Portugal 2024 Carvoeiro Sunset

I took a little stroll to the beach for the sunset 😊

Here's a little panning video (click here if you can't see it)

See all the Portugal 2024 photos...

Portugal 2024

 We're in Portugal! More specifically, The Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal, along the Atlantic ocean 🌊🏖️.

We had an easy 2 1/2 hour drive from Sevilla to our apartment in Carvoeiro, arriving in the early afternoon (jumping back an hour due to a timezone change 😊). Our apartment was ready and waiting, so we threw together a late lunch, then went into the village for breakfast items (and a little exploring).

View from our apartment terrace, near sunset 

Another Ale-Hop!

Our "plan" for The Algarve is to just relax, drive around the coast checking out cliffs and beaches. Today, we skimmed around two:

 Algar Seco

And Praia do Paraíso

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See the Portugal 2024 album for more photos (I'll be adding more as we go!)

Sevilla 2024 Wrap Up

This was our second winter in Sevilla, and we are definitely glad we came back! 

Sevilla is packed with things to see and do. Last year we made a dent; this year, we saw a few new things, and went back for more of old favorites ☺️.

New:

Alcázar

Setas 

Return to the plaza (and a lot of flamenco!)

Plaza de España 

Last year we stayed near the cathedral. This year, we thought we'd try an outlying neighborhood - Triana has it's own vibe, and is still close to Old Town (a bus or 2 away). It had it's own long-standing 3 Kings parade. There were plenty of bus lines to get us around, and we were close to the ceramics factories and the Triana market. But we agreed that it was a bit nicer to be right smack in the middle of Old Town - easy walks to major sites and a huge variety of restaurants.

Last year, we sort of meandered down the Mediterranean coast of Spain, stayed near Málaga for January, then spent February in Sevilla. This time, we drove straight to Valencia, stayed one quick night, and drove the next day directly to Sevilla. That was a lot less stressful, even accounting for the insane Google maps behavior getting into both Valencia and Sevilla! The drives were long (9hrs), but mostly easy freeway.

Both times, we left the car in a long-term structure (~100€/mo), and got around by bus. Both times, this was a great idea, and definitely the right thing to do. But both times, we tried to drive to the apartment on the last day to load the car and go. Both times, this *should* have been easy. Neither time was easy... It's something to work on.

Getting around in Sevilla was easy the first time, and only got easier this year. We bought a multiviaje bus pass (1.50€) last year (that was the hard part, as it wasn't obvious where* to buy it). With this, each trip (bus or tram) is only 35¢. Paying the driver in cash is 1.40€ each. Multiple people can use the same pass (just tap it once for each passenger), but transfers are not free. You can refill it for a minimum of 7€ at a large number of newspaper shops. I walked out of my apartment, into the first likely shop, and asked - I was kindly directed to another place just a block away, where I easily added trips. Within the first 2 years, you can even "borrow" trips into the cost of the card (it's really a deposit, and the card is owned by Tussam).

The tools I used the most for getting around were Citymapper and Google maps. I also downloaded the Tussam bus map.

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* where to buy the bus pass: either at the Prado bus/tram Tussam office or at the main train station's Tussam office. 

See these photo albums: Sevilla 2024, Sevilla 2024 Alcázar, Sevilla 2024 Cabalgata

Sevilla 2024 - Alcázar II

We went back to the Alcázar, and were very glad we did! 

After our visit, we stopped for a late lunch, then more takeout for dinner later, and back home!

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On our first trip, we had no idea of what to expect, no plan for how to get around, and the one map we had (a photo of the layout at the entrance) didn't show which sections (and routes) were closed off 🤪. We wasted our feet one (1) standing in line and (2) backtracking

This time, we had a downloaded map - it had a little more detail, but still didn't indicate what was below ground, up stairs, or closed off. But, we knew where we had been before and some of what we had missed. 

We also knew which tickets to buy, and found out that we could enter on our timed tickets 15 minutes early until 30 minutes late. So, once we knew when we were leaving, we bought the tickets for the next hour - bingo! No line to buy, and the line to get in was so short and fast, that we didn't even have time to unfold the chair!

