#abantal

building Abantal is the only Michelin starred restaurant in Seville.  It is a mild contemporary design with lots of blond wood, double clothed large tables and nice linens.  Steel covers one wall and interesting light fixtures provide the place with plenty of light (maybe a tad too much except for photos).  Soft background music during part of the evening helped give a bit more room hum to the…

On our first full site seeing day in Seville we started with the Real Alcazar. This campus is a royal palace and gardens that continues to serve the Spanish royal family today. As usual, we got the audio tour and began to explore the grounds. The amazing thing about this site is the Moorish influence in the architecture and decoration. They used ceramic tiles, but also intricate carvings that appear more Islamic and Asian than catholic. The details were astonishing. We also visited the upper palace, where the living quarters were. Again, being royalty is so opulent. Room after room of lush furnishings, easily competing with the rooms at the palace in Madrid. These rooms also had a more tropical feel though, and looked out onto verdant gardens. No photos were allowed inside this area, sadly.

  At this point we had to hurry back to the hotel. In another attempt to forget about Botin, I booked a tapas tour with a local guide for lunch. Brett really loved the tour with Lourdes and I wanted to replicate the experience. We met up with our friendly guide Monica, who took us to three tapas bars. On our own, Brett and I would have never entered the places went with her. We were intimidated by busy places, but also by places that were empty. We never knew what to order or even how to order. Monica really helped us out! She spent three hours teaching us all about the food and culture and showing us secret spots in the city with unbelievable specialties. We ate fresh salted prawns, pork cheek and iberico ham, which is kind of a religion for Monica. She also gave us a list of other tapas places to attempt in the area and noted which of their dishes were the best. It was an essential tool for us to enjoy the next couple days.

  After reluctantly saying goodbye to Monica, we walked through town to the Plaza d’Espana. This structure was built for a national exposition in the early 20th century, but today is a general gathering spot and park. It was so impressive. The tile work that this city does! The colors are mainly blue and white with bright oranges and greens. It seemed like every surface was covered in them. There was a little water way that families were rowing in and there were benches representing each city in Spain along the inner plaza. I didn’t expect to enjoy this spot as much, but I could have spent hours there.