Sevilla

If you have only time to visit one area in Andalusia, go straight to its capital, Sevilla! The architecture, the wonderful streets and alleys, the vintage shops, the people, and those wonderful tapas places make Sevilla an ideal getaway. We decided to stay overnight to at least savour some of what this fantastic city had to offer. We found an excellent rate (100$) for a double standard room at the Hotel Becquer, situated right in the heart of the Plaza Nueva. The room was very clean and quite spacious as far as European hotels go. The staff was very accommodating as well. Here are some snaps from their website:




This is pretty much what our room looked like




Lobby



After dropping our bags, we headed to The Cathedral of St. Mary, which was built from 1401–1519 after the Reconquista on the former site of the city's mosque. It is amongst the largest of all medieval and the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, in terms of both area and volume. The interior is the longest nave in Spain, and is lavishly decorated, with a large quantity of gold evident. The Cathedral reused some columns and elements from the mosque, and, most famously, the Giralda, originally a minaret, was converted into a bell tower. It is topped with a statue, known locally as El Giraldillo, representing Faith. The tower's interior was built with ramps rather than stairs, to allow the Muezzin and others to ride on horseback to the top. The Giralda is a former minaret that was converted to a bell tower for the Cathedral of Seville in Seville. The tower is 104.5 m (343 ft) in height and it was one of the most important symbols in the medieval city. (From wiki)