Seville- The Pearl of Andalusia
Seville was a city of culture shock to us. Santiago was a blessed place and as we entered Seville we were shocked with a whole different feeling. It is an amazing city, our minds were just in another place. Hotel Alfonzo XIII was vey upscale, the best we’ve been in on this trip. Men and Women dressed to the nines and everything in the hotel perfect, just like it was in 1928 when it opened. We truly felt humble pilgrims but we were treated as royalty. Great Hotel.
The city was so different: we were so glad to have our tour guide Maria walk us around and explain the history of the buildings, mostly related to the Ibero- American Exposition- the official name for the 1929 World’s Fair held in Seville. Many buildings were constructed for the exposition and you could tell which ones from the brick and tile work on them. The Plaza de Espana is a monumental plaza in neoclassical style.
As to be expected from the pilgrims, we walked everywhere in the city from morning into the afternoon and to our nighttime walk to dinner. We had three fantastic meals here and got to see a Flamenco show in the Triana neighborhood the last night- thrilling! Seville in loaded with architecture, great shopping streets (not for us), walking parks everywhere, and so much history. We truly understand Spain’s love for the Pearl of Andalusia.
Looks beautiful.
I spent my entire sophomore year in college at the University of Seville, as well as the second half of my senior year … and one thing is definitely true: if you learn your Spanish in Andalusia, and particularly in Seville, you will have no problems at all understanding Spanish speakers anywhere else … it’s like sending a kid to the mountains of Appalachia to learn English.
In fact, it was so difficult to understand when I first arrived there in 1970, that for months “Ensaladilla rusa” (potato salad) was the only tapa I would order because it was the only one that I could understand when a waiter spit out the tapas list at a 100 miles per second.
BTW, I have NEVER seen “Camino cookies” prepared for pilgrims at any hotel outside of Galicia, so consider yourselves blessed.
WOW! 😳😘❤️❤️
Marvelous blog!! Thanks for sharing .
It was a great time for me too being your guide in this amazing city
Love the pictures ❤️