Lisbon

On our only full day in Lisbon - we decided that in order to best learn about the city - we should do the hop on hop off bus so that we could orient ourselves.  It was good for orienting - but that’s about it - the commentary was minimal - though we did get to appreciate a lot of Fado music.  We toured through Belem, Oriente and the old town.  We took a tuk-tuk to see the old town as the roads are so small - it was a quick tour, but fun.  During the tour - we got off at the river to better see the Belem Tower and the St Geronimo Cathedral and Maritime museum.  They were all interesting.  We stopped in a market place and Andy bought a hat made of cork.  We also got off in the Expo village at the end of the Orient line to see a hotel there and ride a tram.  We saw  a train station with a Calatrava structure on top.  Once we got back to the hotel -and cleaned up - we went back to the old town for dinner at a restaurant Andy found - Sal Grosso - a restaurant no one had ever heard of on a street you could only walk on.  It was great - owned by the chef and his wife - a real family affair.  Only had about 20 seats total.  We enjoyed dinner.  

No pictures due to poor internet

Seville to Lisbon

Today we were tired of walking and we had only half a day - so we picked the hop on hop off bus (though never hopped off).  It was a nice drive through all the parts of Sevilla.  We say Triana, the Calatrava bridge (and Calatrava Street), the Macarena, the Seville Plaza Gardens among other places.  It was a nice drive (though very hot).   We got off where we got on and walked to tour the bullring.  Impressive place.  We learned that bullfighters get paid a lot - the best bullfighter currently gets paid 500,000 euros per fight and gets paid prior to the fight.  I suspect he has to pay his assistants (and there are 9 of them) - but still - if he fights several times a year - that's pretty good pay.  Not enough to make me want to be a bullfighter.   We strolled through the shopping area and Andy bought some shoes (made in Spain) which he is enjoying.  We went back to the hotel to pack (late check out is another perks the starwood membership gets us). After checking out at 4 - we had about an hour to kill prior to leaving for the airport - and we had some tapas in the bar (my new favorite cheese is Payoyo - a spanish goat cheese that is beyond amazing - apparently you can buy at the Cheese Board in Berkeley).   We took a taxi to the airport where we caught our propeller plane to Lisbon.  Lisbon appears to be a beautiful city - and is enormous.  We went downtown to a restaurant named "Sacramento" - and it was fantastic - Andy had grilled octopus and I had breaded cod - and we shared a caprese salad (which had the best dressing ever).  Overall a great introduction to the city.  Oh - and did I mention that we were upgraded again to a suite (love those Starwood perks) - we are on the 24th floor with a living room and bedroom and 2 bathrooms overlooking the city.  Breakfast is included as is entry to the club room at any time with snacks and free wine/drinks.  So far - this is an unbelievable vacation.  

 Beautiful houses along the river drive

 One of the pavilions from the World's fair - now serves as  a dance school.

 Ferris wheel by the river

 The queens dressing room (apparently where she managed some of her affairs - of the personal kind)

