A travel story from Seville

Weekend trip to Seville, Spain

Seville. Said to be a beautiful city in Southern Spain and I have been excited about it for years. January 2026 my time came to visit the place and after a bumpy flight through Lisbon I finally made it there. No more minus degrees for two days. I can’t tell enough what that meant. two days of exploring, running and spending time with friends was coming up.

Seville sightseeing

We all wanted to see the famous Alcazar gardens. It was a bit tricky to find tickets which did not included a guided tour but my friend managed so we guided ourselves though the beautiful Arabian inspired palace.

The architecture was very similar to Alhambra but the place much bigger.

Totally stunning place and at this time of the year the trees were filled with oranges. I could have moved in but sadly I did not got any room key.

Had some tapas but not the best one. Was very difficult to find the kind I am used to. We sat down at a tapas place at one of the many cozy streets. Service was arrogant and that was the real tourist trap this trip. Maybe different regions in Spain have different tapas? I don’t know.

The city itself I liked a lot. Beautiful houses and also the river to stroll along. And it was even sun that was heating a bit. Pure luck. I hope this is the last winter in my life I spend freezing at a grey and dark place.

Ambience was how I like it. Street life and happy people around. Music and entertainment at the streets. I could have stayed longer.

River front with palm trees looking like the ones in California. Tall and skinny ones. Think I don’t have to say more how much I liked this place.

Seville half marathon

I did not only came for sightseeing and as part of many of my weekend trips also this time a running race was on the agenda. Seville half marathon. The run had been sold out long and little did I know or could even imagine that I would be around this time of the year when places was out for sale last summer but I found one on the second hand market. Also had some friends running so double the fun.

At the start line I had a good feeling. Legs felt fresh but I was only going to do it for fun. A good time is always a bonus. The last months I have not trained as I wish due to cold weather, icy streets, darkness and paining muscles because of the cold weather. I had no clue how I would do this Sunday morning in 14 degrees. When we waited in the start block it started to rain. The rain was then coming and going through the 21K. I didn’t looked a lot on my watch. Was fully busy passing other runners since I got a start group way in the back and kept on overtaking others the whole run. Over 700 people I passed according to the result list. The race itself was to crowded with 20 000 runners to be a favorite one. It was nice but nothing special. I finished in 1:38:00 and walked away very happy with my time.

Took an after run drinking sangria and did race recap. And I wanted to see plaza Espania without rain but guess what? When I made my second attempt walking there it started to rain. Again. Guess that means I have to come back.

It was absolutely a better weekend in January. Freezing my ass off during the week doesn’t make me wanna go skiing this year. I had more than enough of everything associated with winter for a long long time so have to go back to Spain also this weekend.