Tag Archives: Seville

Sala Azahar Lounge, Seville Airport, Spain

28 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Air Travel

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The Sala Azahar Lounge is the only lounge at Seville Airport and so is used by various airline business travellers, elite card holders and priority pass holders.

The part of the lounge that was open was really small and almost all the seats were taken.

The food and drink selection was probably the worst I’ve seen in an airport lounge, well except in Cuba. Only beer, wine, soft drinks and hot beverages were available – no gin, whisky, vodka.

The only food was in small pre-packed containers, such as this lamentable Caesar Salad – the dressing is a standard size, the only part that they couldn’t miniaturise!

The Wi-fi required users to enter their email address and was effectively the same as the free airport Wi-Fi.

I noticed that there was an area cordoned off at the lounge entrance.

I asked the lady at the lounge reception why this hadn’t been opened up as the lounge was full – she replied that they didn’t have enough staff to service the extended area.

A really terrible lounge and I told them so – they actually dared to leave feedback cards! Contrast this with the excellent lounge at Venice Marco Polo airport which shows how things can be done.

http://www.aena.es/en/sevilla-airport/vip-lounge.html

Royal Alcázar of Seville, Andalusia, Spain

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Sightseeing

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The Royal Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace built for the Christian king Peter of Castile. The palace and nearby Cathedral were registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as their official residence in Seville. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.

We arrived mid afternoon and found a long line outside – this was to purchase entry tickets. There wasn’t any wait for pre-purchased online tickets. So I went on the site with my phone and bought two tickets for almost immediate entry (EUR 12.50 per person).

The large Palace and Gardens were beautiful. In some strange way, the place reminded me of Portmerion Village in Wales.

If you’re sightseeing in Seville then it should be second on your list; number 1, the Plaza de España and number 3, The Cathedral.

Pictures at the end of this article.

Royal Alcázar of Seville
Patio de Banderas, s/n. 41004 – Sevilla

October to March:Monday to Sunday 09:30 to 17:00.
April to September: Monday to Sunday, 09:30 to 19:00.
Closed on the 1st and 6th of January, Good Friday and the 25th of December.

http://www.alcazarsevilla.org/english-version/

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (Seville Cathedral), Andalusia, Spain

21 Thursday Jun 2018

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The 16th century Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville. It is apparently the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. Since the world’s two largest churches (the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida and St. Peter’s Basilica) are not the seats of bishops, Seville Cathedral is still the largest cathedral in the world.

Entry is EUR 9.00 per person – we found out later that this also provides entry to the Salvador Church – wherever that is. It’s possible to book online, but there wasn’t a queue.

It’s certainly an impressive church. If you’re sightseeing in Seville then it should be third on your list; number 1, the Plaza de España and number 2, Alcázar palace.

Pictures at the end of this article.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See
Av. de la Constitución
s/n, 41004
Sevilla
Spain

Visiting hours:
Monday from 11:00 to 15:30 pm
Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 17:00
Sunday from 14:30 to 18:00 hours.

http://www.catedraldesevilla.es/

Las Setas de Sevilla, (Mushrooms of Seville also known as Metropol Parasol)

20 Wednesday Jun 2018

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Las Setas de Sevilla (mushrooms) is a wooden structure located at La Encarnación square, in the old quarter of Seville, Spain. It was designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer and completed in April 2011. The structure is huge; 150m long x 70m wide and 26m high.

The mushrooms completely fill what could be a pleasant square – they would be more impressive in a larger open area where they be viewed from a distance.

The mushrooms didn’t look like they were made from wood – everything looked like metal or some other man-made material.

I like some modern buildings. I’m fine with the Louvre glass pyramid for example. But the mushrooms are out of place here and I’m sure the residents of the surrounding buildings don’t appreciate the view from their windows.

The cost to build was originally estimated at EUR 50 million, but is now said to have cost EUR 100 million. It seems a lot for what is a giant folly, imposing itself on the surroundings, without much architectural merit.

Nonetheless, as tourists, we felt duty bound to visit and take the elevator to the top. The price was EUR 3 per person and apparently included a free drink from the bar at the top. We reached the bar and found this sign:

So much for the ‘free’ drink – they’d be better not to offer anything because I immediately felt cheated.

