Rest and study Spanish

01 May 2019 • Travel time: with 01 April 2019 on 14 April 2019

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Last year I started learning Spanish, and the best way to learn as effectively as possible is to immerse yourself in the language environment.

I have always dreamed of visiting Andalusia and this was the moment when I could combine the pleasant with the useful. I chose Seville to live in and from there I traveled to Andalusia. My classes ended at 1 pm and I had plenty of time to travel.

There is a lot of information on the Internet about cities, architecture and what to visit, but when I was preparing for the trip information about transport and local features was not enough, still Andalusia is not very popular among our tourists. During the two weeks of living in Andalusia, the number of Russian-speaking tourists I met can be counted on my fingers.

Travel Period : April 1-14

Weather: In April the weather is very changeable, it can rain in the morning, but by 12 o'clock the sun and heat, from 6 o'clock it gets cooler, and at 21 o'clock it gets cold again, so it's always better put on a t-shirt + sweater + jacket and take off and put on everything during the day.

In the morning + 8, +11; in the afternoon to +25; at dinner again to + 10

Local features:

Seville, the sun rises around eight in the morning, so when it's night outside at seven in the morning, don't worry about your watch breaking. All students and employees go to work at 9 o'clock.

The sun sets after 9pm

Coffee shops open after 8 p. m.

Local bars open no earlier than 20.00. all other restaurants are for tourists

Local drink Tinto de verano is an analogue of Sangria, but cheaper for locals. Translation - Red summer wine, very light and delicious wine.

Tapas are not sandwiches, but full-fledged snacks, a plate of potatoes with meat, or a plate of fried fish.

Seville is a city of bars, everyone has dinner at bars every night, chats with friends and goes out with the whole family. It is normal to meet parents with teenage children at the bar after 12 o'clock at night.

At two o'clock in the morning, the streets of Seville are crowded as if at nine o'clock, and it's not just teenagers who walk there.

Seville

From the airport in Seville there is a bus - EA

Bus stop just outside the terminal. Tickets can be purchased from the cashier near the bus or from the driver. Fare 4 euros.

Santa Justa Central Station is a 20-minute bus ride away.

The final stop of the bus is the Plaza de Armas bus station, which is very close to the historic center.

The entire route is displayed on the TV screen, the names of the stops are announced.

For city tours I use maps me, and ofline audio guide, izi. travel.

Historical center, without visiting museums, I went for 3 hours.

Municipal transport in Seville, very well developed.

At each stop there is a list of which buses stop at this stop, which stops the bus passes and even a map of the bus route. So just go and choose which bus is right for you.

The cost of travel by bus within Seville is 1.40 euros.

information about buses at the bus stop

bus routes

I also went to the neighboring town of Santiponse , the ticket costs 1.6 euros.

Santiponse.

Town 6 km from the center of Seville, with all stops travel time by bus 25 minutes.

The bus departs from the bus station -Plaza de Armas, located on the riverbed north of the center.

What is the city of Santiponse.

A small suburb, 15 car drive from the center of Seville, very quiet and cozy.

On the outskirts of the city are the ruins of Italica, a Roman settlement before our era.

The city has a well-preserved ancient Roman Colosseum, which housed up to 20.000 people to watch glatiator fights.

Excavation park, large enough, you can also see the excavation of mosaics in the house, it is unbelievable that the mosaic is so well preserved.

Entrance to the park is free, although everything is well organized, there is security, as well as a small museum in the administration building, excavations and a film-reconstruction of life in the city of Italica at the time. I advise you to watch the movie, it will take 5-10 minutes, but there will be an idea of what a Roman city was and how everything was arranged.

In this place, in the Colosseum, the filming of "Game of Thrones" took place, that's how I learned about it.

The city also has an amphitheater, but it was already closed but it can be seen without entering the territory, as well as the Monastery -De San Isidoro del Campo.

