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.
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