 The maritime school

 Plaza

 Church in Triana

 Government building in Triana

 Expo building in Triana

 Calatrava bridge

 Hospital in Macarena

 Part of the original city wall when Seville was a walled city years ago

 Church in Macarena

 Bull ring

 bowels of the bullring

 early bull fighters

 Ad for upcoming bullfights

 Flamenco dresses

 Calatrava bridge again

 our plan - TAP contracts with PGA - it was actually a nice ride

 SEville from the air

Andy at Sacramento

Seville Day 2

Today we toured Sevilla.  Most of the old town is right near the hotel - so it is easy to get around.  We started at the Catedral de Sevilla.  It was so big it was overwhelming.  It is the largest in Spain and the 3rd largest in the world (the other two in Great Britain).  We climbed to the top of the tower which had spectacular views of the city.  We then went to the Archivo General de Indias which has historical pieces of the discovery of the Americas.  That was interesting to see the architectural drawings for one of the ships that Columbus sailed on and to see different maps from different times in history based on what they found.  They also had old books written by Isaac Newton, Copernicus, and Dunne.  Lastly we went to the Alcazar de Seville - the Palace (which apparently is still used by the royal family).  It was also amazingly large and trying to see everything was just too overwhelming.  It was beautiful to see though.  To rest our weary feet - we spent an hour or two poolside and took a swim prior to going to a Flamenco show and then dinner.  We ate dinner at a restaurant that also has one of the finest cooking schools in the world.  The food was very good. I had bull tails (ox tails) and Andy had a pork dish.  We walked home and are more than ready to go to bed.  Not sure how successful that will be as apparently Seville won the soccer championships tonight and there are hundreds of people chanting and singing and yelling outside our window.  The enthusiasm is fun to see.  One more day in Seville and then off to Portugal tomorrow evening.  

 The Cathedral

 The tomb of Christopher Columbus

 Views from the top of the tower

 The entrance to the Alcazar -(very heavy Moorish influence)

 the tile work is amazing

 reflecting pool in the middle of the building

the gardens of the Alcazar - as big as a park

Seville!

We arrived in Seville today.  We left Barcelona early to catch a 10AM flight to Seville.  The flight was about an hour and uneventful and we caught a taxi to our hotel.  We are staying in the Alfonso XIII Hotel - part of starwoods luxury collection and it is amazing.  We were upgraded to a deluxe suite which was a pleasant surprise.  The conciege (a young man names Antonio Ponce) gave us a tour of the grounds and a bit of history.  Most of the world's royalty has stayed here - perhaps even in our room.  We arrived a bit early - so the rooms were not ready - but we were well rested and left our belongings with the concierge and walked around the river area.  It was a pleasant afternoon overall.  After we returned, got into our room and showered and changed - we went for dinner at a local restaurant for fish.  We strolled up the promenade a bit and now are back in the room for the night.  See pictures below......

 The grand ballroom at the Hotel (which was built as a palace for King Alfonso's family during the world expo around 1918) - the reception was held here.

 Looking up from the main lobby area - you can see the different ceilings on each floor - much more beautiful in person - but you can see if you look closely

 Another beautiful ceiling

 Andy and Antonio - on the top deck overlooking the city

 another picture of Andy on the deck

 another view off the deck

 Andy found his "throne" in the lobby

 our bedroom

 our sitting room

 the lobby

 the exterior of the hotel - well worth coming to Seville to see

 The electric boat we took on a personal tour of the river - our captain was Cesar - (and he bought the electric boat from California).  It was nice - we were the only two on the tour.

 The Seville Plaza del Toro - where the bullfights are held.  The second oldest building in Spain

 A famous bull fighter - Pepe Luis or something like that

 The Mercado - a food mart of sorts - we went for tapas and a glass of wine

 A street in Seville

 Another market place - across from the bull ring - they also sold "killed bull" - I suspect it is quite tough

 Cesar - our boat tour guide

 Calatrava's bridge - The Alamillo bridge over the river in Seville (Canal de Alfonso XIII) . Built for the world expo in 1992 as part of the cities infrastructure improvements.  This expo led to an almost doubling of the city's size once it was over.

 El Torre de Oro - on the river bank - was the main entry point for all goods from the America's. It was built in 1220.   Apparently Columbus planned his trip from Seville and Magellen left from Seville.   Its about a 3 hour trek to the ocean from here.

 Sue feeding the gees from the boat.

 Sue walking along the river front.  We are on the old town Seville side (known to old timers as where the rich people lived) and the opposite side of the river is called Triana - where the blue collar workers/ artists/ etc live.

the boat were rode on - 

sitting at the outdoor hotel bar - at the end of our tour (Antonio is having us taste some Spanish wines)

 A bridge built by the same person who designed the Eiffel tower - above and below show same bridge.