We had looked at a few options for our transit to Spain and ended up deciding on the bus as our best option. While there were some flights available, they were either expensive or at an ungodly hour (6am). The bus was a 6.5 hour trip but was incredibly cheap (€35 for both of us) and went super quick all things considered! We had a lot of fun trying to find our bus at the bus station in Lisbon and the on-board toilet was beyond disgusting (I held for 2 hours - I would of rather peed my pants).

The central part of Portugal was very dry and very arid - there was not much to see apart from these giant birds and their nests in the powerlines! As we neared the southern border, it became a bit more interesting as the lands were obviously a lot more fertile so there were many orchards and farms. We crossed the Guadiana River and officially entered Spain 🇪🇸

Our accommodation was in the historic district of Seville and was only a ten minute walk from the bus station (thankfully cause I was about to pee myself!). It was a lovely little hotel with a beautiful terrace and tiny pool which I spent a lot of time in reading trying to cool down.

After our bus trip we took it quite easy, only venturing out to find some food which is when we encountered our first instance of the European definition of dinner-time. A lot of places didn’t open for dinner until 8:30pm because normal dinner-time is 9pm! We found a cafeteria that was open but only able to serve limited food so we had a small meal of paella and breads and dips followed by beer.

The next morning we stopped in for breakfast before heading off to see the Real Alcazar, a royal palace located in Seville that is open to the public. On the way there, we walked through the Alfafa neighbourhood, past the beautiful Seville Cathedral and along the cobblestone streets to the palace.

We had pre-booked a time slot to get in. While the line was massive, it went pretty quickly considering. The palace itself is beautiful but a complete labyrinth. I had the map and unfortunately Sam didn’t follow me and ended up stuck in an endless loop of courtyards. All the interiors were mainly courtyards, tile work and tapestries which were beautiful but hard to capture in photos.

The exterior gardens I was most excited to see as these gardens feature heavily in Game of Thrones in the filming of the Dorne scenes! However, while pretty, they were disappointing. There were a lot of water features and fountains (which are advertised as the highlight of the gardens) that were dry, broken or just not running. In fact, our highlights from the garden were the massive goldfish, peacocks and a robotic lawn mower that entertained us by constantly driving itself into trees.

It was stupid hot by this time (35 degrees) and we were both struggling in the heat so we spent the rest of the afternoon back at the hotel drinking beer. Sam attempted to code on the terrace but his laptop did not like the heat so he ended up in the room with the aircon. I spent most of my time sitting in the shallow pool with my book. For dinner we found a poke bowl place as we were both craving something healthy and ended up watching Spanish SpongeBob in the air-con of the hotel room.

Day 2 we had another nice breakfast before meandering through the streets to the Plaza de Espana. The Spain Square was built in 1929 and is a semi-circle of exotic buildings and towers bordering a moat. Around the edges are 52 alcoves featuring different provinces of Spain.

Afterwards we walked through the Parque de Maria Luisa, which is Seville’s largest green space.

From here we walked past the University of Seville which is located in the former Royal Tobacco Factory. Whatever fancy cigars they were making in there must of been important as the place has a moat!

Then, we walked to the river and past the Torre del Oro or Gold Tower. It was a watchtower originally and then a prison in the Middle Ages. It’s named the Gold Tower because at certain times of the day the light reflects off it onto the river in a golden colour.

After walking along the river, we walked back to the hotel to escape the heat and wait for the next item on our itinerary - flamenco! Seville is the birthplace of flamenco so we had to go to a performance! I absolutely loved it! Not Sam’s thing unfortunately but at least one of us enjoyed it!

After the performance, we passed by the Setas de Seville - a very random building in the middle of Seville!

Our last day in Seville was a rest day. We’ve had such good luck with the weather but for our last day it absolutely bucketed down. It was a good day to do admin - we had a backlog of washing and Sam had plenty of work to do. I finished booking all our trains and buses in Italy and our final lot of accommodation in Greece. Apart from attractions, the rest of our trip is now booked so we just need to turn up at the right times for planes/buses/trains/accommodation.

Thoughts on Seville - I don’t think you could pay me to come back! While there were some interesting buildings, we both found the heat oppressive, the locals unfriendly and the food disappointing. I’m writing this as well sitting in Barcelona. We’ve only been here four hours and the place feels a lot more exciting and welcoming (although our Airbnb not so much but that’s a story for the next blog!). In hindsight, at least we had a chance to get some R&R because the next stint through France and Italy is jam packed! Until next time 🤗