Sevilla is hot and dry, with very little green space. Certainly no fields of grass on which to play soccer (although there are lots of treed streets and small playgrounds). Maria Luisa Park is Sevilla’s main green space. It was originally the gardens of the Palace of San Telmo, which were donated to the city for public gardens. It’s easy to spend the whole day here, wandering through the many fountains, monuments, and distinct areas.
Neil was able to join us for the walk to the park before heading back to work.The squares this early in the morning are empty! It’s also cool and refreshing.Tile work we hadn’t seen before.Someone’s apartment.
The following are the carvings on the side of a building.
TormentedNolan or Felix when they’re hungry 🙂Hmmmm … let’s go see what’s at the end of this tunnel.It opens to a gigantic square with a fountain.Looks like apartments on the upper floors and stores on the street level. We walked by again on another day, and the square was filled with vendors of coins and stamps.Street signs are a little difficult to find … finally figured out the name of the plaza.Balcony of fancinessLook! Look!!We now understand why ball playing is not allowed in the park.We can’t simply walk by a playground without stopping. Lunch in the park, watching the horse and carriage paradeChecking out the moat where you can rent row boats at the Plaza de España. It was built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 and showcases a mix of Renaissance and Moorish styles of Spanish architecture. Playing with bubbles by the fountain.No, you can’t take a dip in it to cool off :O2 of the 4 bridges in the Plaza. The bridges are supposed to represent the 4 kingdoms of Spain (Castille, Aragon, Navarre and Leon).The “Venice of Seville”Scenes of 48 Spanish provinces are depicted in ceramic tile in the semi circle of the Plaza.Climbing up to the balcony.View from the balcony to the Plaza belowStraight on: looks like just one lamp postSmidgen to the side: many lamp posts.A little street tangoCommon occurrence in these streets. Squeezing yourself into a doorway for a car to pass before continuing on your way. Three red beacons 🙂
Back at the apartment, there were some antics for the “pool” as part of cooling off.
He’s standing on his siblings for this one!After dinner, we all went for a walk. The kids get a kick out of mimicking the statues.19.4 km – as you can see, we barely touched on the park. We also did a 3.4 km walk later in the evening.
