Days 8-10
tapas and sunshine
Our last stop on the tour. The view out the bus window faded from scenic rural views to the bustling big city of Sevilla.
We said adiós to our bus driver and then wound our way through narrow streets to our final hotel. The Hotel Amadeus. What a way to end our journey. Our room felt more like a small apartment. We even had a private courtyard! I didn’t want to leave!
Our final orientation tour. Sevilla had the most maze-like streets of all the cities on the tour. Our experienced local guide unlocked the secrets of how to navigate through the maze. I thought Granada had the title of tapas bar central. Sevilla wins the tapas bars per capita award. The place to stroll and graze on tapas is Sevilla.
Jim and I went exploring on our own and enjoyed the vibrancy of people strolling and hanging out at tapas bars. Jim and I even lucked out and got a table at the mega-popular Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas. Never rushed, we enjoyed this front row seat on life in Sevilla.
The royal alcázar and Cathedral
Our early timed entry kept us, once again, ahead of the growing crowds.
The opulence of the Alcázar left my brain in overload. Walls filled with repetitive carvings, colorful tiles, works of art, beautiful gardens and hidden pools. It felt like I was in a large jewelry box! It was one beautiful surprise after another.
Onward to our final stop the Cathedral of Sevilla. The biggest gothic cathedral in the world filled with many things to see. Our tour culminated with a visit to its impressive, over-the-top treasury—and the tomb of Christopher Columbus. This tour made history come alive in so many ways.
going out in style
Our farewell night was filled with tapas, laughter, and stories traded with people who had started as strangers and ended as friends.
What I’ll remember most are the layers in this trip. The scenery of endless olive groves and a history that isn’t frozen in time, but carried forward and honored in everyday life. Watching how people work to live, not live to work. The detail, symmetry, and elegant beauty of the Alcázar and the Alhambra—and the unmistakable sense of standing in places shaped by people who lived hundreds of years ago and left something lasting behind.
I’ll remember getting happily lost in the maze of streets, tempted to keep wandering just to see what was around the next corner. Evenings spent sitting in town squares, watching life unfold. Strolling past mom-and-pop shops, window shopping with nowhere in particular to be. Andalucía made it easy to slow down and take it all in.
I didn’t just come home with souvenirs. I came home remembering what it felt like to have time—time to notice, time to wander, and time to simply be where I was.
