The sights of Seville in February
In February I travelled to Seville for a 4 night break with my family, I had never been before and it had always been on my wish list to visit. I stayed in the old town of Seville just 5 mins walk from the Cathedral/river front and only 10 minutes from the colourful Triana across the river. The old town is beautiful, the Cathedral is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and 2nd largest in the world. I explored the magnificent inside which is home to Christopher Columbus's tomb then I climbed up the Giralda tower which offers fantastic views over the city. Located in the same old town square is the UNESCO site of The Royal Alcazar, the home of the Spanish Royal family, inside the palace are the most amazing gardens that you can explore. The city is really easy to navigate on foot and everything is within a 30 mins walk, there is a good tram service, hop on hop off bus and plenty of taxis for the less mobile.
North of the city is the Las Setas area, home to '' the mushroom of Seville '' this viewing platform is one of the largest wooden platform in the world, you can visit during the day for fabulous views and return at night time for the Aurora night show. In the Las Setas area there are many shops, restaurants, bars and it has a bustling feel to it.
For any sports fans a trip to the Sevilla football stadium is a must, located 15 mins drive from the old town the stadium, it has one of the steepest stands in football history - not for the faint hearted !
South of the old town is Plaza De Espana, this monumental building which radiates Sevillian and Andalusian character was built in 1929 for the Ibero-American exhibition and has been used in Star Wars movies. It is a fabulous place to spend the afternoon, watching the world go buy or cycling/walking in Parque de Maria Luisa which is located next door. If Flamenco dancing is your thing then across the river where all the colourful houses are in the lively district of Triana, this is where Flamenco first started and can still be enjoyed at one of the many establishments!
Seville offers something for everyone, there were 7 of us ranging from 12 years - 78 years and we all had a brilliant time. It is a great city to explore the area with train connections to Cordoba, Malaga, Madrid, Cadiz and beyond.
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In the Easter holidays my husband and I jetted off to explore Brazil with my 2 teenager children, what an amazing country it is, we loved every minute. Our adventure started in Rio de Janeiro, taking in the sights of Christ de Redeemer, watched sunset up Sugar Loaf mountain, Fifa- street favella tour, Maracana stadium and enjoyed relaxing on Copacabana beach. The next stop was the amazing Iguazu Falls, with over 270 falls, spreading over the border of Brazil and Argentina - it was incredible. We explore both the Argentina and Brazil side and got soaked on the boat trip into the falls ! We stayed in Foz De Iguazu for 3 nights, the boys enjoyed a round of golf and the girls enjoyed relaxing by the pool. We headed over the border into Paraguay for a quick shopping trip before continuing our journey to Santos ( Sao Paulo beach resort ). The home of Pele, my football crazy family headed to Santos stadium and Pele museum before exploring the old town on a vintage tram. From here we boarded our cruise ship for a 7 night sailing along the coast of Brazil, we headed 1000 miles north, visiting the picturesque resort of Buzios - with its cobbled streets, turquoise water and lovely beaches. Salvador was the next stop, home to where it all began in Brazil, circa 1500's the first part of Brazil that was discovered by the Portuguese. This colourful town has a huge Afro-Brazil vibe and it is vibrant, full of energy and packed with history. Our cruise then sailed to the North Beaches of Brazil where we enjoyed a day on a paradise beach just north of Maceio before heading back to Santos with a couple of sea days for us to relax and enjoy the ship. On disembarking the cruise we had a full day before our late evening flight home so we took a private tour of Sao Paulo's city, taking in Bat Man alley - with it's colourful street art, visited the Monumento as Bandeiras, Ibirapurea Park and views of the city from the Museum of Art roof top. Travelling to Brazil from Manchester the flights operate via Lisbon with Tap air it is 3 hours to Lisbon then 10 hours from there. Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking country in South America and English is not widely spoken ( google translate became our best friend ). The country is so diverse, the people extremely happy, friendly and always dancing !! We loved every minute of this trip and it was a great way to celebrate my son's 18th Birthday. One for the memory bank !
Cindy and Julie recently travelled to Budapest for a cruise conference and enjoyed a 2 night stay on board Ama waterways river cruise boat AmaMora. This beautiful luxury river boat has 70 cabins, it is decorated throughout in lovely pastel pink colours. On the first evening they were invited to the fine dining restaurant at the back of the ship called Chef's table, this was a 7 course meal paired with a wine for each course, it was an incredible experience, it is included free of charge for each guest on board at least once per their cruise. They enjoyed a walking tour through Budapest's Jewish quarter in the afternoon and in the evening the boat sailed down the Danube past the stunning Parliament building. Day 2 - cruise conference day, they joined our cruise partners for a full day of product knowledge and networking. They had presentations from Virgin Voyages, Ambassador Cruises, Princess Cruises, Riviera Travel, Scenic / Emerald Cruises, Explora Journeys, Oceania Cruises, Azamara, NCL, Star Clippers, Cunard and Royal Caribbean Cruises. When you stay on board a river boat they are able to dock in the city centre. It is a great way to experience may different cities and stunning landscape in one holiday. Ideal for those wanting to see lot's of different places while only unpacking once. A river cruise holiday can be as relaxing or as busy as you choose. Cindy had never been on a river boat before and absolutely loved it.
