Hola de España

This past weekend, we decided to road trip to Sevilla in southern Spain for Father’s Day & Kate's birthday. She studied there during college, and she thought Colette and I would enjoy it as much as she did - and she was right. 

Sevilla is absolutely beautiful and enchanting. If you are thinking about visiting Andalusía, put Sevilla on the top of the list, as it is quintessential Spain. It is really everything you could want in a regional European capital, great sights (Cathedral, Alcazar, grand plazas, and a quaint old town center), great food (tapas and cerveza anyone?) and a great transportation system to get around (trams and grand boulevards).

We stayed just outside of the city center, but that was to ensure we had a hotel with a pool for Colette. She loves her pools! But, being outside of the center was easy, as we simply jumped on the tram and were in the city in a few minutes and off exploring. 

We started by visiting the Cathedral, and we were not disappointed. Supposedly it is one of the largest (if not the largest in volume) cathedrals in the world. The space is overwhelming, which is what they were looking for I guess. We then were able to hike up the Giralda (bell tower) and take in the views over the entire city! Colette was so inspired she insisted that she take pictures at every window the whole way up. She is persistent... :) After a quick dip in the hotel pool, we attended a flamenco show, followed by a late dinner on the main street where we people-watched and kept an eye on the Euro Cup games on a TV near the bar. 

The next day we decided to go see Kate's old stomping grounds in Triana, visit a local park for Colette, and then visit the Plaza de España. The plaza is huge, and was built to impress for the World's Fair in the 1920's. After a quick stroll, Colette wanted to ride a horse-drawn carriage around the city. A little touristy, but Colette loved it. She even got to ride up in front with the driver. Another pool afternoon followed by a Moroccan dinner in a highly rated restaurant in the old quarter made for a pretty nice Father's Day!

We woke up on Kate's birthday morning and quickly headed into the city to beat the rush for the Alcazar, an ancient palace/fort/garden in the heart of the city. I can definitely say it rivals the Alhambra for wow factor. Very intricate carvings, paintings, tile work, and architecture make for a surreal experience. We kept imagining how cool it would have been to be there when the "final" palace opened hundreds of years ago, presumably to a party. 

After a nice lunch, we headed back to Granada for a few days before we are hosting guests again. This time, my buddy Joe!