Day 9 – Seville, Spain

Today was relaxing but hot! Today was my first full day in Seville, Spain! For breakfast, I had a delicious croissant. Then, I realized I wasn’t even in Paris yet and had already had two croissants!  After having breakfast, my family and I went in line to go on a tour of Real Alcázar, which is the royal palace of Seville. When the royals are in town, they stay in the palace, but most of the time, it is a historical site. I saw a lot of swallows and observed them while I was in line. The palace was gorgeous.

The palace has been around since the 16th century. It was built for the Christian king Peter of Castile on top of a Muslim fortress destroyed in 1248 CE. The tour guide explained things throughout the tour so they made more sense, like the Es that represented a phrase on the wall. He told us a lot about the history of the palace.

Jen here – I need to plug our tour guide, Carlos from Seville Tours Co. He was phenomenal! Carlos led us through the palace detailing the history and explaining the architecture and art over a 90-minute tour. The price was only 10 Euros per person, and the twins were free. He does many other city tours and day trips from Seville as well – we highly recommend him!

After the tour, we explored the gardens. I saw peacocks (mostly male peacocks), baby peacocks, and one or two female peacocks. One male peacock displayed his feathers, and I got to take pictures of him. I also saw a bunch of male ducks and some female ducks. One female duck was leading her baby ducklings. One duckling got really close to me, about a centimeter away! I took pictures of the ducklings and the peacock babies, then left for lunch.

At lunch, we ate more tapas. I had a Spanish omelet, some bread, some lettuce from a salad, and some lemon iced tea. Dessert was flan. (again.)  After lunch, we walked back to the Airbnb for a siesta. While the moms and Priscilla took a siesta, I read my libro.

When everyone woke up, we went to a flamenco performance. Throughout the performance, I saw many bright and colorful costumes. A man played the guitar, a woman and a man in black outfits sang and clapped to the music, and two women and a man danced, using hard shoes to make a beat. (We couldn’t take pictures, so I have none to share.)

After the show, we explored the Flamenco Museum. There was a machine that had gears inside, and you could pick a tap dance. Then, you would spin a handle slowly, and wooden shoes would tap the machine to make noises like they would make if you were to actually tap dance.

When we finished exploring the Flamenco Museum, we headed to dinner. I had a mini cheeseburger, fries, paella, and a bite of grilled salmon for dinner. Then I had a triple chocolate dessert that was creamy and delicious.

Now we are headed to bed!

-Katelyn ßauer 🙂