The monastery is open from 10 am to 3 am, so if you decide to visit, count the timeJ, I only looked at its walls.

Cordoba

Seville Railway Station - Santa Justa

Tickets can be bought both at the box office and at vending machines, the prices are identical.

Since I could only go to Có rdoba in the afternoon, I chose the high-speed train to Có rdoba and the regular one on the way back.

One-way train ticket 25 euros, travel time 45 minutes.

Return ticket, 11 euros, travel time 1 hour 20 minutes.

When you buy tickets in both directions, the cost is lower by a couple of euros.

I haven't traveled much in Europe for long distances, so it was a surprise to me that the security system here as well as at the airport

First, before entering the platform, check the tickets, then check all the things, shining through the metal detectors.

Then check the tickets again.

Train tickets with car and seat

For information - Coche -Wagon, plaza - city

The train is clean and comfortable.

when buying a ticket in both directions, you get a small discount

high-speed train ticket

Cordoba.

I had 4 and a half hours to this city, as I arrived at 15.30, and at 20.10 I already had a return ticket to Seville.

Like all medieval cities, historic Cordoba is compact and using an audio guide, I went to explore what's interesting there.

The train station is near the historic center, so in 15 minutes I will be in a maze of streets that are completely immersed in flowers.

I was amazed by the monumental ensemble, the mosque - the Cathedral of Cordoba. It's hard to put into words, it has to be seen. I visited after the Cathedral of Seville, but definitely Cordoba impressed me much more

The entrance ticket cost 10 euros

There will be no queues, there is a program in Russian.

Near the famous bridge overlooking the cathedral and the Alcazar (palace)

In Alcazar I was lucky, the ticket costs 5 euros, but since I was there before closing, after 6 o'clock, everyone came for free. I don't know if it's always like that, but I had it.

Everywhere, in the parks of the Alcazar and in the picturesque courtyards, professional photographers photographed children with their parents. Apparently such a tradition in the spring, when everything is in bloom to take family photos, in Seville has not seen this.

The city has many churches and historical values, but the guide took me to the palace of Viana.

Entrance ticket without a tour cost 5 euros.

The palace is a house of the 15th century and gives the opportunity to learn how the nobility lived at that time. The building has 12 courtyards with fountains and flowers.

It is very nice, but there are such courtyards all over Cordoba, so you decide whether you want to visit it, but if you have enough time you will have a lot of fun.

On the 6 km route, I spent 4 hours and was at the station half an hour before the train left.

Journey to Granada from Seville

Tickets can be purchased both at the box office and at vending machines at the station

I bought a ticket for the Santa Justa train station, price 31.2 euros one way.

Travel time 4 hours, one ticket for the whole trip, but first you go by train to the stop Osuna 79 km, an hour and a half, where you change to the bus and already on the bus to Granada.

The stop in Osuna, very small, at first glance is in the field.

As soon as you get off the train, you are met by the station conductors and pointed to the buses that are already waiting to be sent to Granada.

It's very simple and almost everyone on the train goes to Granada, so you definitely won't get lost there

After a while on the way we were taken to St Anna train station, where we were transferred to another bus and on the second bus to Granada.

The road is very picturesque with many olive groves.

Ticket to Granada where the transfer is indicated

Stop in Osuna

Granada

Rich has been said and written about Granada, I will not retell it, it must be seen. I will say that the city exceeded all my expectations.

In the morning I started my journey from the Arab Quarter. Labyrinth streets, on gentle slopes give the opportunity with each tier to discover new views of the Alhambra and the whole city, as well as the tops of snow-capped mountains.

I recommend visiting the park ....as well as climbing the stairs to the church .....

I bought a ticket to the Alhambra 3 weeks before the trip on the official website - http://www. algranada . com / 2012/08 / blog-post.html ; https:// tickets. patronized alhambra.

es / but even for three weeks tickets were available only at 13.00 and only at the maximum price, because they included an additional exhibition. The usual cost is 14 euros. All types of tickets are listed on the site. In line with me were people who bought tickets on the same day, so if you did not buy in advance, then try to buy at the box office at the entrance.

