matadors and 6 bulls for each fight. Each matador must kill 2 bulls. The bullfight takes 2 hours. We did not attend an actual bullfight. I don’t think I could handle seeing such a thing, but it is an important part of the Spanish history and culture, and it was interesting to learn about it. Bullfighting is also done in Portugal.
One of the great features of Seville is the bicycle rental system. Available to locals and tourists one can grab a bike at locations all over the city for a small fee (5 Euros for a one week membership and a small hourly fee) . You can pick up and drop off at any of the numerous locations around the city. What a great concept!
worldtrip