Our Mid Life Crisis Gap Year: Our Time In Seville

We woke up to a beautiful blue skied and sunny day....a perfect day to visit the Reales Alcazeres, the royal palace in Seville.

Apparently, in 1364, after the Reconquista (the reconquest of Moorish Spain by Christians), King Pedro I commissioned the construction of a new palace, the Palacio Pedro I, at the site of the Al-Muwarak. Craftsmen from across Andalusia created a magnificent interior in Mudéjar style, arranged around a number of patios. Over the years, other monarchs kept expanding the palace, resulting in a diverse complex with different architectural styles. The top floor of the palace is still actively used by the Royal Family.

I must say that it is a very impressive place to visit, and it was easy to see how this palace has been added to continually over the years......

Walking To The Reales Alcazar

The following photos were taken inside different areas of the palace........

We then made our way outside to explore the beautiful gardens......

Even though we had a detailed map of the palace and its grounds we came across the underground baths quite by accident......

After a few hours we made our way out of the palace.....just outside of the gates we came across a water colour artist who specialised in painting pictures of the tilework throughout the palace......we now have a small collection of beautiful water colours to bring home with us!!!

Exploring the Reales Alcazeres took up the whole morning, so once we had finished we headed to La Catedral Tapas Bar just near the hotel for a tapas lunch. The owner here must love bull fighting, I have never seen so many dead animals on walls!!!!!

Dead Bulls Everywhere!!!

Tapas For Lunch

We continued the tapas theme into the evening...there are heaps of bars all around the hotel, but no matter how hard we tried we could not find any that had the quality of food as our favourite, La Pasaje, where we finished the night.....also the staff here are fantastiuc, so friendly!