This year we are heading to Spain and Paris for a total of 16 days.  We got together with our friends Minh and Loan and very quickly we came up with this itinerary below:

Sevilla - Day 1 - The arrival

With a layover in Chicago and and second layover in Brussels we finally landed in Seville, Spain 20 hours later without any incident.  While waiting for our luggage and seeing that there aren't any luggage left on the carousel it became apparent that Hoa's luggage got lost in the transfer.  After figuring out how to claim for lost luggage, we were told that Hoa's suitcase will be delivered to our hotel in about 48 hours.  The lady who helped us gave Hoa a kit with a t-shirt and some toiletries to use in the mean time.

We picked up our rental car, turned on our GPS and headed toward our hotel located right in the heart of Seville.  GPS works most of the time but is frustrating once you get into the city because it does not recognize "Pedestrian street" and we missed so many turns as the distance between streets are so short that by the time your the GPS telling you turn it is too late.  Anyway, we made it to the hotel around 5:30PM, rested a bit and within 45 minutes we were out on the street. 

As we walked out of our hotel (on the left Alphonso X) we noticed a mob of people walking toward us.

Look at the end of the picture and you will a lot of people.

At first we were not sure where the crowd came from and then we noticed that all of them are dressed so nicely.

Beautiful ladies in their best evening gown.

I heard someone said the all these people just attended a wedding ceremony at a church near by...

They are walking toward a meeting location where a bus will take them to dinner.

Yep, they are really pretty, especially the lady in red.

Here we are starting our walk around town and we trying to orient ourselves to Seville.

Here are the twins... Aren't they cute?

Anyway he showed us the the location of Modesto Tapas/Bar but unfortunately it was too early (around 7:00PM) and the restaurant is not open until 8:00PM so we decided to keep walking.

Facade of typical Andalusia house with massive wooden door.  Looks like the door is built to last a life time.

This is the narrowest street in Seville.  Located in Barrio Santa Cruz (Jewish quarter).

The street is so narrow that you can extend both your arms and touch both walls.

Mariscol street is a very short street more like an alley giving way to a cute courtyard with apartments.

Here we walking toward the Plaza Refinadores, a small square between Plaza Santa Cruz and Calle Santa María La Blanca, there stands a statue of Don Juan.

Don Juan is a Spanish fictitious character who is a famous lover and scoundrel and claimed to have made more than a thousand sexual conquests.

Since Modesto restaurant is not open until 8:00PM, we took the opportunity to discover Seville.

We entered the Barrio Santa Cruz area which was once Seville's thriving Jewish quarter.  The streets are narrow, winding almost like a maze and most of them are too narrow for cars which make it ideal for wandering.  The streets, probably centuries old, are made with cobbled stones with whitewashed buildings and lots and lots of restaurants & bars.

Next.. Tapas hopping