We didn't set an alarm but woke up a little before nine. After leaving our bags in the luggage check, we left the hotel to explore the city.
Despite my best intentions of not getting us lost, I did, and had to pull out the map a lot to reorient ourselves. Eventually we made it back to the main area and headed to the Alcazar. We rented an audio guide which we shared and wandered around the palace. I had not realized before that the Alcazar was built by a Christian king in the Muslim design just because he liked how it looked. Very avante garde for its time with its mudejar, style.
My favorite part was the extensive outdoor garden that I had been unable to see my last visit due to the weather. This time the weather was perfect and we walked along the well manicured paths, exploring the grotto, baths and castle walls. All of Sevilla smelled like oranges as the blossoms were in bloom. We had a picnic by one of the ponds with a bubbling fountain.
After spending 2 hours in the Alcazar we went to the Cathedral and Giralda. We immediately climbed the watch tower, which was full of visitors. At the top, we were afforded spectacular views of the city, spread out below. Back down in the Cathedral, we spent a lot of time wandering the side alcoves and treasure rooms. I hadn't seen them before.
Having seen the main tourist sights, we continued our on the move lunches by buying some bocadillos from a tavern which we then ate in the Plaza Nueva. Sevilla was gearing up for Semana Santa as there were many advertisements spread throughout the city. We continued our "ice cream tour of Spain," stopping for more gelato on the way back to the hotel to pick up our bags.
We explored the park on the other side of the bus station before boarding the bus back to Granada. The bus ride was pleasant and we made it back to Granada around 8:00pm.
Heiko was waiting on the staircase in front of the door in his ski gear, having left his keys in the locker on the mountain. We unpacked and had a low key evening. I made dinner of chicken breast, raviolis and fresh sauce. One of the two recipes that I've perfected. I loaded up the photos that we had taken so far from the trip before saying goodnight to my mom and heading into the living room to catch up on some writing.
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