Day 5: Real Alcazar

Up a bit earlier today for our visit to the Real Alcazar (royal palace). It's the oldest royal palace in the world still in use, and the original parts of the building go back to the Muslim caliphs of the 13th century. After Spain was reconquered by the Catholic monarchs it was converted into palaces for their use, and is still technically in use today, though I don't think they're around that often.

We'd booked entrance tickets for 10am (opening time), and then a guided audio-tour of the upper apartments at 11:30, so we arrived right on 10. A bit of a line to get in but thankfully not too long. We busied ourselves poking around various areas, and boy was there a lot to see. The architecture is all very impressive, lots of archways and cavernous spaces, along with broad courtyards and perfectly manicured gardens. One particularly impressive area was the Ambassador's Hall, which was used as a throne room and reception room for visiting dignitaries in centuries gone by - very high ceiling with an intricately carved dome.

Was also quite interesting spotting various bits of the palace that had been used in Game of Thrones - scenes from Dorne were shot here for seasons 4, 5 and 6. It sort of comes full circle, because the Dornish culture from the books is heavily inspired by southern Spain (Moorish influences and so on), and the Water Gardens from the book were apparently inspired by the Alcazar! Interesting that the show completed the circle by heading direct to the source.

Soon it was time for our tour, so we headed to the entrance of the upper apartments. These were all much later additions, usually around the Renaissance era when an entire extra storey was built onto the palace. The rooms were used by the Spanish royal family as recently as the turn of the millennium, and as I said they're technically "still in use" though I don't think they actually utilise them often. Definitely worth the price of admission to see the fantastic artworks, chandeliers and enormous tapestries hanging around the place though.

After our audio-tour we headed out into the large gardens, having seen most of the interiors by now. The gardens are heavily Arabic-inspired, with lots of geometry, water features, reflecting pools and so on. Great to look at, explore and take photos. There was even a section towards the back called the English Garden, which looked like a small country wood. A couple of peacocks wandering around as well! Only problem we had was that the weather was cloudy - no chance of rain, just high white cloud that stops your photos from turning out really nicely. Alas. We might have to come back in a few days when the sun's out and take some really good photos.

Finally wandered out around 2:30pm, feeling content and happy that we'd thoroughly explored one of the main sights of Seville. Time for a late lunch, which we had at the same restaurant we'd eaten at a couple of days earlier. Food not quite as good this time, sadly - paella was tasty, but my pork fillets were quite plain and unseasoned. Not bad, just unexciting. I guess the take-out is "Menu of the Day" is the trap - tapas options are usually better.

Headed back to the apartment for a rest, where Shandos ending up having a multi-hour siesta. I did some typing, reading and gaming, before we headed out again in the evening for a long walk with Schnitzel. Feeling tired, we ended up staying in for the evening and cooking the spaghetti we'd bought a few days earlier.Read more