Triana, Seville.

We visited the district of Triana twice. The first time in order to explore the district, and the second on our way to the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo in the former Monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas, which later became a pottery factory. The district is situated on the west bank of the Guadalquivir River. The area has a strong traditional pottery and tile industry, a vibrant flamenco culture and its own festivals and has played an important role in the development of Sevilian culture and tradition.

View of the district

from the Puente Cristo de la Expiracion bridge.

It's a large bridge

with traffic lanes and well as one for pedestrians

we stopped to look at the view

and then started walking along this avenue.

Shops, bars, restaurants

as well as courtyards

and churches.

Mixed architecture.

We turned left into Calle Betis, the street which runs along the waterfront, offers a panoramic view of Seville and has many of the city's most popular restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

We could see the Golden Tower from here, and thought about how lovely it would be to sit here on the terrace of this restaurant at night.

All the restaurants looked appealing.

We could see the next bridge

which was next to a busy roundabout. 

We crossed over and went to have a look at the Golden Tower.

The next day we visited Triana again. This time we crossed a bridge that was fairly quiet with hardly any traffic

Our destination: CAAC, the Centro Andaluz de Arte Conteporaneo in the former Monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas

which was also a ceramics factory.

We spent a considerable time at the CAAC and then decided to take a walk by the river

Torre Triana on our right, one of the largest administrative buildings of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

This glass tower with a lift on the side intrigued us, but we did not manage to find out what it is

A very pleasant walk

We walked through the park on the side of the river

Torre Sevilla, a 40-storey tower that dominates over the Guadalquivir river and the whole area.  The Eurostars five-star hotel occupies the top 12 storeys, and the remaining flors are used as commercial office and retail space.

We crossed the bridge we had crossed the previous day

had a look at the view

and arrived at Plaza De Armas where there had been a traffic accident between a bus and a car.

El Arenal, Seville

The El Arenal district lies on the east bank of the Guadalquivir river and to the west of the district of Santa Cruz. The two main historical sites of the district are the Torre del Oro, the Golden Tower, a 13th century Moorish watchtower, and the Real Maestranza, Seville's bullring, the second most important in Spain after the one in Madrid. 

The Museo des Bella Artes was the main attraction for us. We walked through this district three times, the first time to visit the museum, and the other two to gain access to Triana, the district across the river.

It was a pleasant walk from our hotel down to the river through narrow streets and beautiful buildings

These palm trees are so tall

The Plaza del Museo is a quiet, peaceful square which gets transformed on Sundays as there is an art fair there every week

 The museum, a former convent is an impressive building

as are the two huge old trees 

with these  impressive roots. I did not manage to find out what these trees are.

A lot of flowering jacaranda trees are also to be found here

Plaza de Armas and its commercial centre is a busy thoroughfare, not far from the museum

the river is on the edge of the square,  with views of Triana and the Sevilla Tower, an office skyscraper

There are quite a few bridges that connect the two parts of the city, the Puente Cristo de la Expiracion is one of the biggest.

The river walk is very pleasant

with a park next to it

a tranquil place, with lots of people sitting by the river

Another of the many bridges

boats cruize up and down the river 

the flowering jacarandas everywhere

a much smaller bridge, much more pedestrian-friendly

Triana across the water

a monument to the men and women who have fallen

We were nearing the Golden Tower

but first, a replica of the Nao Victoria, the first ship to circumnagivate the globe which departed Seville in 1519 and returned in 1522.

Amazing sky

The Torre del Oro, the Tower of Gold, iks a dodecagonal military watchtower which was erected in the first third of the 13th century in order to control access to Seville via the Guadalquivir river. Its name comes from the golden shine it projected on the river, due to its building materials which are a mixture of mortar, lime and pressed hay. It served as a prison in the Middle Ages. 

We did not visit the Tower, nor did we visit the bullring.

Instead, we took the boat that took us along the river

and then we sat here and had a cool drink.