We had an 8a departure from the Novotel in Madrid, heading toward Córdoba. We made two stops, the second for lunch. The lunch buffet didn’t have any (appealing) vegetarian options, so I just grabbed some fries from Burger King. As a brief (probably TMI) aside, the rest stops have not had the best bathroom experiences; which isn’t great, considering that my bowels are apparently still on NYC time 😅. The third stop was in Córdoba sometime around 2p, where we were shown around by a local guide (catchphrase: “well…well…well”). The main attraction on the tour was the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, a large ancient mosque that was converted to a cathedral. After a bit of free time we boarded the bus again around 4:30p and made our way to Sevilla, arriving at the Eurostars Al-Ándalus hotel around 6:30p. We met up for dinner at the hotel buffet at 7:30p.
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| Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba (Mosque-Cathedral Monumental Site of Córdoba) |
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The hotel breakfast buffet was decent, though unspectacular for a vegetarian - not as big as the one in Madrid, and not as good as the one in Barcelona. We had an 8:30a departure for a panoramic driving tour of Sevilla. The first stop was Plaza de España, where we spent some time walking around. Then we headed to Santa Cruz, the Jewish quarter, where a local guide showed us around. He took us through Casa de Pilatos, a private mansion that has been used in quite a few movies and TV shows, and then over to one of the main squares for a bit of free time. Next we walked over to the Catedral de Sevilla (Seville Cathedral) around 12:45, where about a third of the group went in with the local guide as one of the optional excursions. Instead, Mutti and I grabbed some pizza for lunch, then the three of us walked to a nearby tourist information center and booked a boat ride (an idea we stole from another group of three in our tour group).
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| Plaza de España |
We made our way down to the boat dock by Torre del Oro (Tower of Gold), and eventually boarded the 2p boat. The boat ride wasn’t terrible, but it was a bit of a dud. I was also a bit disappointed when I realized that we weren’t even on the main river, the Guadalquivir (or Rio Grande), and instead on the (connected) Canal de Alfonso XIII. After the boat tour Mutti headed back to the hotel on foot while Ma and I eventually took a taxi from a stand by the cathedral (after waiting 10+ minutes for an Uber that cancelled, and then having Uber waiting times of 21+ minutes). We arrived at the hotel a bit before 4p.
We met up with the group at 6:15p for an included dinner and flamenco show at El Palacio Andaluz. The show wasn’t exactly my jam, but it was still impressive to watch the entertainers. The dinner was also underwhelming (though at least edible, so no complaints), particularly the “vegetable lasagna”.
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Full trip photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ubSqXjyFue9AWmAn8
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