Vacation August 2015: Seville and Gibraltar

In my brief time off before returning to work I'm staying very busy! Firstly Portugal with family and I just have one photo to share of the view over to Salema in Portugal where I was staying. Dramatic coastline due to the high winds in this South West corner facing the Atlantic!



Following Portugal I hopped on a 21 euro bus to beautiful Seville where I had never been but is full of history and interesting places.

So first up, Plaza De Espana, put together for an expo in 1929 this old palace has a seat representing each of the provinces of Spain and incredible mosaic decoration.







The centre of Seville is a collection of buildings grouped together as UNESCO sites, one palace, one cathedral and one building containing important documents including those related to Christopher Columbus.

The palace, the Real Alcazar, is a collection of buildings from different periods plus endless manicured gardens with aromatic hedges that made me wonder why all hedges aren't aromatic... life could be so fragrant!!







I am lucky enough to have been to the Alhambra, not so far away in Granada, and I found this particular part of the Real Alcazar, to be exactly the same! However the gardens were different and stunning.



Immediately opposite the palace is the cathedral. The largest in Europe.





Moving onto something much more modern, the Metropol Parasol was as impressive to me as the historical sites, dominating the new part of town it gives impressive views in an amazing piece of engineering.





Exploring the city further brought me to more churches



A beautiful setting for an art gallery



And the colourful waterside area of Trianna



Then from Seville I took a day trip out to Gibraltar, a place I had always wanted to go having sailed past on transatlantic crossings three times! The tour I was on featured 3 stops. Firstly Europa Point, the southern tip marking the divide between the Atlantic Ocean and the Med with views over to Morocco only 20km away!



Secondly St Michael's Cave, one of the largest so high above sea level, certainly a tourist trap and used for events.



And finally one of the spots where the famous monkey's are fed, which happened to have a great view!







Here's a view of 'the Rock' showing how pedestrians walk straight over the airport runway on their way to pass back into Spain!



It was great to getaway and see somewhere new, Seville comes highly recommended from me (go to the Aire spa!!). As always there's more photos on my Flickr page.

Until next time...