Seville, Plaza d'Espana, Parque Maria Luisa, Alcazabar, Feria de Seville.

Boy, did we see some great stuff today. The Plaza de Espana is one of the must see sights in Spain by my reckoning. It is a vast gracefully curving edifice in brick and columns which gently embraces a similarly curving artificial canal. Two enormous towers mark the ends with a large imposing gateway in its centre. A large open area surrounds the fountain located at the geometric centre of the curve. It is quite something to see and far too large to fit into a single photo, though everyone there was trying to valiantly. It is a beautiful graceful building and surroundings on a grand and opulent scale. This is also the location for the Naboo palace scenes shot for the Star Wars movies.

And didn't we luck out today. There is usually something happening at a venue such as this. It is such an astonishingly beautiful backdrop after all. Today was a horse drawn carriage competition where immaculately groomed horses and equally immaculately groomed men and women presented their exquisite coaches to the judges for appraisal. Guys, what a sight. Gleaming landaus, coaches, gigs and buggys all drawn by tall proud horses in their finest livery. 

Note that the completion was not judged on looks alone. Staging areas through the Plaza and the neighbouring Parque Marie Luisa were demarked for testing proficiency in horsemanship and driving skills which all contributed to the score.

A word about the Parque Musica is order. It adjoins the Plaza de Espana and complements the open activity space there with a tree and lawn gardens of restful tranquility. Winding paths seem to turn up new an interesting features around each and every corner. It's hard to not get drawn deeper and deeper into the park just finding new things to look at. It is a very popular place with the locals as a recreational space too. Families and their dogs are seen playing and romping about happily. On this particular day here were also a great many children resplendent in the first confirmation outfits being photographed by their proud parents.

But all good things must end and we moved (somewhat reluctantly it must be said) to our appointment with a tour group to see through the Alcazar. I'm no fan of tour groups but to beat the enormous queues there is little other choice. And that comes at a fairly hefty cost of around 29 euros. But the former Moorish fortress turned royal palace is another of the must see places in Spain. It is so remarkable aesthetically and so well preserved visually that no less than two of its areas are palace locations for the very popular HBO program, Game of Thrones. 
Still hadn't used up all our luck it seems. Today was also the start of the Feria de Sevilla, a lavish civic event celebrating all good things in Spanish culture, particularly food, hospitality, music and above all the Flamenco dance. Several city blocks are set aside each year and turned over to the festival organisers. It becomes a gigantic tent city with hospitality tents shoulder to shoulder down all the streets. In many ways it resembles the tents we see on Cup Day at Flemington, but on a much, much grander scale. Piccies below.

The Alumeda de Hercules at around 9 pm

Quite a different story to the Alumeda de Hercules at 9 am

The statue in the Palza del Cid.

And, yeah, he does look a bit like Charlton Heston.

All along the Plaza de Espana there are seats dedicated to each on Spain's major cities.

This one is a depiction of Barcelona.

And so they go on, with the cities named in alphabetical order.

Us overlooking the Plaza de Espana, its canal and bridges.

If it looks familiar it may be because the Star Wars scenes of Naboo were shot right here.

On of the decorated canal bridges. There are 4 in total.

Small row boats can be hired and it's popular with the kids to row them along the canal.

A shot of Naboo, aka the Plaza de Espana.

With his parent's permission we took this shot of a young boy dressed for his first communion.

The little girls all wear white dresses and usually a pretty floral head band.

This day we just lucked out. There was a completion for horse drawn carriages on in the Plaza.

The carriages, horses, harnesses and livery all looked amazing, a tough day for the judges.

And it's not all about looks. There are stages to test their driving skills and horsemanship as well.

Horses made up for the competition.
You know, I think the horses liked getting dressed up too and trotted along with their heads held high and with a haughty prancing stride.

A mum and her young daughter dressed properly to go carriage riding.

A well turned out coach and four. 
Smart livery on the gentlemen and their ladies too.

Adjoins the Plaza de Espana is the beautiful Parque Marie Luisa.

It is a vast area of manicured lawns, gardens, walking paths and water features.

The park is quite public and the people of Seville use it for relaxation and recreational activities.

These people came to the park to get in some yoga.

These guys came to the park to practice their hula dancing.

The park has lovely artificial lakes and ponds dotted about.

A mozaiced pond fed by water squirting frogs.

This young lady in traditional dress was in town visiting her parents.
Although she would not be attending the Feria de Seville that started that night, she thought she'd get dressed up anyway.

Jackie having lunch near the Alcazar with some unusual traffic in the background?
Not in Seville, it's not.

Inside the Alcazar or Royal Palace.
Beautiful Moorish architecture with just a hint of historical Spanish christian vandalism.

A patio with fruit trees and a reflective water feature down its centre.
Identical to one found at the Alhambra in Granada.
You'll also find a similar design element at the Taj Mahal in Agra.

The amazing gold ceiling of the Ambassadors Room, where visiting dignitaries were received.
And no doubt impressed by their host's affluence.

Filigree in the windows high up in the walls of the Ambassadors Room.
Amazingly detailed ceramic and Islamic carvings in the walls and door architraves.

Some detail of the door arches.
If this looks familiar it was the location for shooting of one of the palaces in the HBO show Game of Thrones.

The patio outside the Ambassadors Room.
The reflective pool is a feature frequently used in Muslim architecture around the world.

Believe it or not, this is the bath of the Lady Padilla, a much favoured mistress of the King Peter I.

The Feria de Seville was due to kick off at midnight, but plenty of places beat the gun.
This is a TV reporter dressed for the occasion and carrying her mike, ready to cross to the news desk.

The Festia de Seville is like the hospitality tents at Flemington on Cup Day, but on a much, much grander scale. These ladies are making churros and promoting their respective establishments.

 much grander scale. These ladies were making churros and promoting their respective establishments.