The complex consists of several buildings and gardens. Ticket for the entrance in time only to the Palace of Nazareth, on the map it is burgundy, after his visit to the gardens and other buildings you can walk as much as you want. Since the complex is mostly tourists, few people know where the entrance to Nazareth, and since I came to a stop, it was a bit confusing how to get to the entrance in time. I spent two and a half hours in the complex, and I think you can do more, but I still wanted to walk around the city. I looked at the groups of retirees, and realized that this is not an easy tour for them.

Constant cascades with ascents and descents, another gym, but they jumped very well.

Step by step: when you enter the complex from the city street to the park, keep to the left, the ascent is quite steep, it is difficult to climb quickly. When you see the fountains beating from the wall on the left, immediately after them turn left and go to the high gate of the tower, go up the stairs. There are no controllers or workers of the complex to ask. After leaving the crossing you will find yourself in the square where the bus and taxi stop, in front of you will be a building, a palace with a facade carved into large squares, just behind it, on the right you will see a queue, you there in line to the Nazareth Palace. Next for people and pointers.

At the entrance-exit is the Alcazar, which overlooks the city. In general, all the buildings are so majestic and massive that do not fit into the camera lens.

So the further and higher you go, the better photos you will have.

The Cathedral of Granada deserves special attention. Entrance fee 5, audio guide in English or Spanish.

Transport.

City buses cost 1.4 euros

There are small buses that go through the old quarters and drive to the entrance of the Alhambra.

Bus number 33 runs almost all over the city center and its final stop is the central bus station. The bus is constantly going in a circle, its cost is 1.4 euros, tickets are bought from the driver, it is desirable to have small money, and if there is no rest, then you have to look for where to exchange money, you can not pass. There seem to be terminals but for PayPas, but not for chip cards.

Malaga

After Granada, I went to Malaga by bus, so I'll tell you how to organize it.

At the bus station you can buy tickets at the box office, and you can slot machines, below are instructions on how to buy a ticket at the slot machine.

Fare to Malaga 11.57 euros, travel time almost 2 hours

ticket machine at the bus station

step-by-step instructions

Type the name of the city

select a date and indicate that payment by card or cash

choose time

choose a place

get such a ticket

Malaga - Seville

There are two options, you can go by bus, costing from 18 to 25 euros, depending on travel time.

Since it is more convenient for me to use the railway, I chose this option.

Ticket costs 25 euros, travel time 3.5 hours.

But the option was the same as with the trip to Granada. Bus + train

You arrive at the train station, your track is indicated, but you are taken by bus and you take a bus to Osuna station, where you change trains to Santa Justa - Sibyl

Malaga

I was not impressed by the small resort town, after all the palaces I saw, but the sea is a big plus

The map of places to visit at any tourist kiosk is free.

Cathedral 6 euros

Bishop's Palace

Alcazar

Gibralfaro Castle

Many more churches and museums to choose from.

On Sunday after 14.00 the entrance to the Alcazar and the castle of Gibralfaro - free. In the second double ticket Alcazar + Gibralfaro - 5.5 euros

Also famous is the bar el Pimpi next to the cathedral. Order Tinto de verano (a glass of summer wine) and tapas of your choice.

In Spain, tapas is not a sandwich, you are brought a snack with wine, such as rice with seafood, or tuna with potatoes, depending on which snack you choose

Cadiz

Oh the last town I visited was Cadiz

Trains run from the train station every hour, you can also visit Jerez on the way

But on Saturday the weather was good and everyone decided to go to the ocean and when I arrived at the station there were no tickets, so my girlfriend and I rented a car

train schedule to Cadiz

Alcazar in Saville

Seville Cathedral

Alhambra - Granada

Alhambra - Shranada

Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original