AVE High-Speed Train from Madrid to Seville

We checked out of the Tryp Ambassador in Madrid after first enquiring if they had reservations for us for our return to Madrid on Oct. 17. They didn’t. We had booked our hotel reservations and our airport transfers through AAA in Portland, Oregon. AAA used Travel Bound for the bookings. We later called the Travel Bound number on our vouchers and they straightened out the hotel booking––very easy problem to take care of. You can visit the Travel Bound website (www.booktravelbound.com) for hotel and tour information, etc., but you have to have AAA book for you. We took a taxi to Atocha station to catch the 10 a.m. high–speed AVE train to Seville (Sevilla in Spanish; advance reservations are required on the high–speed trains). We arrived in Seville at 12:25 p.m. and took a taxi to our hotel.

AVE High-Speed Train from Madrid to Seville

Where Our Taxi Let Us Off

Our hotel was on a one–way street in the Barrio Santa Cruz. We were a bit confused when our taxi let us off in front of the sidewalk cafe in this photo.

Where Our Taxi Let Us Off

Las Casas de la Juderia

To reach our hotel. we had to walk down this alley in the photo, which was directly across from the cafe. We had to drag our luggage over the cobblestoned walkway.

Las Casas de la Juderia

Las Casas de la Juderia

We found the front door of the hotel and entered what only could be called a true gem. I loved this hotel. I felt like I was transported to Old Spain. I have put photos of the hotel on a slide show on this website: Go to Slide Shows, Western Europe, Spain–2, “Seville: Las Casas de la Juderia.”  The hotel’s 100 or so rooms are spread out among several buildings. To reach our rooms, we had to walk via an underground tunnel having a Roman theme. It took us several journeys in it before we made all the right turns. Our rooms had four–poster beds and marble bathrooms. However, I didn’t take photos inside the rooms as by the time I took photos of the hotel the rooms had too much of a lived–in appearance.

Las Casas de la Juderia

Jerez de la Frontera

This photo of the front of this beautiful station was taken right before we left Jerez.

Jerez de la Frontera

Las Casas de la Juderia

We were hungry. The reception desk made us a reservations in their restaurant for 1:45 p.m. We were the only diners in the restaurant during our entire meal. I think reservations were required so that the restaurant staff knew someone was going to dine in it. Photo of our private restaurant.

Las Casas de la Juderia

Las Casas de la Juderia

We were in for quite a treat. First, we were served a delicious free appetizer of warm cheese with some kind of marmalade and crackers. (The bitter Seville oranges are used for the making of marmalade.)

Las Casas de la Juderia

Las Casas de la Juderia

I ordered pork filets. This was the most flavorable and tender pork that I have ever eaten and probably will unless I go back to Spain. It also came with potato crisps and guacamole.

Las Casas de la Juderia

Dessert and Hop-on Hop-off Bus Ride

Desert was very good also. After our lunch, we walked through the Barrio Santa Cruz to the Guadalquivir River to catch the Hop–on, Hop–off bus. I have put photos of our walk in a slide show on this website: My Slide Shows, page 9, Hop–on, Hop–off Bus Ride. The Barrio Santa Cruz is Seville’s old Jewish Quarter, a maze of streets, alleys, plazas, wrought–iron terraces, and colorful buildings. I loved this area––it is how I pictured Spain to be. More photos of the Barrio Santa Cruz will appear in the Day 10 album. We got on the Hop–on, Hop–off bus near the Torre del Oro on the Guadalquivir River. I have put photos of our bus ride also on a slide show on this website: Go to Slide Shows, Western Europe, Spain–2, “Seville:  Hop–on, Hop–off Bus Ride.” The ride gave us an overview of Seville outside the Barrio Santa Cruz. However, the bus only has four stops, so it doesn’t provide an easy way to sightsee.

Dessert and Hop-on Hop-off Bus Ride

Tapas Bar

We walked back to the Barrio Santa Cruz from the river, making a stop at the post office so that Merrie could buy some stamps. You could rent Internet time at the post office’s computers, so Merrie and I spent some time e–mailing our families. (In Madrid, I was able to e–mail from our hotel, but our Seville hotel didn’t offer this service.) We lost track of time (easy to do in Spain) as the post office was open late, so we again found ourselves eating dinner at the Spanish time. For our dinner, we chose this tapas bar shown in the photo.

Tapas Bar

Tapas Bar

This was the first restaurant that we ate at in Spain that didn’t have an English–language menu. It offered 35 different tapas, and even with Merrie’s knowledge of Spanish, it took us some time to recognize enough words to safely order. I wrote down the tapas that I would be ordering to show to the waiter as I didn’t think I could find them on the menu again. Photo of our tapas dinner. I ordered croquetas de carne del puchero (some kind of meat croquette), tosta de queso de cabra (some kind of cheese toast), and langostinos al ajo (something with langostinos). The langostino al ajo is shown in the photo on the left front.

Tapas Bar

Tapas Bar

I didn’t care for the langostinos al ajo and was still hungry. I next ordered tortilla en salsa de comino, shown in this photo. A tortilla in Spain is not the same thing as in Mexico. In Spain, it is a potato omelette. It was okay. A churro in Spain is also different from the light, surgary, and delicious churros in Mexico, In Spain, a churro, though of the same shape, is very heavy and bland. They are served with cocoa for dipping in. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel. Another interesting long day.

Tapas Bar