Andulusia-Part 2

19th December 2006- Seville

One of the things which i enjoyed in Spain is I can finally put my spainish into use. And i think when one wants to learn a language, is always good to stay in that country , if not pay a visit. I felt my learning was so much concrete after this visit. All those menus, road signs, shopping, practically everything is in Spainish. I will say is pretty useful if you are able to pick up some Spanish conversational phrases as most of them could not speak English very well. I am not sure about the big cities like Madrid or Barcelona but at least in the Southern, most of them are pretty comfortable with their native language.

Anyway second day was a 216 km drive from Costal del sol to Seville, the most talk about and popular destination to all. The drive along the motor highway was much faster than expected. Took us about 2.5 hours and could be shorter if the city jam wasn't too bad. One important thing to do a road trip in Spain is always to have good city maps readily available and you can reduce all those hassle once you reached the place. I am really glad i spend the time to find all the maps and parking place to go to . This saved so much time for us.

I wasn't really fascinated with Serville . I thought it was overrated. Probably i still prefer the backcountry kind of travel. Serville was pretty unique in her own ways that it was pretty cozy . I love its unique ceremic tiles which you could probably find in every corner of the street. ANd not forgetting tons of the Naranja ( Oranges) trees planted everywhere in the city. We love the trees and the little narrow streets again ( which i think is a typical trait in most of the cities in SOuth Spain)Our first stop in Seville was a Tapa bar recommended by the guide book. We were very impressed by the quality and of course the price.--super affordable !!!We ranked this place as the top tapas bars after trying out tons during our trip.We were super recharged after a good meal.

Thereafter, we went to the Alcahaz which i was impressed by its Jardines and fine Moorished influenced architecture. It was built by moorish craftsman for King Pedro who lives and rule in this place.Later , did i realised the Alhambra in Granada was much more impressive than this.The 12th century cathedral was very impressive from the exterior but too bad it was under renovation and we couldn't go in.Took a picture of it.

The Giralda

After that,Ron was suggesting to get some warm clothings for him as he did not pack enough for this trip as he thought it was not so cold. We went to the high street shopping in Seville which was in La Consitution.Very touristy. Did not really like it. And one thing to note : if you want to shop, please take note of the siesta the spaniards practiced. Stores are usually closed from 2pm to 5 pm and reopened thereafter. So plan your trips well to avoid disappointment. Nontheless, major stores will still be open during these hours.

Yup, though it looked sunny, it wasn't that warm at 18 degrees. i was expecting it to be mild but i still need to wrap myself with my winter coat which explained i looked the same in all the pictures with the same coat!:)Anyway, i wasn't in the mood for shopping even though there are tons of ZARA and MANGO which were supposed to be very luring to me in the entire trip. I think Ron has enough of my whining of saving money and asked me to buy if i really like it. This guy needs some financial planning man!:)

The rest of the day was spent eating again and walking around the city. Some sights were beautiful and my favourite picture of the day was this picture of the Museo. Check out the reflection in the waters. When you flipped it upside down, you could not even tell the difference .:)