Taking the Scenic Tour....

Yesterday, being a holiday, schools...  and nearly everything else...  were closed.   We didn't have classes.  Even though it was quite cold, Bill & I decided to take the scenic bus tour that takes you past the most visited and popular spots in the city.

We boarded the bus and plugged in our earphones...  turned the "channel" to "English"...  and away we went...

 These double-decker buses are a lot of fun.

If you sit on the top deck, which we always do, you have a great view of the streets and buildings...  much better than if you're walking or riding in an automobile.

This impressive building is the Palacio de San Telmo

Built in 1682 and named after the patron saint of navigators, it was originally a university for sailors.  Now it is an Andalusian government building.

The World's Fair was held in Sevilla in 1929.
Many of the buildings built for that Exposition are being used today in other capacities.

This was a casino at that time.

Check out the moat around these gardens...

This is the back side of the Parque Maria Luisa

It is beautiful from every side.

As we rode along the city streets we saw the typical architecture of the buildings in Sevilla

This is near the University district.

Because of the holiday...  and the protesters marching at various government buildings, the route was changed somewhat from what was on our audio tapes.

I don't know what these pools of water were originally used for, but at the far end I saw several young families getting ready to sail boats on the water.  Although model boats, some of those sailboats were quite large and beautiful.  I'd liked to have stayed and watched them for a while.

This is the back of the Plaza de Espana

Horseshoe shaped, it is a gorgeous building and it would take days just to see all the tile and fancy-work incorporated.

Some of the pavilions from the 1929 Fair are still used...

The Argentina is now a School of Dance.  We've walked past this a few times and there is always a lot of activity.

We crossed over the river to the Triana side...

Iglesia San Jacinto
This is where I go to mass on Sunday morning.
We live about a 5 minute walk from here.

Triana is one of the several "neighborhoods" or barrios that make up Sevilla.  Bill & I are thrilled that the school placed us in Carlo and Rosas B&B.  Not only are we in walking distance of everything, our hosts are really great people.

As we were riding through Triana I realized I was high enough on the bus to snap some really close photos of the orange trees...

The oranges are way past their prime now, (in fact, I see the start of buds for the future orange blossoms) but the oranges still on the trees are still colorful and aromatic.

In 1992, the World's Fair was again held in Sevilla.
This time, over 100 countries were represented...  in commemoration of Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyages to the new world.

There are several buildings still being used that were built for that exposition.  Most are much more modern than the 1929 Exposition..  possibly because the theme was "The Age of Discovery)...  and of course, being 1992.

This was one of the bridges built to accommodate that fair.

There are several bridges over the Rio Guadalquiver, some quite modern.

Crossing back over the river, we entered the Macarena area...

This arch was the old entrance to that part of the city.  To the left you can see a section of the wall (some of which is still standing) 

Not too far from that section of town, you enter the San Clemente barrio...  Here you'll find the Alameda de Hercules..

The Alameda de Hercules is a large public park situated in the historic center of Seville , and because of its age (1574) ranks as the oldest public garden in Spain and Europe , although in 1570 he built one above, the Paseo del Prado in Madrid, totally transformed, in 1781, during the reign of Carlos III in a new type of classroom walk. ¹ This large garden is the largest public spaces located inside the old city . It is located on the northern edge of the walled city, near the river Guadalquivir on one side and next to the Macarena neighborhood on the other.

This garden was used as a model for other cities on both sides of the Atlantic. It inspired the malls of San Pablo de Ecija (1578), the Alameda de los Descalzos in Lima (1611) and the Alameda Central in Mexico City (1592) ²  

^(Wikapedia)

Two of the Four Columns in the Park...

We're nearing the end of our tour...  

Our bus will wind its way through these narrow streets, back to the place where we started.  

My blog has been a rather abbreviated tour...  the actual tour takes  about one and a half hours.  

As it happens, our tickets are good for 2 days...  so we plan to take the tour all over again this coming Sunday.  Now that we have an overview of the area we might do the "hop off - hop on" way of seeing want we want to see up close.

This is the brochure and map we got upon boarding the bus...

You can see we covered quite a bit of territory....  

This is definitely a great way to see a lot...  and especially to get ideas for future outings.

That completes the city tour...

That's All For Today!