Blogs from Seville, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

Seville was totally unexpected. We had thought it would be pretty good, after all the other lovely places we have been to in Spain, but it is really special. It is a fantastically interesting city and is yet another gap in our education; I guess. If you’d asked me I would have said it was famous for bitter oranges, which it is (exported to the UK for marmalade) and bull fights. It is a great deal more than that. Seville was simply the most important city in the world for a long time after Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. It was the gateway to and from America, and this, of course, meant unbelievable wealth and commerce. It also meant huge power and influence – the Franciscans benefiting hugely (San Francisco). The city was originally some 80 ... read more

Today was a local holiday in Seville celebrating the feast of the Patron Saint, Ferdinand III (i think) so the streets were very busy and there was a parade. I wasn't feeling too sociable and I wanted to go to the gym alone. But once I'd said I'm going, Dave and Jennifer also wanted to come...I couldn't really say no. Jennifer was so excited to work out and get on the rowing machine. I went back to the hostel after my workout, which I felt much better for and fell asleep on the hostel roof terrace and baked in the sun. Dave and I ventured out for dinner and on the trek of trying to find somewhere we ended up playing football with a little boy and his mum, which was fun. However, my flip flops ... read more

Today Laura left us :( We did try very hard to make her stay as she had got 2 flights (one for a week later) but she is also coming back to Seville in July so she left. Dave and I decided to stay at the soho for one more night. Although we lost Laura , we got chatting to Jennifer who was a lovely Dutch girl. So we all decided to do more exploring as there was more to see of Seville. We ventured further out of the centre over the river (Jennifer was very excited to see the rowers as she rows back home). I got excited as I realised the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo was just a little further down the road. We went in and I was happy...and the last to come ... read more

Moving on...we all decided to head to Seville and I chose a great hostel - Soho Boutique Hostel. It was pretty lush. It had a great atmosphere, clean and fresh, friendly staff, comfy beds, a great roof terrace all at a great price. Getting there from the train station with our rucksacks was another mission, but we made it after asking a few people (some who actually gave us the wrong direction). Weather beautiful! And of course another chilled out evening eating tapas and drinking beer :) Breakfast 28/05/13 Best breakfast so far on my travels! Cereals, bread, ham, homemade tomato paste (which I can't think of the name right now), yoghurts, spreads (inc nutella). Then to top it all off, a Spanish guy named Juan made crepes :p Exploring - We explored Seville by foot ... read more

We spent our last full day in Sevilla visiting the Parasols and the Cathedral and just wandering around and seeing some beautiful gardens, parks, and buildings... The Cathedral, while immense, was oppressive in a way and had none of the beauty and grace of the Alcazar (and it cost more to get in!) We are off by bus to Granada tomorrow mid-day...... read more

After a last trip through the medina, a taxi ride to the border of Spanish Ceuta, a walk across the border, including a few minutes of real strangeness (walking through narrow metal cage-like passageways, with a dozen Moroccans waiting for something...they told us to squeeze by them....), a taxi to the ferry, ferry to Algecinas, Spain across the Straits of Gilbraltar, walk to the bus station, three hour bus ride to Seville and a final taxi ride to our hotel, we are settled in Seville for three days! The culture change was most abrupt as we traveled by taxi from the Ceuta border: within minutes, we went from seeing poor Moroccan workers to people jogging and power-walking along the shore, dressed in expensive clothing.... The bus ride from Algecinas to Cadiz was stunning...the coast is known ... read more

Finding our way out of Seville we stopped for early coffee break and met Pakistani chap who practiced his English on us. Yamaha racing team truck pulled in making his way back from jerez while we drank our morning caffeine fix. Ken invited dave G to make an illegal left out of the Car park but the passengers on the bus got short shrift from the bus driver of our convoy. Weather is excellent for biking very warm and overcast so the 297 miles on riding again on an empty dual carriageway should be no problem. All bikes doing well, and ken had given Lucas some fun by riding his grandson around the compound before we left .Miles or kilometres passed and we stopped for lunch along the way, but were possibly followed into our stop ... read more

Seville tapas tour... read more