Tag Archives: Seville

Spain and Portugal 2024

Italica, Carmona and Cordoba

Holiday endings are always a bit sad (take a listen to End of a Holiday by Fairport Convention) but we consoled ourselves with the knowledge that everyone had a good time and the promise that we’d do it all over again next year.  So, farewells said, the family headed off to their flights and we retraced our route along the Algarve coastline back into Spain and made our way towards the site of the Roman city of Italica.  Keeping off the motorway as much as possible we again noticed the profusion of stork nests that adorn the tops of many electricity pylons along the way.  It seems that there’s an active waiting list for any high platform within reasonable flying distance of a stream, river or lake – suitable for families only, of course.Stork nests on pylons

Italica was the first Roman city founded on the Iberian Peninsula in 206 BC.  Unfortunately most early traces of the settlement are well and truly buried beneath the modern day town of Santiponce, so the remains that are accessible (without upsetting the town’s residents by demolishing their homes) are from the time of Hadrian (117-138 BC). 

Italica Amphitheatre
Those Romans certainly knew how to build places that last

That said, what’s on show, consisting mainly of remains of large public buildings, is pretty impressive.  The pièce de résistance, (or caratteristica più importante o impressionante as they would probably never have said in roman) is the moderately well-preserved amphitheatre which, with a modicum of CGI assistance, starred as ‘The Well of Dragons’ in Game of Thrones.  Fortunately there were no dragons on duty at the site during our visit, which provided a convenient stopping point on our journey around Seville towards Carmona.

Italica Amphitheatre
Just look what those naughty dragons have done to the place!

We chose Carmona for our two-day stay prior to flying home because it’s more or less equidistant between Seville and Cordoba, plus we wanted to stay in the lovely parador that sits at the top of the town, overlooking the plain to the east.  Once we’d navigated our hire car through the narrow lanes leading up to the parador, the hotel didn’t disappoint.  History, comfort and elegance all rolled up into one.  We took a couple of evening strolls down through the town, enjoying the warmth and ambience, and the walk back up the hill to the parador wasn’t too bad once I’d been given beer and oxygen ……….Parador de CarmonaCordoba had been on Denise’s wish list for some time – and for good reason as its a jewel in the Andalusian crown.  The ‘must see’ bit at the top of our itinerary (and, as it turned out, on everybody else’s) was the Mezquita or Mosque-Cathedral, which would be worth a blog all of its own  – but you’ll have to make do with a few photos and, if you want to know more, a link to Wikipedia.

 

Seville- February 2023

Seville – February 2023

For various reasons the week we’d been invited to spend with our friends Jamie and Vivien in Portugal last September didn’t happen, so we were especially keen to get a little winter sunshine this February.  We explored various options, including cruising and/or heading to somewhere warm outside Europe, but eventually settled on a week in what is said to be the hottest city in Europe – Seville.  In point of fact we’ve already booked to take the van to Spain for the month of May, but reasoned that we’re unlikely to get as far south as Andalucia on that trip, so fitting in a few days in Seville now would enable us see a bit of Spain that we wouldn’t otherwise get to visit whilst soaking up some much needed sunshine and allowing Denise to practise her Spanish.

We booked a week in the Hotel Zaida (she was a Moorish Princess) which sits in the heart of the old part of the city and is within easy walking distance of just about everything that we wanted to see.  Not the most luxurious or well-appointed accommodation in Seville, but clean, quiet, convenient and inexpensive. 
Having a full seven days to explore a place that a few years ago might have taken us three or four meant that we could take our time and get to see the city without getting completely knackered.  With more than a thousand years of Christian and Moorish history behind it Seville has plenty to offer by way of interesting architecture, plus  it’s fairly pedestrian friendly – provided you keep an eye out for the cars, scooters, buses and vans that thunder through the narrow streets!  We decided that we’d definitely done the right thing by visiting in February when the temperatures are pleasant and the number of visitors is relatively low – certainly we wouldn’t want to be there during the hot, crowded (and presumaly smelly) summer months.   
Worthwhile visits around the city included the Cathedral (the world’s largest gothic cathedral) and Alcazar (at over a thousand years old the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe) but in fact there are plenty of other highlights, and just wandering though the orange tree-lined streets in the spring sunshine was a treat in itself.  We especially enjoyed the beautiful Maria Louisa Park with its unique buildings built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition which was hosted by Seville.


A day trip to Cadiz, which is about a 90 minute train journey away on Spain’s southern tip, was a pleasant excursion.  The city juts out into the Atlantic and was a little cooler than Seville, though still warm for the time of year, and the clear blue skies and ‘starched’ white buildings gave the place a special charm.

All in all our brief trip in search of some winter sun was a success.  We enjoyed the warmth, we liked the place – and Denise even got to use some of her Spanish. Muy bien!