Arrival
We easily found a cab outside the small airport. The driver did not really speak English, but I had an email from the Hotel Las Casas Juderia which had the address. It is located in the older part of Sevilla and was only about 15 min from the airport. We did go down many streets that were only one car wide as we got close to the hotel. There was no “plaza” where the hotel was but there was a lot of activity as we arrived around dusk (8 pm). The single lane street ran right in front of the hotel, so we were dropped off at the doorstep (which we tripped over – LOL).
Hotel
Hotel Las Casas Juderia was another recommendation from Rick Steves and again I would heartily recommend it. The location was good, there was a cafe (Carmela) directly across the street where we got our breakfasts. You could get breakfast included but the cafe across the street was outside and cheaper. The hotel itself was interesting in that it was really a set of separate buildings connected by passageways and courtyards. Our room was in the first floor of a building that was right, left, left, right, and then left from the lobby. The room was the largest of any we had in Spain, with a separate sitting area with two soft chairs and a couch and then a double bed through an archway flanked by columns. Pics of hotel and cafe.
There were two negatives. On a minor note, the bathroom in our room was small, but did have a tub, which we appreciate. The other negative, which was mentioned in Rick Steves book but I overlooked, was that there was no WiFi in the rooms, only in the common areas near the lobby. So, we ended up using limited WiFi while out sightseeing. The other point that Rick Steves mentioned is that the staff was a little more formal and so outwardly less friendly. But, while they gave that impression, this never impacted the service they provided.
Day THree – Sunday evening
After we dropped our bags in the room and freshened up a bit, we went back to the front desk to get recommendations on some tapas places. We saw restaurants on the street down from our hotel, but the desk recommended we go down to the second right (an alley) and then down a couple of blocks and turn left. We found four tapas places, three of which were full outside (as it was now after 9 pm, prime dinner time), so we ended up with the one less crowded (and maybe less good??). The waiter spoke no English but they had menus in multiple languages. We ordered a pitcher of sangria, which I did not like, so Margi consumed while I ordered a beer. We ordered patatas frita, squid, and potatoes, egg (we ask if they are scrambled), and ham. When the order comes, I eat the squid and potato thingee, while Margi has the fries. We finish our night by walking a few blocks to the end of the street our hotel is on and then back to our room for a good, quiet nights sleep.
Day 4 – Monday
Breakfast outside across from the hotel at the Bar Carmela in the sunshine. Using directions from the hotel and the tourist map they supply, we make our way to the Palace after some wrong turns that took us to the Cathedral. Remember, this is the old part of Sevilla and has windy pedestrian or one car lanes, most of which aren’t on the map. At the Palace, there are two lines, one without tickets (long) and one for groups/with tickets. So, we get in fairly quickly. Security wants to know if we are over 65 (per our tickets). We say yes and he does not ask for proof (but I have our passports in my wallet around my neck). Entrance to the Palace and grounds is open to all but there are reservation only timed entries to the Royal Apartments, which still used by the Royal family. We are about 50 min early for our tour of the Royal rooms. We go up to see if we might be able to join the 1 pm tour instead of our 1:30 tour, but no, they actually have a printed list with all the names on it, so we are checked off and have to wait. While waiting, we see many people turned away, as there are no open spots, so we are glad we purchased our tickets before leaving the States (again, kudo’s to Rick Steves).
The “tour” is led by a non-English speaking security guard but we are provided with hand held audio guides. The audio guide is a continuous monologue, so the guard moves us along from room to room. The palace is 100’s of years old but still used for official functions. This is worth the small extra cost. Sorry, no pics.
For the regular parts of the Palace, we got two audio guides but did not use much. The other interior rooms are not furnished but have wonderful mosaic (LOTS of mosaic). Most of the audio guide covers Spanish history, which we are not familiar with and so goes over our heads. The gardens are very beautiful and many things are starting to bloom (Sevilla is south of Madrid and seems overall warmer).
We leave the palace and start looking for a place for lunch that is somewhat away from the tourist area by going a few blocks away from the Cathedral, Bell Tower, and Palace. While looking, we find a place with local artisan products and Margi buys a few souvenirs. We found a place to have lunch outside in the sunshine. After lunch, we walk toward the river and see tourist bus. We had such a good experience in Madrid with the Hop on, Hop off bus that we decided to take one. Bad decision. As Rick Steves predicted, it went though the non-historic parts of the city because the bus could never fit down most of the streets we had been walking down. After the one hour tour, the best we could say was that the weather was great and so we got some sun. Walking back to the hotel, we stop at the same place we had lunch and have two beers and chips. Got back to our hotel around 7 pm to rest before dinner.
For dinner, we decided to go to an Italian place which we had seen when we walked down from our hotel the night before (La Gallina Bianca). We did not have reservations but they had one two person table open in a row of two person tables. I had cheese as starter and sea bass. Margi had insalata mixta and homemade rigatoni with rabbit ragu. We ordered a bottle of Montepulciano. Odd thing was that we asked for aqua del grifo (tap water) and they said they did not have, so we ordered a small bottle of mineral water (still). Bill was $62 which was our most expensive meal so far, but we were full as a tick as we took the short walk to hotel and collapsed.
Day 5 – Tuesday
Breakfast again across the street. We are leaving today (via bus) so we go back to the hotel to leave the room, settle the bill, and leave our baggage to pick up later. Front desk says bus station is only 15 min away and that there is a taxi stand just down the street from our hotel, so no need to reserve a taxi.
We find our way to the Cathedral and there is a long line, but it moves quickly. Showing passports to prove we are old, we get in for 8 Euro’s. Church is massive, third largest in Europe. Walked around and saw the high alter, choir area, side alters, treasury, etc. We did not get audio guide, just read the Spanish/English signs at most places.
After Cathedral, we decide to take a horse draw carriage. We try to find someone who speaks good English, but end up with a nice guy with limited English. He shows us the route and a printed sheet with the price (45 Euro) but the route is basically through the modern part that the bus tour took us through, so we point to the older section on the map and he agrees to go there. With our mutual Spanglish and his friendly personality, we have a very nice tour. At the end, we get pics of us on the carriage and Margi with the horse.
We find a restaurant and have some lunch, beer, paella, & fried potatoes with garlic mayo – all just ok. We finish lunch around 3 pm and plan on taking taxi around 4 pm to go to bus station so we head back toward the hotel. We get lost on our first try and end up going in a circle. After some heated interaction between us, we find the second time is a charm. A little after 4 pm, the hotel porter helps us wheel our luggage 50 yards down the street to the taxi stand and he explains to the driver where we want to go.
We get to the bus station in 15 min and the driver points to the entrance. Inside, we find an information booth, show our boarding passes, and they direct us to our gate. We are at least 40 min early, but we travel on the “better early than too late” philosophy. After waiting a while, Margi goes and tries to re-confirm that we are in the right place. She is successful and we are close, as the bus pulls into a slot a few away from where we are about 20 min before the scheduled departure. I load our luggage into the storage area under the bus and we board. There is assigned seating and we are in seats 30 & 31. The bus is full. Compared to the cramped Iberia flight we were on a few days before, the bus has plenty of leg room. The trip is 3 hours, as scheduled, with no incidents. Bus has WiFi.
Now, use the back button and continue with the Granada link.