February 27 - Real Alcazar

We had a great day today. We visited the Royal Alcazar museum. All the books said that if you are to only visit one place in Seville this is the one to do. On the way we stopped at the tourist information booth for information on the convents and monastery that sells baked goods because apparently it is an experience not to miss, but none of the booths had information on the convents. Every time we go to the information booths the answer is always ‘we don’t have that here but if you go to such and such a place their booth has the information’. But when you get there it’s the same story. Agnès gave me the name of a couple of the convents that sell cookies and cakes so we will look up the addresses on the internet. Anyway, at the tourist information they said that the Alcazar visit should take about 1 hour. We spent almost 3 hours there and we didn’t see all the gardens.

The place is huge with so many rooms arranged in no order that we could figure out that one could easily get lost and still be roaming about at closing time. We think that we did all the rooms but are not 100 % sure. Some of the rooms were magnificent with ornate walls and ceilings. Most of the walls had carvings that were very intricate. I cannot imagine the time that it took to do all this. One room was full of huge tapestries that must have taken a lifetime each to make.

We walked a long time in the gardens. They were divided in sections with each section being different. One was an English garden with a maze another had a pavilion with a fountain, another had a round plaza surrounded by trees where you could hear the birds chirping away and still another had a pool with ducks and a peacock.

Before entering we chatted with a couple from Quebec for a while and at the end of our tour they were there again. They said that they were following us.

We stopped for a small sandwich in a bodega after Alcazar and then came back to do another lab cache series around the cathedral where we encountered a bit of excitement. Two ladies from the U.S. were stuck trying to get their car around a corner. Jacques helped them by telling the driver how much room she had. They had decided to leave their husbands at home and go on an only girl’s trip. Bikes and gates had to be moved.  While this was going on I talked to the lady that worked in the store across from where this was happening. She said that they were coming from a pedestrian only street and this happens at least 4 or 5 times a day. Anyway, the ladies finally made it around the corner with just a few scratches to the rented car. This was their first day here. I wonder how the rest of their trip will go.

We finished our series and headed home stopping for bread and jam for breakfast. Tomorrow the stores will be closed because of the holiday. Supper was the leftover rabbit, salad, green beans, and potato. It was just as delicious as the first night.

I have been keeping track of our mileage and yesterday we passed the 200 km mark, so we have walked from Dieppe to Fredericton. We are doing an average of 13 to 14 km every day. Every day we say that tomorrow we will take it easy and rest, but we don’t seem to be able to stop until the end of the day. The food is salty and lots of olive oil, so we need to burn off what we eat.

Just arrived inside the gate.

Amazing tapestries in this room.

Beautiful large doors

Rollande was on the other side of that door a couple of minutes ago. Checking if she missed anything.

Leaves were just starting to bud. Should be a nice cool shady place in the summer.

Tunnels everywhere.

Resident peacock.

Interesting hedge.

Maze in the garden behind the hedge.

Lemon tree.

Intricate ceilings.

Walls and doors also.

Chandelier in the windows.

XVIth and XVIIth ceramic

Last room before leaving.

View of La Giralda as we left Real Alcazar