SY Scrabbler

After a quick car journey back to Rota (thanks to Marcel from Dakini, who shared his rental car with us) to pick up good old Carina, we were off to explore more of Spain. Sevilla was our first stop. Having just skirted it 3 times on the motorway so far, we knew already that the outskirts are a dump. So we booked a hotel right in the old town. It took about 45min driving in circles and through pedestrianized areas to find it. Sevilla's little one-way streets are crazy to drive in and don't even think of not pre-booking a car park. The good thing was, we had a lovely sight-seeing tour already and I don't think, I ever squeezed through smaller spaces with a car. After depositing the car via lift (!) at the hotel we wandered the streets. Sevillas old town is one of the biggest in Europe and amazingly intact. The mixture of building spanning decades from pre-Roman times onwards is wonderful. And thanks to the Moors the architecture is so beautiful! Not just the big sights but also the smaller palaces and houses are a eye catchers. Combined with all the horse carriages and the lack of cars it is like travelling back in time. We spent 2 nights and explored despite the heat almost all of the sights, tasted almost all the tapas and finos and enjoyed lots of flamenco. It is definitely well worth a visit but probably not in summer. Thank the FSM for all the fine cold mist the restaurants and tapas bars spray over you.
Our absolute highlight is without doubt the Reales Alcázares de Sevilla, the oldest Royal palace still in use in Europe but also open to the public. We just love the Moorish architecture! Half a day in the Reales Alcázares is not quite enough but as it is still used by the King and Queen we couldn't really move in for good anyway. The Giralda and Cathedral are interesting as well but don't miss the 'remains' of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, a living proof that we could still built wonderful things if we just wanted to. It puts the remains (in the true sense of the word) of the Expo 1992 to shame. What a waste of money and resources!