Part 2- Seville Part 2 Seville Kyle and I were blessed with an amazing trip to Europe and Africa. Not only was the trip covered financially (an amazing story in itself) but we also had gracious and conscientious people care and help with our kids. We managed to get sooooooo many amazing things packed into the time we had. I am going to make several posts as I have time to share some of the highlights. Next we flew to Seville, Spain. Seville was where allllll the money came from the European explorers from Spain and the opulent gothic architecture bares the fruit of it! It boasts of the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, as well as one of the most famous royal palaces that was originally built by the moors, and then converted by Spanish royalty. There are many places where cars can drive in Seville as it is a majorly city, but once you are in the old city, many of the narrow walkways are way too small for vehicles and are perfect for walking. It makes for a magical old world experience of cobble stones, archways, and plazas surrounded by balconies. Our hotel was right next to the cathedral and we heard the many bells toll throughout the night and day. Flitting through the multitude of tapas restaurants, we would have one or two tapas before traveling to the next one, enjoying the many sights and sounds of the ancient bustling city. The first night we found an Italian restaurant that was housed in an 11th century Arabic bathhouse. The next day we went to tour the Seville Cathedral where they claim Christopher Columbus is entombed. This was his third resting place so who knows if he’s actually there:) Afterwards I noticed we could do a rooftop tour of the cathedral.  I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was willing to take a chance. It was easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. For some reason we were the only people signed up for the tour on this day and our guide was both ecstatic to share the history of the cathedral as well as to take us through the many secret passageways from the base of the church all the way up to the highest rooftop. We were able to go behind the nave and see hidden treasures no one else had access to! It was amazing! As I had toured the cathedral earlier that day I had seen the small doors four stories up hidden in the walls and thought how cool it would be to see what was behind it- little did I know that I would walk through each of the secret passageways!!! Later we went and visited the Real Alcazar, one of the royal palaces of Spain. It’s on a piece of land that has had a fortress or castle since at 712AD. It has been the sight of many Muslim fortresses as well and the Arabic influence in the architecture is stunning! The geometric patterns are simply breathtaking and the gardens, pools, and baths are stunning! Several Spanish Kings were born here and the Spanish Royal family still stays here when they’re in town. Just to spice things up, while we were touring, the military police were doing a drill for a disaster and we watched them ‘triage’ people and remove threats and other things. It was crazy and entertaining. Seville was a beautifully clean, historically fascinating , and full of intriguingly tantalizing food! We would give it a 10 out of 10!!!!
ME BEHIND THE NAVE!!!!! Very few people get to see this!!! I was totally geeking out Seeing the tops of the domes from the secret passageways The cathedral bells from our hotel Us walking through the secret passage ways Our guide opening the door for us One of many of fun old tapas restaurants One of many of fun old tapas restaurants Dinner in the 11th century Arabic bathhouse The cathedral at night surrounded by the many trees that the Moors planted. All of these orange trees are sour oranges, and are not eating by the people of Spain, but are exported to Britain to make marmalade. Our guide was explaining to us that these tiles would never be seen by the public, but they were just put here to allow the rain to flow off the roof in a pattern to not deteriorate the columns. Each of the patterns on the tiles is unique to the different areas of Spain and we’re uniquely beautiful. Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces This was very neat. Few people get to see the rooftop of the cathedra