The walkways around the top were impressive, although if I had to climb stairs, rather than take the elevator, I would have been disappointed. I’ve pasted pictures at the end of this article.

Sevilla Mushrooms
Plaza de la Encarnación, 14, 1ºB
41003 Sevilla – Spain

Sunday – Thursday: 10.00 – 23.00
Friday & Saturday: 10.00 – 23.30
Access to the viewpoint is in the basement next to the entrance to the Antiquarium
The ticket office closes 30 minutes before closing time

info@setasdesevilla.com

https://setasdesevilla.com/?r=1&A=1600

Plaza de España, Seville, Spain

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

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The Plaza de España was built for the Spanish-American Exhibition of 1929. It’s a huge site with a beautiful building, semi-circular boating lake and landscaped gardens. Around the building are benches that depict 49 provinces of Spain in ceramic tiles.

It’s probably the best place to visit in Seville and best of all it’s freeee!

I’ve added a series of photos taken during my visit at the end of this article.

Plaza de España
Av de Isabel la Católica, 41004 Sevilla, Spain

8:00 h-22:00 h.

http://www.andalucia.org/en/cultural-tourism/visits/sevilla/other-visits/plaza-de-espana-2/

 

El Gallinero de Sandra Restaurant, Seville, Spain

14 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Restaurants and Bars

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El Gallinero was kindly recommended to us by the staff at ConTenedor Restaurant when we found the place fully booked on a Wednesday evening. I doubt we would have ever found it otherwise as the place is hidden down a passageway off an unattractive street and only has a small sign.

It’s also difficult to see the main restaurant from the outside as they have a large covered terrace.

We sat on the terrace on our first visit. The waitress was really friendly and was happy to try and explain the menu in English.

A large bottle of water was EUR 2.80 and good wine was EUR 5.00 per glass. We both had an excellent fish dish for EUR 18.50 each.

Followed by a chocolate ganache EUR 7.00.

On our second visit we sat in the main restaurant.

The Duck and Squid combination was odd but good EUR 18.00.

The was a pudding called Cheesecake Surprise EUR 7.00 that I guessed would be a deconstructed cheesecake. But it was still a surprise to find what looked like strawberries on the plate, only to find they contained a cheesecake topping.

It was absolutely delicious.

I’d recommend a visit when you’re in Seville.

El Gallinero de Sandra Restaurant
Pasaje Esperanza Elena Caro, nº 2. 41002, Sevilla.

954 90 99 31

hola@elgallinerodesandra.com

http://www.elgallinerodesandra.es/

ConTenedor Restaurant, Seville, Spain

13 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in Restaurants and Bars

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We found the ConTenedor Restaurant completely by accident – just walking past on a Monday evening and saw the ‘slow food’ subtitle that we recognised from many quality, locally-sourced food, restaurants in Bologna, Italy.

The place was busy for a Monday and the only seats available were side-by-side at a counter area – these turned out to be great seats and we booked those for our subsequent visits.

The counter (behind the seated diner) has four seats.

Our waitress was really helpful, friendly and spoke perfect English. We talked about the wines we liked and she let us try a couple before we chose a favourite. The white Castro Valdes wine was 3.50 EUR a glass or 17 EUR a bottle. The red was a similar price. A bottle of filtered water was 1 EUR – sometimes we had free refills, sometimes were charged, last visit no charge at all.

Drinks, olives and bread arrived. Our waitress returned with a chalkboard listing that day’s menu in Spanish. She described every menu item with passion and made everything sound delicious. We opted for a wild boar dish (Tataki) 17 EUR and the ConTenedor signature dish which I think was 15 EUR. Everything was excellent.

Our next visit was very similar, although there was a live guitar player. This time we had a waiter who also carefully explained the menu. We shared one main and had room for pudding.

Our last visit, we had a different waitress, who was slightly less keen to explain the entire menu, but still friendly. This time we had a cured fish plate and some duck.

I was the only person who had the oysters and although they tasted fine, my stomach didn’t like them later. But don’t let that put you off as I was either unlucky or over-sensitive.

ConTenedor is more expensive than many other places in Seville, but definitely worth a visit. You’ll need to book as it’s almost always full.

ConTenedor
Calle San Luis, 50, 41003 Sevilla, Spain

info@restaurantecontenedor.com

Phone 954 916 333

https://restaurantecontenedor.com/?lang=en