I never expected to visit Spain. It was never on my list of "must-see" places. It seemed too common, too easy, too sleepy, too European--a country that everyone had visited. I'm an off-the-beaten track kind of traveler--give me Lagos, Mumbai or Bucharest any day.
My original plan when coming to Spain was to use it as jumping-off point to visit Morocco, but my body said otherwise. So, instead of heading from Madrid to Marrakesh, I went instead to Seville, a city I knew I would enjoy.
Shortly after arriving via the high-speed train from Madrid, I noticed a visually (and aromatically) stunning city full of churches and former convents. Andalusia's sophisticated and feminine capital was also filled with palatial palaces and gardens.
Over the course of a few days, I visited the Real Alcázar, once home to royal rulers, which appeared more Moorish than Christian. The king stays there on his visits to Seville.
There was also the magnificent Catédral (below), more Gothic than Baroque, where I climbed 34 ramps to reach the top of the 230-foot-high bell tower and see out over the city. The first floor contains a mammoth structure that holds the purported remains of Christopher Columbus.
On my way back to the hotel, I said a prayer of thanks at the Iglesia de San Luis de los Franceses, completed in 1731. Seville (Sevilla) is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen so far and I'm grateful to have a chance to have visited.
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