Seville is located in the southwest of Spain. It’s about a 2 and a half hour journey by train from Madrid. Seville is known for it’s gorgeous orange trees planted around the city. The smell of orange blossom drifted through the air. We happened to visit when all the trees were in bloom.
We visited in March for 4 days after exploring the city of Madrid. When planning our trip to Spain, we considered several cities to visit, before landing on Seville.
My partner had landed in Seville 20 years ago when he was in the service, and had really fond memories of all the orange trees and the smell in the air. Even though he only stopped for an overnight.
We choose to rent a vacation rental right next to The Royal Alcazar. We tend to book rentals over hotels when we travel, for the extra space and kitchen facilities.
Our rental had the best view from the rooftop patio. We sat up there at night and enjoyed the lit up Cathedral.
We had to tour the Royal Alcazar and Cathedral, so we booked a local tour through the website Get Your Guide.
If you are traveling to Europe I do recommend searching for local tours offered through Get Your Guide. We booked several tours through them and every tour was professional, informative and fun.
The Royal Alcazar is a historic royal palace. The upper levels of the Alcazar (where you can’t tour) are occupied by the royal family when they visit Seville.
If you have ever watched the wildly popular Game Of Thrones series, you might even recognise this building. Parts of season 5 were filmed in Seville and at the Alcazar.
After the tour of the palace, we decided to walk around the gardens. They have a cute cafe in the garden, where you can buy pasteries, and coffee. I loved the palm trees everywhere. This was such a nice change from the snowy cold weather back home in Utah.
The ground floor of our rental apartment housed a mexican restaurant (I know what you are thinking….why are you eating Mexican food in Spain?) But the reviews were good and the menu looked delicious so we decided to try it out. La Cantina Sede Mexico did not dissapoint.
They had outdoor tables set up in the cobbled square. A fountain in the center of the square where street performers played music and did all kinds of physical acrobatics.
We had to try the street tacos and have a glass of the local drink, tinto de verano.
The next day we toured some local Roman amphitheatre ruins and a local monastery. The tile work on the buildings in Seville is unreal. Painted tiles cover the walls of all the buildings.
For dinner this night we decided to wander down the winding alleyway like streets of the old Jewish quarter. Cafes and restaurants and shops line this district of the city, and flowers in baskets hung from window sills of the apartments above.
We walked into a couple of restaurants that were packed full of people before we found an uncrowed spot for dinner. Sal Gorda Halo turned out to be our favorite meal in all of Spain, just for the unique and delicious menu offered. We were sat at a table outside in the square, it was dark out, so there were cute lights on the tables.
The local Spanish culture is to eat dinner late in the evening, usually restaurants open no earlier than 8pm for dinner service.
To start we ordered the French Oysters with a bitter orange ponzu sauce. We followed that with an order of croquetas de jamon, and finished it off with a popular specialty the Donut de Cola de Toro. Which was a donut stuffed with bbq’d oxtail in a teriyaki type sauce topped with hazelnuts and a cardamom crumble. Oh mannn…. I would travel back there just to eat this meal again!
The next morning we had an appointment at a local spa. What was unique about this spa was it’s housed in an ancient bathhouse. The spa has multiple baths of varying temperatures that you can relax and soak in. The walls are stone and lanterns softly lit the space.
You can book to use the spa for 2 or more hours, they also offer other services like massage.
Women and Men have their own dressing and shower rooms, where you are led to change after you arrive. There are lockers with keys for your things. They also have hairdryers and towels and other handy supplies, so you can get ready after you are done soaking.
Kole, my S.O. really enjoyed this despite him protesting when I told him we were going. He’s not really the spa kinda guy. It was romantic and relaxing, and helped soothe our tired feet. When in Europe you walk everywhere! Much more so than we do in the USA.
I highly recommend checking out Aire Ancient Baths when in Seville.
The rest of the day we walked around and explored the city. This is where I found my new signature scent. My most favorite perfume to date. I wish I could direct you to a website to buy this glorious perfume. However it is made locally and in small quantity, and when I looked at importing this back at home, it was going to cost over $75 to ship to me in the USA.
If you are going to Seville, which I hope you are, if you are reading this. Try your best to find Ben Dita Luz Orange blossom perfume. It will change your life! They do have a bitter orange scent, which I liked as well but the orange blossom scent I preferred more.
Before we said goodbye to this gorgeous town, we stopped for breakfast (hard to find in Spain) at a cute little restaurant right next to our apartment. Naturalmente Real Food, serves healthy breakfast options, and I opted for an iced lemonade and avocado toast. Delish.
I’ll send you off with this final picture taken at the Alcazar.
Gracias por leer esto (Thank you for reading)
- Beck
Leave a Reply