Seville's Alcázar is the Real thing!

This morning, after our usual breakfast of chocolate and crema filled flauta pastries, we took the AVE fast train south to Seville. Here's Ed all loaded up with his pack (including the 6.5 kg book) at the station in Madrid. It has a hot house and a pool with heaps of terrapins in it.

The train journey was a relaxing way to spend the morning, especially as we were in Preferente, first class - it was all that was available when we booked. Those extra wide seats and the complimentary head phones made all the difference on the short 2.5 hour trip.

We arrived just after midday and decided to walk the 2km to our hotel. Maybe not our brightest idea as it was already sweltering and we ended up turning back to the train station to check the map there a second time as ours only showed the city centre. 

After checking in we went to a restaurant around the corner for lunch. We had the Menu del dia, set menu. For 8 euros each we got three courses plus bread, a drink, water and coffee. I've decided that Gazpacho is my new favourite food - it's so refreshing and delicious!

After lunch we were going to go to the cathedral, but it was closing in an hour so we went to the Real (royal) Alcázar instead. What an amazing place! We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening exploring beautifully decorated rooms and gardens. It was built primarily in the 1300s although it has been added to and reconstructed many times since. The rooms and gardens were very much interconnected with fountains and reflecting pools. The air had a beautiful fragrance due to the plants in the gardens, including jasmine and a variety of citrus trees.

The gardens reminded us both a bit of Angkor in Cambodia. It certainly looks quite different from the usual European style. After the Alcázar we decided to walk around the cathedral and take some photos around the city centre while it was cooler. It's a really pretty town and there are trams here which is cool!