A leisurely start to the day saw us wandering out from the hotel around 11:30 heading in the direction of the Golden Tower by the Quadalquivir River. Same river as flows through Granada but it obviously grows in capacity as it flows seaward. Seville ws once a major port which handled all the trade from Spain’s colonies in the Americas. 

Got onto the ever present hop-on, hop-off bus. Took an 90 minute circuit around the city taking in the sites of the 1929 Exhibition of Iberia and the Americas, the 1992 Exibition, the suburb of Triana on the other side of the river, and other areas away from the centre.

The pavilions form the 1929 Exhibtion still exist and are in use. The 1992 Exhibition site is supposedly a technology hub but is looking less than impressive. 

After the trip it was up the Golden Tower (it used to be covered in golden tiles).  It was built around 1220 as part of the city defences. Saw part of the chain which used to be strung across the river to block unwanted ships moving past. 

From the tower it was a wander to find the Real Alacazar. Took a little while which gave us the chance to wander some mor back streets and it was certainly worth the effort. It was originally built as a Moorish fort. It was rebuilt by Pedro 1 after the conquest but he used his muslim subjects and some from Granada ro design and build so it retains a very strobing morroish feel and has a lot in common wit the Alhambra. Being a bit younger colour remains on some of the plaster work. Parts of it are still used by the Spanish royal family when the are in town. Apparently this makes it the oldest royal palace in Europe still in use. It has extensive gardens but only touched the edges. Already have plenty of ideas for implementation when home.

Home via the ice cream shop (super green mint and chocolate) and then our neighbourhood deli for some bread, beer and pork pate (looked and smelled a bit like cat food but tasted delish!) for lunch. Lunch seems to be happening around 4:30 – 4:45 at present as we get in to a more Iberian life style.