Traveling to Seville, Spain - Nov, 2014

Seville

Exploring Seville in general is a wonderful experience.  There is so much to see and do, the streets and architecture of the Old town are captivating, and the food is great!

Someone likes their mojito!

Bring on the tapas!

Hams hanging around.

Great locals bar!

More hams hanging around.

Loved their decor!

This guy has probably been working here for 40 years.
What a delight!

Love this photo!  Little bowls to catch the stuff that might drip off of each ham.

We hit a park carnival and party  later.  More food and drinks,
live music and people enjoying the festivities.

Arched doorways and courtyards
 everywhere.

Church entrance.

So many interesting door knockers!
Notice the small door just below the knocker.

Another lovely church entrance off this narrow alley.

Love Spain. Every few blocks they have giant recycling bins!

What a lovely sight at the end of this alley!

Traveling to Seville, Alcazar Palace - Nov, 2014

Alcazar Palace

Most people from the conference went on this great evening tour of the Alcazar.  Incredible place, I can't believe that people lived (and still live) here!  Next time I visit Seville, I will be sure to tour in the daylight. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella lived here.  They had a meeting with Christopher Columbus in the throne room, which is that second picture down, with all the arches.

Bits and pieces from Wikipedia:
The Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, originally developed by Moorish Muslim kings. The palace is renowned as one of the most beautiful in Spain, being regarded as one of the most outstanding examples of Mudéjar architecture found on the Iberian Peninsula. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, and was registered in 1987 byUNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Bits and pieces from Andalucia.com:

It's easy to be fooled into thinking this is a Moorish palace, some of the rooms and courtyards seem to come straight from the Alhambra. Most of them were actually built - by Moorish workmen it's true - for King Pedro the Cruel of Castile in the 1360's who, with his mistress Maria de Padilla, lived in and ruled from the Alcazar. Pedro embarked upon a complete rebuilding of the palace, employing workmen from Granada and utilizing fragments of earlier Moorish buildings in Seville, Cordoba and Valencia.

Pedro's work forms the nucleus of the Alcazar as it is today and, despite numerous restorations necessitated by fires and earth tremors, it offers some of the best surviving examples of Mudejar architecture.

Notice the arched doorways with the
wrought iron and glass.

The tiles are hundreds of years old and very thick.

And then the gold domed ceiling...

Yes, these walls are carved wood!

All the details and craftsmanship were amazing!

This was the center of the house and the area of living for Pedro
the Cruel and family.  These were baths and pools.

I thought is was a mirror at first.  But no, the arched doorways just go on and on.

Then there are the gardens outside.  There are various walled areas, fountains, big porches and plants and palm trees everywhere.
Remember, back hundreds of years ago, the royalty who lived here did not often leave the walls, especially the women.  So having a garden to exercise and wander in was probably crucial for one's well being and sanity.

Heading outside.  I love the tiles on the floor!

Notice the details of the tiles on the stairs.

This is an outside view of the patio that we just passed inside; the
photo on the left. What a great place to spend an afternoon!

This was the wall around the outside of the gardens near the palace.

Notice the beautiful rock patio and fireplace.
Another great place to spend an evening!