Seville by Day - Part 3 - Bullfights, Columbus, Panoramas, and Refreshment

We left El Real Alcázar de Sevilla and passed the Torre del Oro, a former military watchtower along the river.

From here, we ventured into the Plaza de Toros de La Maestranza for a guided tour of the bullfighting ring and associated museum.

To this day, bullfights take place every Sunday.  The bull is always killed unless he puts up such an  astounding fight that the judges set him free (this has happened only twice in the history of the sport at the Plaza del Toros in Seville).  I definitely had mixed feelings about bullfighting.  It's part of the culture but results in certain death to the animal.  I found out that at least they use the slain bulls for food.  You can buy the meat on site or in local markets.

The sun was really coming on strong.  It was the perfect afternoon for an ice cream!  We stopped at Heladeria La Fiorentina a small shop tucked away on Calle Zaragoza.  Yum!

We made a second pitstop for a cerveza at Cafeteria Universal.

Our next major destination was the Seville Cathedral.  It was quite an imposing structure from the outside.

The purported body of Christopher Columbus was laid to rest inside.

Other interior features included an impressive organ and altar.

We were able to climb the Giralda Tower and enjoyed breathtaking views of town.

We even spied some locals lounging by a rooftop pool -- that's the life!

We saw the Plaza del Toros in the distance.

After we descended, we continued our walk through the streets.  Some of the courtyards in different apartment buildings were lush and sun dappled.

We wandered into the Jardines de Murillo and I was surprised to see this cat laid out on a pedestal without a care in the world.  We stopped to give him a good scratch behind the ears.

We admired the memorial to Christopher Columbus near the gardens.

Walking back, we saw a small shop with two stools selling sherry and made another pitstop.  The sherry was good but the stories of the proprietor (a Cuban and former real-time translator in Africa) who had recently moved to Seville were even better.  He didn't speak much English and we don't speak much Spanish but we somehow managed to make ourselves understood to each other.  A little effort at the language goes a long way.

Seville also has a penchant for making cakes out of gummi candy, just like Madrid.  We saw this creation for 80 euros!  It's a good thing the store was closed or I might have been tempted to give it a go.