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Spain : Andalusia region – Seville

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Seville – Granada – Ronda

Day -1 ย Sevilleย 

Seville is the capital of Andalusia region. There are 17 autonomous communities in Spain, Andalusia is the most populous and 2nd largest by area. I missed my original flight to Barcelona so Iย had to knock off Barcelona and Madrid from my original itinerary and instead arrived Seville two days latter. First thing I noticed are orange trees, they are an integral part of the landscape. If you make the mistake (like I did )ย of biting one of the oranges you will understand why these are not meant to be eaten.

Latter in the afternoon I visited Seville Cathedral.ย It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world.ย The cathedral is also the burial site of Christopher Columbus.ย Seville Cathedral has fifteen doors on its four facades andย has 80 chapels.

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In front of Seville Cathedral
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Cathedral at night
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Tomb ofย Christopher Columbus
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Pierre Dancart’s masterpiece, considered one of the finest altarpieces in the world
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Wooden Altar

Later in the evening I roamed around, had a big burger at burger kings and went for a goodnight’s sleep.

Day -2 Seville to Granadaย 

I woke up at usual time. City was still waking up, in spite of being a large city people still live slow life. Today my first stop wasย Alcรกzar , a royal palace originally developed by Moorish Muslim kings. This is one of the most beautiful palace in Spain and still used by the royal family.

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Alcรกzar -Garden

In the 11th century Sevilleโ€™s prosperous Muslim taifa (small kingdom) rulers developed the original fort by building a palace called Al-Muwarak (the Blessed) in whatโ€™s now the western part of the Alcรกzar. The 12th-century Almohad rulers added another palace east of this, around whatโ€™s now the Patio del Crucero. Christian Fernando III moved into the Alcรกzar when he captured Seville in 1248, and several later Christian monarchs used it as their main residence. Fernandoโ€™s son Alfonso X replaced much of the Almohad palace with a Gothic one. Between 1364 and 1366 Pedro I created the Alcรกzarโ€™s crown jewel, the sumptuous Mudรฉjar Palacio de Don Pedro.

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Los Baรฑos de Doรฑa Marรญa de Padilla
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Alcazar Seville domed ceiling decoration

It took almost 4 hours to complete sightseeing Alcazar . From there I walked toย Plaza de Espaรฑa, this is a huge half circular structureย  with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous bridges representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain. In the centre is the Vicente Traver fountain. By the walls of the Plaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain.

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Plaza de Espaรฑa

By the time I finished Plaza de Espana , it was already lunch time, I came back to my hotel to grab my backpack. It was time to catch the train to Granada which was my next stop. On my way to station I took some pictures of Metrpol Parasol. This is considered the largest wooden structure in the world. It has 6 parasols in the form of giant mushrooms.

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Metropol Parasol

ย Next: Granada