Seville was kind of a fairytale. I got to my hostel late at night and sat down to check my computer in the lobby and before I knew it there was an Australian guy serenading everyone, which continued for a few wonderful hours. What a beautiful welcome to Seville!
So I went to this place called Metropol Parasol, which is the world's largest wooden structure. You can walk around the top and it has a great view of the city. Below the structure is a really cool museum full of Roman ruins.
Seville is covered in parks. There was a park that led up to the Plaza de Espana, which is now a government building. It has a river around the front where you can row boats!
I went to a house called Casa de Pilatos which is basically just a private palace with Andalusian architecture. Just walking through the house and the well-kept gardens, it was so peaceful and beautiful.
Last but not least, I wanted to share my favorite place in Seville, los Reales Alcázares de Sevilla. The Alcazar was a Spanish palace. It is now more than a thousand years old and has been declared a world heritage sight. I can't express enough how beautiful it was. The palace just keeps going, room to room, with stunning tiles floor to ceiling, and no detail left untouched. I kept going from room to room thinking, "this has got to stop soon, there's no way this place keeps going!"
And then I stepped outside. The gardens just extend so far back, it's amazing. And every section is beautiful in it's own way. They had rose gardens, peacocks, walls of flowers, painters, countless fountains... And again, it just kept going. I kept saying to myself, "there's gotta be a fence here, there's no way they let us walk around the ENTIRE gardens!" But they do! They really do! It's so peaceful and serene and there are stairs to different levels, you can find little hidden spaces in the gardens and just sit and enjoy the sun. It was one of my happiest moments the whole time I was in Europe. Seville took me by surprise. I think it's one of Europe's best kept secrets.
