I took 10 weekdays off of work so I could travel to Spain for My own edification. Again, I traveled solo. Unfortunately, I felt guilter and stupider about this trip than my previous trips, and my mom was mortified because she felt like all of Europe was unsafe due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. My dad said he couldn’t see why I didn’t travel for just one week instead of two weeks.... I arrived at my hotel in Seville at approximately 6:15pm local time Sunday, March 13th.
Monday, March 14th, 2022: My ticket to the Royal Alcazar was for 10am. I was careful to try closely observing much of the details of the abstract designs on the walls, the white carvings and the colored tiles on the walls. I saw the display cases with the painted pottery and samples of tiles. The rest of the day had not been planned in advance. After the Alcazar I walked to Plaza de España. Then I took an hour-long riverboat ride, which cost 18 euros. Maybe it was a waste of money but I don’t feel that unhappy about it. Then I paid 3 euros to enter the small naval museum inside the Torre del Oro. The place might have been worth it just for the at least one model of an old Spanish ship. There were painting-portraits of Spanish explorers and paintings of boat-related scenes. Rick Steves is wrong; the place is not “dreary” or “skippable”. Then I paid 10 euros to enter the bullring and bullfight museum. I saw people lined up to buy bullfight tickets at an entrance separate from the entrance for the museum. I was happy enough to get a sense of what the excitement is about without actually sitting in the audience of a bullfight.
Tuesday, March 15th: First I had a ticket for 9am for the cathedral. I had considered skipping it because I figured it wouldn’t mean anything to me because I was raised Jewish. I bought the ticket anyway just because the place was there and it is highly rated in all the guidebooks and reviews. Then my ticket for the Giralda bell tower was for 11am. I had time to sit in the courtyard while waiting to climb the bell tower. Somehow my ticket had the date of February 14th instead of March 14th; the first employee who looked at my ticket didn’t want to let me enter the tower but after saying a sentence in Spanish to another employee about having a disaster and showing my other ticket with the date of March 14th, the two employees talked to each other for a minute and then they let me go in. I would have been as happy if I had skipped buying the ticket to the bell tower. Then I went to the Case de Pilatos.
Wednesday, March 16th: First was the exhibition in the Archivo des Indias. Descriptions were all in Spanish. There was one good model of an old Spanish ship. Then the Hospital des Los Venerables. I don’t know how to justify why I went in given that I was raised Jewish. This used to be a home for old priests. Then I toured the Antiquarium de Sevilla, the foundations of houses found when they built the Metropol Parasol, usually called Las Setas (the mushrooms). I skipped going to the top of the structure. It was raining. Then I went to the Casa Palacio de la Condensa de Lebrija, a highly decorated mansion turned into a museum in 1991. Then I walk to part of the Tirana neighborhood and went into the Centro Ceramica Tirana, a museum about (history of) the manufacture of ceramics or pottery in Seville.
Thursday, March 17th, 2022: I took the bus to Granada. After checking into my hotel, I had time for the Capilla Real de Granada, the Catedral, the Corral del Carbón, and certain minor sights listed in my guidebooks.