We arrived in Seville without problems, dropped the car rental off at the airport and taxied into the Santa Cruz barrio near the cathedral. Again in awe of the unknown we stared out the car windows grasping the newness of another city. Traveling with 5 now, required us to take two taxis and they clung to each other, front bumper to back, straight for 20 minutes through streets so small you could spit from one side to the other.

Our apartment, actually divided into 2 separate places, spewed charm and authenticity with a small central courtyard up through the 3 stories. The kids in one and O and I in the other. Plenty of privacy but we could check up on when they went to sleep at night through the random glass tiles in the floor. We enjoyed a rooftop terrace where the sun beat down in the day. Two straight, heavenly weeks of sun. Feel like I’m charging up a trunk load of D size batteries with sun to take back to hamburg.
Our days in Seville have been mixed with sightseeing, loads of walking and hours of reading. This is a place I’d like to return. I love the bells every morning at nine that chime long enough to wake the dead. They start at 9am and like a puntual snooze button again at 9.10 9.20 and finally at 9.30. The city wakes up.

The Alçazar palace on New Years Day was a highlight, but for me just walking, absorbing the vibrancy of this city, standing at a bar in the morning for cafe con leche and churros, standing at a bar at night for cerveza and tapas….brilliant. Our barrio (neighborhood) is probably the most popular for tourists, but I don’t mind. We did walk about 2 hours one morning north near the Macarena neighborhood, wandering the streets seeing a little more real daily life.

The Alçazar, originally a Moorish fort and now a Unesco World Heritage site is a royal palace that still serves the royal family in the upper quarters. I tried to imagine little children here. I could not. But I could see them in the beautiful garden chasing the peacock.

I preferred the Alçazar over the Alhambra partly because it was easier to take in and partly because we took it upon ourselves to tour and learn, instead of a guided tour. Wouldn’t you have liked to be the one to come up with the hand held guide in 13 different languages?

brains exploding with information

Varieties of jamon. I want to put one in my suitcase.

Following our tour of the Alçazar, our next stop was the grocery store for New Year’s Eve dinner. With the kids and costs, we weren’t particularly interested in the set menu options offered by restaurants. All I can say is wow. I love visiting food stores in foreign countries. Highlights were legs of jamon, an entire aisle of jarred olives, peppers and asparagus that you didn’t have to take out a second mortgage to afford, loads of crazy fish options, and enough tuna and anchovies to feed a pescatarian platoon. Love it.

New Year’s dinner was a simple paella with shrimp and chicken, then we headed out for the evening. I know I’m not winning any awards here with the pics but the tiled table was pretty.