We had a lovely air conditioned train ride to Seville that took two hours. The countryside was quite dry, but was cropped in some places with irrigation. We arrived at the station, but realised we should have got off at a previous stop. However all was not lost – what did we ever do without Google maps? We found the bus stop and started to make our way to our hostel. Trouble was we got off too early. No problem just waited and got on the next bus 5 minutes later. We made it to the hostel in the heat, 30 degrees. Another slight problem….. – we had booked ahead, but poor Richard had typed in June not May. The things that happen when you are not feeling well!! But the lady was lovely and gave us an even better room than what we had booked, so it suited us fine. Except for the giant cockroach that appeared! We organised ourselves and then went to check out the cathedral – the biggest one (in area) in the world. And the third largest behind one in Rome and St Pauls in London. Another piece of amazing architecture – beautiful stained glass windows and ornate woodwork and marble features. We had a good couple of hours here, as only having half a day wasn’t really enough time to explore other sights. We then went out for a tapa dinner. We are getting used to it – small tasty portions, and you don’t over eat!! Especially when you are not feeling 100%, and the waistline is approving.
From the little we saw Seville has a certain charm. There are loads of horses and carts doing the tourist routes. They are beautifully cared for, and make a great sound around the place. There are also the trams, similar to Istanbul serving the city. Seville is also VERY cycle friendly, which we thought was fantastic. There are bike parks and rental stops everywhere, along with dedicated cycle lanes that are not on the roads. Loads of people use them very successfully, and at night the skateboarders and inline skaters come out. It gave a good vibe to the place and seemed a great use of the long evenings. It doesn’t get dark here till 10pm. We have decided Spain will be on a future trip – hopefully with more time to explore and get out into the countryside!
Photos to come 🙂