A Bus Tour of The Planet Naboo

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I got up early for some photographs of the impressive cathedral, but lit up in the dark and, hopefully, without all the crowds who are filling the streets until way after my bedtime. There were a few people who were still enjoying their Saturday night out, but only a few. Sadly though, the illuminated building was a non-starter as the flood lights had been turned-off. It wasn’t a total wright-off, however, as the cathedral looked particularly stunning when the sun came up and it was bathed in the red, early morning light.

It was nice to listen to the bells striking as I was waiting for some light.

We had decided that we would go on the hop-on, hop-off sight-seeing bus tour, which are usually great to get some additional information and history, and to find some things that may then be worth checking-out more closely afterwards. On the upside, it fulfilled those expectations, as we had headphones with lots of commentary (and when there was no commentary, there was Flamenco music to enjoy).

On the downside, however, it was unbearably hot, although not compared to the Rome tour last year (see Armed and Dangerous With my Tripod). We should have bought some Panama hats off the guys selling them at the bus stop, who were obviously knew exactly what we had coming.

Also, the bus was so full that we were lucky to get on and then we had to stand downstairs at first. We did get to sit after a lot of people got off at the next stop for the Plaza de Espana. Another problem was that the bus was unable to go anywhere near many of the main sights that we were supposed to be seeing in the centre due to the narrow streets. The latter really didn’t surprise us, after we had been watching a lorry struggle whilst we were having a drink on our first evening.

Earlier, we had been discussing how some of the buildings reminded us of Star Wars. According to the narrative on the bus, the buildings of Seville were the inspiration for the architecture of the Planet Naboo.

The bus also went out of the main centre of Seville, into what looked like an industrialised area, featuring a theme park, a contemporary art museum that looks like a power station (but then I guess that works well for Tate Modern), something called Progressive Technology (which was ugly, in a rough state of repair, devoid of life and complete with an Ariane rocket that appeared to be made out of breeze-blocks) and the hideous, out-of-place skyscraper that dominates much of the Seville skyline. Needless to say, hopping-off was not something we considered.

The others wanted to see the Metropol Parasol, so we walked there for a look again. This meant walking through the main shopping area, but as it was Sunday, everywhere was closed. Spain takes Sundays a lot more seriously than we do. This time, we went up on to the top of the Parasol, where there is a path winding across much of the sculpture. It was really unusual and the views were excellent.

Additionally, our tickets got us free postcards from the gift shop and, apparently, a free drink from somewhere that didn’t seem to exist.

There were no British channels on the TV in the hotel, so we watched American news as at least we could understand the language. It was interesting to hear an external perspective on British politics and the fiasco that is Brexit. Quotes included “the suicide of a nation”, “little England” and “ the death of the Tory Party if they elect Boris Johnson as leader”. CNN obviously feel the same way about him as they do their own leader, who, apparently, is blessing our nation with his presence tomorrow, hence the focus on the UK. They explained how overjoyed we are not about Donald Tump’s intervention on the Brexit issue and for his support for that blond imbecile. I’m not sure if Boris should be overjoyed or dismayed.

They have also been heavily reporting the football (or should I say ‘soccer’) match, which I would have thought was of no interest to Americans what so ever.

We went for some Tapas in the evening. I’m not sure if they were stereotyping us British, but a couple of the Tapas dishes came on a bed of chips. I think there may be more authentic Tapas places out there. This place did have a lot of character however, including the bull heads all over the walls. Furthermore, it also had something called ‘lemon beer’, which I think I could seriously acquire a taste for.

I went back to the Parasol too see what it looked like at night. It was a lot more crowded, but then I could see why as the night-time views were even better than during the day. There was also a rock concert of some sort going on underneath it.

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Photos

Seville Cathedral
The cathedral and La Giralda at sunrise.

Metropol Parasol View
The night-time view from the top of the Metropol Parasol.

Metropol Parasol
The Metropol Parasol itself at night.

Seville Cathedral
Seville Cathedral at night.

Tapas Restaurant
The character of the Tapas restaurant, although the Tapas came with chips.