SEVILLA, SPAIN

I spent a week in Sevilla (English version – Seville), Spain at the AC Hotel Ciudad de Sevilla (a hotel under the Marriott brand). The hotel was located in a residential area not far from the city center. The design of the room was nicely done and had this wallpaper with this bold green floral print that at first I didn’t like, but after a few days, I grew to like it.

One of the best things about being in Sevilla was that my sister Janell joined me 2 days after I arrived. She will continue on with me for the next 1 ½ months. Now she’ll  get to see the cities for herself instead of through my storytelling and online pictures.

We started our time in Sevilla by walking towards the city center, which was about a 20-minute walk from the hotel. We came upon the Plaza de America that had some beautiful gardens and fountains, and also had three palaces that are now museums (Museum of Popular Arts and Customs, the Archaeological Museum, and the Royal Pavilion).

The Plaza de America is the start of the Parque de Maria Luisa de Sevilla (María Luisa Park), which is the most famous park in Sevilla. The park is huge! You can walk in any direction and run into statues or areas to picnic or just sit a minute. But at some point you will eventually come to the grand dame of the park… the Plaza de España. I came across this plaza on my first day and was AMAZED! I couldn’t wait for my sister to arrive, so I could show her this place. She was just as amazed as I was.

I’ve taken several pictures of the building, but there is nothing that can do it justice other than seeing this in person.

Of course we rode the hop on/off sightseeing tour bus and saw several areas that we wanted to visit later. While on the bus, we chatted with some ladies who told us that we MUST try the most famous sandwich in Valencia, the Chivito (pork loin, bacon, egg, cheese, mayo). Because they raved about it, we decided to take an Uber to one of the restaurants known for this sandwich. My sister and I both thought it was okay, but wasn’t something we would want again… or recommend.

However, all was not lost. We walked around the area through the winding narrow roads and we discovered another plaza. There were a couple of beautiful buildings but turning the corner we see the massive Cathedral de Sevilla, which is said to be the third largest church in the world. We weren’t able to go inside, but just seeing this building from all sides was breathtaking.

Our time in Sevilla was tiring and some days exhausting (13k-17k steps daily), but it was all worth it.