Holiday in Andalucia

A's birthday, so we didn't get to breakfast till nine. After, he opened cards and presents in our room - very jolly, before we finished the packing and made our way across the courtyard to check out. We tried to check the email, but the connection was down. At 11.15 the taxi came for us to go to the station, just a short distance, but it was a bit showery. The train was spot on time and we had coffee travelling at 250kph. Groves of olive trees rushed by and we could see quite a lot of flooding in the fields. The train arrived in Seville very promptly and a driver was there to collect us and take us to the hotel. It is another Hospes hotel, in a series of houses from the family Rey del Baeza. Several picturesque courtyards follow each other surrounded by three storey buildings with turquoise paintwork and balustrades all round - very pretty. The public rooms look very comfortable.

After settling in, we grabbed the cameras and brolleys and headed down to the famous Santa Cruz area where there is the Giralda, the Cathedral and the Real Alcazar. It all looks amazing from the outside, but we will have to wait until Saturday to see inside as everything was closed for NYEve and NYDay. We then took a walking route around Santa Cruz with its winding streets, houses with oriel windows and wrought iron balconies. Along one footpath we found a house where we think Washington Irvine lived. It was showery, and eventually we got caught in a heavy hailstorm - time to get inside, so we looked for a suitable tapas bar. Many were full as no-one wanted to be outside, but we did find one. Everyone smokes in the cafes, which is quite a surprise. We order some tapas - potatoes, aubergines, ratatouille and cheese with beer and coffee, then A spotted crepe with dulce de leche and we shared one, too.
It was much brighter if cooler now, so we walked up to the Plaza Nueva where the townhall is, and where everyone goes to eat the New Year grapes - one for each strike of midnight. We will eat ours at the hotel, so we went to see the square before the crowds arrive. There is a Christmas market there, so lots of stalls, but all closed until Saturday. They will make it even more crowded tonight. We took some pics of a sculpture installation - some rusty seated budda-like figures, then gradually made our way back to the hotel. Jodie of Kirkers has sent A a bottle of wine, which we will sip before dinner, and fruit as a birthday present.
Dinner was a tour de force: an amuse bouche of tempura to dip into soy sauce, boullabaisse with lobster medallions, seabream with marinaded vegetables, fillet of beef with vegetables and a creamy goat cheese sauce, green tea mousse with chocolate shavings and vanilla sauce. There should have been a 'Christmas selection' but this never materialised - just as well after all that!! They served us glasses of Cava, Giro Robot Penedes and Sierra Cantabrica Rioja. We brought our peppermint tea and champagne into the lounge and our waitress has given us a tin each with 12 peeled and stoned grapes for seeing in the New Year. Everyone has disappeared - to the crowded town square or elsewhere, so we watched the NY in on TV and ate some fresh grapes as a token to the Sevillian custom. Happy New Year!