Our First Real Day of Leisure 10-22-25

We managed to wake up a little earlier today and managed to get out around 10:00

indicating that we may be getting in line with local time. We decided to take a hop-on/hop-off bus and see part of the city before stopping for lunch.  We purchased our tickets and decided to walk down to the beginning of the circuit instead of getting on at the closest stop.  This was guided by our desire to see some of the medieval center of the city where the bus has trouble getting through.  Plus it gave us a feeling of how large the old part of the city really is, for when we’re walking.  A map shows streets and layouts but not ease of exploration on foot, especially with Deb’s new knee.  It’s really similar in size to the old section of Lyon, in France, but without the hills.  The first stop is right near the Golden Tower which was a security structure under Mooris rule in the 13th century with a chain across the river and in the 16th used for collecting taxes on ships returning from the newly discovered Western Hemisphere (which of course wasn’t lost to the indigenous societies already there) so was basically the first stop prior to mooring. 

Plaza de Toros

It’s really warm here, like summer in Denver. Due to numbers of tourists we wait through one bus and board the second, luckily we had a bit of shade in which to huddle. Our tour took us around the southern part of the ancient town and then up to the northern area.  They provided canned narratives on what we were seeing but honestly I could barely understand them due to the noise. Nonetheless we passed through some lovely areas which we definitely will visit again later.  Deb has identified a couple restaurants that have very good reputations so on the northern loop section we got off to have lunch.  Plan was to finish the loop after lunch but when we finished our leisure lunch it was 4:30 and a certain torpor overtook our plans.  The tickets are good for 24 hours so we’ll try to get back to it tomorrow.  Our lunch stop took us to Maestro Rufino, reputed to have the best crocettes de jamon in Seville, 

so that was our first plate, followed by Iberico Jamon, and a Manchego cheese plate.  Since we were on a roll we decided to share their ‘Iberico Paella’ focused on the ham and pork of the region rather than seafood.  Made in house, it was as good as our favorite paella restaurant in Madrid which is high praise indeed. We had a glass of Cava, followed by a good Rioja red, then a glass of Amontillado.  After all this they bought out an after dinner liquor made from oranges and something strong,  Deb has her antenna up for a new liqueur, so watch for it next time we host dinner. 

Side note: Deb said she got complaints when I posted pictures of food where she was included in the photo. Tough Noogies! It’s our blog, hold your finger over her image 😂😁