The Alcazar of Seville and some fine dining

The Real Alcazar is one of my favourite buildings in the world. Like many great palaces, like Hampton Court for example, it it has been built, altered  and developed over the centuries. It was originally a    Moorish palace, but when Seville was retaken by Spanish Christians, King Pedro I in the fourteenth century employed Moorish craftsmen to build him a new palace, so it has a more Islamic than Christian feel about it. It is a collection of beautiful courtyards, very well suited to the climate (it never fell below 30C while were were out in Seville in mid-September). It is Mudejar style, Mudejar meaning "those permitted to stay" ie Muslim craftsmen allowed to live on in the Christian territory and bring their skills to bear upon a now Christian palace.

The complex is also a bit of a rabbit warren. It took some concentration on our part to ensure we saw it all!

The stucco Courtyard which still retains most of its Moorish decoration and so is 12th century and the oldest part of the Palace complex

The Admirals' Quarters

The Courtyard of the Maidens

The Ambassadors' Hall

 

The Vault Room

And as beautiful and large as the palace is, there are also the extensive gardens to explore

 

Yes, Eoin loved it all, although by this point we both needed a drink. It was hot. But Eoin was very good - although keen for a beer he made sure I had all the time I wanted in the place😊

From the Alcazar we took a circuitous route back home, via the river

Torre del Oro

One of the restaurants I had wanted to visit while here was actually an Italian restaurant, San Marco in Santa Cruz. But its appeal, apart from the good food, was that it was in a Moorish old bath house. Well part of it was. We got a table up top as we could only be fitted in quite late. But we went for the fine dining gourmet meal option with wine pairing which was still a very modest 60 euros a head. It was quite special. And we thoroughly enjoyed it, and our day as a whole. 

It was one of the nicest parts of the holiday, that we had dinner out each night and chatted very happily throughout, never seemingly getting bored of each other's company, which is quite something given our 40 year age gap!

If you look at the photo on the side table above the person to the far right is Tom Cruise. Yes proper famous people came here!

Never seen a man quite so delighted by the appearance of profiteroles on his table