Seville - Part 1
Yearly birthday trip with Holly was to Seville this year. It was also post birthday just the way the flights were. We went on the last Sunday of August early morning and came back Thursday evening.
We got the 7:40am flight from Liverpool airport and landed at 10:31am. We got a 20 minute Bolt taxi to the hotel.
We stayed at the Ibis Styles Santa Justa. They said they had a room ready and would be €30 or we could sign up to this free rewards scheme and we could have the free early check in so we signed up. It was a really nice hotel and glad we ended up booking this one. We booked it as a package with Easyjet with our flights but if we booked them separate we would have saved £70 each. Don't even know why we didn't check before booking!
We put our bags down and headed out. It was hot but not as hot as I was expecting it to be. We walked to the centre towards the cathedral.
.jpg)
We went to the Real Alcázar which is a massive palace. Tickets are €15 and they ask for your ID to print your name on the ticket. It was really nice and had a huge garden.
Real Alcázar
We didn't realise how big it was because just the gardens were big. It's definitely worth visiting.
First gelato of the trip from Mito - 2 flavours pistachio and hazelnut - €3.50. Wandered around and I ended up getting some McChicken bites which were basically popcorn chicken as I was hungry and needed some savoury food. We stopped at a pub and sat down to have a drink. I got an orange juice and Holly got a beer and it came to €4.70 - the beer was cheaper than my orange juice.
We booked dinner for 6:45pm and at restaurant Kelly recommended as she went when she went to Seville last year.
Cuttlefish - €9.50
This wasn't what I expected it to look like and for it to come with chips. It tasted like a curry sauce.
Garlic Prawns
We were expecting it to come as whole prawns with the head and tails. It came out sizzling but as soon as it cooled down the oil just sat on top. They weren't nice and bland also didn't take the poo out of them.
Pork cheeks in Traditional Sauce - €9.50
This was also bland and wasn't expecting chips.
"Huevos Estrellados", Fried eggs, fries and Iberian cure ham - €13
This was the only thing we were expecting to come with chips.
Food came out super quick which made us think that the food is already all pre-cooked and they just reheat it. The food wasn't great and don't know why it all came with chips. Also we were sat outside and I was being attacked by a giant wasp. It just wouldn't leave me alone!
After dinner I got a Maccies ice cream for €1.10 and walked along the river for the sunset.
Full tourist mode on!
We got to the hotel after 9pm and went to sleep around 11pm as we'd been up since 4am.
Day 1
Got up at 8:30am and went for breakfast at a café we seen down the road from the hotel - Santa Gloria. We were just getting pastries but ended up sitting down.
I got a matcha latte with smoked salmon, avocado toast
Holly got a cappuccino with avocado, tomato toast with added fried egg
We got a pistachio croissant to go. The pistachio cream was good but mainly at the bottom of it.
Went to the cathedral also got a ticket to go up the Giralda - the tower.
The tower was weird as it had not stairs to go up. It was just a just a steep slope going round and round for 35 floors. The view up the top was great as there were mesh so couldn't get good photos or a good view.
They have this Maria Limones gelato place everywhere so had to try but it's wasn't good. Mito is way nicer and you get 2 flavours!
The bullring.
After we walked over to Setas de Sevilla aka The Mushrooms. We went to buy a ticket but the woman showed us a picture with cones out and asked us if we wanted to still go up or to come back later or the next day as they were doing repairs and didn't know when they would be finished. We decided to leave it till the next day.
We wandered round and went to have a look round Zara and Mango.
We went to find a bar to have a sit down and drink but loads of places were shut as it was siesta hour. We ended up walking over the bridge on the other side of the river and found a bar facing the river.
Went back over the river towards the cathedral area looking for a restaurant that did paella. Sat down at one and I got pressured into getting a fresh lemonade as I wanted fresh orange juice but they didn't have any and Holly ordered a glass of sangria. The lemonade came quick but Holly's sangria was taking ages. We decided we didn't like the look of the place so just paid for my lemonade and called Holly's drink but it was €5.50! It was an alright lemonade but not worth that price!
We ended going to a restaurant that was on the list Kelly had shared of places they had pinned.
Roasted Garlic Artichoke - €5
Seafood Paella - €18 pp
Walked to go see the old walls and on the way back to the hotel it took all down these back streets. I wanted an ice cream but didn't see one on the way back. We went up to see the pool and bar area and chilled there for a bit before heading back to the room.
Didn't end up coming back to this cookie shop
Went to see the old walls and Google maps took us down all the back residential streets. I wanted a gelato but there was no shops! We headed back to the hotel and just chilled up by the pool for a bit before heading back to the room.
Part 2 coming up!