Biggest tip: in the far corner of #13 (yellow area), there are stairs going down (to the underground cavern and pool), and up (to the tapestry rooms, in the orange area). It's easy to miss...

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I added today's photos to the Sevilla 2024 Alcázar album.

Sevilla 2024 II

This week, Sevilla is warming up, with highs of 24°C / 75°F, *and* is sunny!

We went to another flamenco show, Teatro Flamenco Triana - no photos at all! It was pretty good, but we decided we liked the previous one better. This venue had more comfortable chairs, and we could see all the dancing feet with just a little bit of head-weaving involved. But the stage felt very distancing, applause sounded lackluster, and there were no refreshments 😮. Finally, for us, the performers were good, but not as good as the others (we decided that if we has seen this show without having seen the other, we would have liked it just fine).

We also went out to Setas, a Sevilla landmark and monument - we aimed for a sunset, and got there at 6:00 (we had 6:15 tickets, which let you in 15 minutes early till 30 minutes late)... We got a very nice view of the city, saw the sunset, and then the light show.

Cathedral spire on the left

We decided that if we had it to do over again, we would:

- go on a day when the market is open, and work that in as well (it closes at 3)

- not worry about seeing the sunset; people get to the viewpoint edges early, and just wait there, standing. And waiting. And waiting.

- likewise, not worry about seeing the light show - viewing areas are crowded

- see the 15 minute culture show. We put it off till the end, and were too tired to deal with the backless bench seats, so we turned around and left.

- have a meal in the area - lunch, tapas, dinner...

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See more photos in the Sevilla 2024 album.

Sevilla 2024

This past week in Sevilla has been a mix of sunny days and days of scattered showers (but warmer than the week before)! 

We missed most of the rain! We went to a flamenco show - Tablao Flamenco "Orillas de Triana" - which was great! All 4 performers excelled - the guitarist spanned the emotions, from sad to excited; the singer carried us along with her fabulous alto voice; the 2 dancers were elegant, sensual, and athletic!

We spent an afternoon at Plaza de España, exploring the architecture and mosaics

And we spent a morning at the Mercado de Triana - after such a sparse selection of fresh vegetables at our local market, I was thrilled to find asparagus, green beans, cherries, and black beans! Besides fresh produce, the market also has restaurants, meats, and leather goods! We stopped across the street for a light tapas lunch and some Chinese takeout for dinner later. 😋

One strange thing I can't quite wrap my head around is the parking situation - here's the street outside our apartment. The motorcycle is the only vehicle moving! The rest are parked - perpendicular, but then other cars park parallel, blocking them in (and it's not just for 10 minutes!). The blocking cars don't get tickets, and we don't hear horns blowing... Maybe the ones "legally" parked just never move?

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For more photos, see the Sevilla 2024 album

Sevilla 2024 - Alcázar

We toured the Alcázar of Sevilla yesterday - it's impressive! 

We popped out before seeing everything, so we headed out to a tapas place we remembered from last year - still as good!

After a relaxing snack, we went to another favorite (Al-Wadi) and got takeout for dinner 😋

Tram and bus back to the apartment, and a pleasant evening "home" (not counting the electrical outages 🙄)

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See the Sevilla 2024 Alcázar album for more photos.

We didn't buy our tickets in advance:

- we couldn't be sure that we could be there for the date and time (timed entrance)

- the tickets were non-refundable, and the rules for which to buy were not clear. Buying the wrong one could mean being turned away and re-buying. In one explanation, EU citizens got a different one, but it turned out you also had to be 65+

- there were plenty of tickets for each time slot (half hours), so we knew they wouldn't run out. Also, reports said there was virtually no line.

- we spent 45 minutes waiting in line just to buy tickets - there was just one agent, and each ticket had to have the name, verified by ID. We missed the first time slot *and* wasted our feet (even with a cane-chair to share). At the entrance, there was no line...

What we might have done was go, ask the entry guards about the right tickets, sit on a bench, and then buy our tickets via smartphone and data. I've seen so many people do something similar at other venues, but I'm still not used to thinking of it...