Seville -Day 1

Tapas hopping

As we are walking along Hoa stumbled on this Cafe Bar.   Once he took a look inside and saw all the Jamón Ibérico hanging from the ceiling he told us we all should go in.

 What a sight... Jamón Ibérico galore hanging from the ceiling! 

If you are not familiar with Jamón Ibérico, it is the finest cured ham in the world with a decadently rich nutty flavor that evokes the countryside of Spain. Ibérico ham comes from an ancient breed of pig found only on the Iberian Peninsula and are known as Cerdo Ibérico, or "Pata Negra. This exceptional ham is cured for up to four years, resulting in an intense flavor with an unparalleled note of sweetness. The most expensive and sought after is the Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, where the pigs are fed exclusively on fallen acorns, known as bellota, for three months prior to slaughter resulting in high levels of flavorful natural fats and a rich and nutty flavor that cannot be found anywhere else.

I have never seen so many Jamón Ibérico hanging at a same place in all my life.

In the California they sell Jamón Ibérico by oz in small package or at restaurant served in small plate.

Yep, this is pretty amazing!

Standing at the bar to watch the waiter cutting the Jamón Ibérico

It is cut by hand and I am sure it takes a lot of practice to cut into thin slices.

Close look at the Jamón Ibérico.  Once it is cut it is served with bread. 

Our first meal in Seville: Jamón Ibérico, breadsticks compliment of the house, 2 glasses of wine, cooked Octopus in olive oil and the bill came to 16 euros including tip. 

We are now done with our 1st stop let's move on to the next restaurant....

It is now past 8:00Pm and we walked back to Modesto.

Everything looked pretty good in there so we ordered a bunch of dishes.

Duck confit Spanish style.

Not as good the French Duck confit.  This one is a bit on the sweet side and the skin could be a bit crispier.

Grilled giant prawns.  They were so succulent, so delicious and the best part is they only cost 10 euros = $13 for 6 huge prawns!

Let's start our meal!

and by the time we are done... there is nothing left!

In Spain dinner is usually served between 9 and 11PM and that's why Spaniards often go "bar hopping" and eat tapas in the time between finishing work and having dinner.  They usually order a few dishes to hold them until dinner.

People just don't stay very long in the same restaurant, they just move around a lot which is a total foreign concept for us coming from the U.S. 

After dinner we walked around a bit and went pass the Sevilla's cathedral (left) and on the right is the Hotel Alfonso XVIII, a gorgeous five stars hotel.

We found a table at Haagen Dazs and ordered ice cream.  I went next door and got myself a cup of coffee at Starbucks. 

The weather was warm, comfortable and perfect to sit outside.

On our way back to the hotel (around 11:00PM) Hoa suggested to stop by the bar/cafe Altamira in front of our hotel for some Digestifs.

Minh and Hoa ordered a glass of Limoncello each.

Next.. Seville-Day 2