Al Andaluz, Sevilla, March 26

We rose early and took a cab to the Córdoba train station. It is a short hour ride to Seville. Once there, we had to hurry off the train because it went on to Cadiz, so it did not stop long. We were early to claim our rooms, so we took advantage of the nice weather to walk to the cathedral and the plaza surrounding it.

The Hotel Fernando III had a lovely roof patio with a pool. It was too cold and windy to swim but nice for a beer or a café con leche.

The hotel was deep in the old city but within walking distance of the beautiful Catedral de Sevilla. The Real Alcazar de Sevilla (Royal Palace) is across the plaza, but our tickets were for the next day.

The cathedral was the official royal cathedral, so it has the royal shields prominently displayed.

The doorway behind us was only completed in the last few years. That is why is it so much lighter than the rest of the building. David would make me stop and take a selfie so I could prove I really was there.

The Moorish roots of the building show in the conversion of the minaret to a bell tower.

We walked to the Archivo de Indias, Archive of the America’s. This is a beautiful building built to house the records of the discovery and settlement of the Spanish empire.

The entrance to the building.

The grand staircase, beautiful but, really? for a library?

The effort the Spanish government made to centralize all the existing documents relating to the discovery and settlement of North and South America began in 1785. The main building is filled with museum displays while the actual documents are stored in climate-controlled vaults. The contents of the archive are available to researchers through nearby office building. The main building contains many pictures and objects that represent the history of Spain’s world spanning empire as well as special exhibitions. While we visited, we saw a photo display of Holy Week customs in South America that can be traced back to Spain.

A space ship? A wind tunnel? Nope, a spectacular art object, Setas de Sevilla.

We walked to the Plaza de la Encarnación to see a massive art installation. The artist who designed it, Jürgen Mayer, called it Metropol Parasol. However, once it was finished in 2011, the Sevillianos, citizens of Sevilla, named it the Setas de Sevilla (Mushroom of Seville). The name is fitting since the plaza was once the Encarnación Market, the main food market for the city.

We ate lunch at a fascinating restaurant which was built inside the cellar of a Moorish era building. The atmosphere was unique, and the food was superb. Now, if I could just remember its name…

The plating of the desert was excellent, and it tasted as good as it looked.

We returned to the hotel and settled into our room, then went to the roof top patio for an evening café con leche before the approaching storm drove us back to our room. The change in the weather was ominous.