On the AVE train to Madrid..

August 22, 2019

I wrote this blog yesterday…and then the internet ate it so we’ll never know exactly what I said then…today we are on the fast train to Madrid, stop three on our Spanish tour. Jenny Cerff left yesterday for South Africa so Robin, Susan & Tim and Tracey are with me on the next adventure.

We started yesterday on the Plaza de Espana, which was built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It’s a combination of the Renaissance Revival and Neo Mudéjar styles of Spanish architecture. Mudéjar is the style of the Real Alcázar. We approached it from the Parque de Maria-Luisa and walked by some beautiful buildings of the University of Seville including the science building. There was a lot going on…there’s a small waterway built going around 80% of the plaza which is arranged in an oblong semi-circle. There’s a huge fountain there where we took some photos and towers on each end (we tried to find a way to climb up one but it was closed to us…most of the edifice is used as government offices including immigration. There were singers and flamenco dancers and scores of people selling fans and the clickers flamenco dancers use. Tracey and I decided to buy fans for the myriad of photos we planned to take. Gayle Prejean from Dallas, another tennis player, joined us for this trip. The fans were a hit and the photos were fun.

After leaving Plaza de Espana we headed back to the old town. Robin and I walked to the store for lunch and others took naps. Susan and I then headed out to go shopping. We ran into Gayle and headed off for the shopping area, where we meandered for a while and I shopped for eye glass frames. Susan found a cute flamenco apron too.

After shopping we set off for the Santa Cruz Barrio which is home to the Jewish Quarter. We wandered through the narrow streets, most only one car width wide and some which were only for bikes and pedestrians. The buildings were old, with shutters on the windows and some with peeling paint. The streets were mostly of cobblestone.

We saw this “Taste of America” Store on our way back. Apparently it’s from the 1960s judging by what it was selling! (We didn’t go in).

We finally met up around 8:15 for dinner with everyone…and we were of course the only ones in the restaurant so early! It was a very fun visit to Seville and I highly recommend visiting it. There’s a lot to see and the prices are very reasonable.