Very early up to catch the early sunrise on the buildings. The Plaza de Espana was very quiet...but not for long. A walk through the huge gardens...teams of people working in it....so tidy. Onto the Pavillion Mudéjar. Moorish influenced architecture. These buildings & gardens were built for the 1929 Expo here. Great to see the city decided to build in Spanish Mudéjar design instead of going way out contemporary. The traditional design techniques that are special to Spain have been preseved. Another Expo later in 1992 they did the complete opposite & they now appear abandoned....more of a business park all the same...just another building that went too far with new design. The gardens around the Expo centre is planted in Exotics only. Pleased we made the effort & got up early today. I especially enjoyed ... read more

All sorted & a 20 min walk to the Estacion. A little help from a local as our tickets wouldn't scan the security gate open.....pre booked seats & a pre made lunch. 90 min ride through the arid countryside. I can't beleive anything actually grows through summer....even now being autumn here. Sunflowers, cotton, maize, hay & plenty of olive trees...& the best tomatoes.....you're not going to hear the end of that! A few photos from the train window, to show how dry the land is. All set up in our new place. Top floor again.....very quiet. ... read more

Train tickets sorted €9 return total for 2adults..... 11mins ride from Puerto Santa Maria. Not a touristy town, so we enjoyed it better than Cadiz old town. We just arrived & didn't really know which direction to head...don't expect to find any billboard maps here because there are none! Should have downloaded that google map before we left! A little help from some locals & we were off in the direction of 'antiguas'. Busy with locals shopping, cafes & the 'Mercado' fresh produce indoor markets. A hive of activity. The al fresco dining a meeting place to bump into someone you know. And of course the Alcazar XII centuary. One of the few examples of the Almohade architecture that still exists in the Iberian Penninsular. ' 'Alcazar' from the arab word Al-qasr, defines a group of ... read more

Well recovered from the journey to Puerto Santa Maria...all in all it's such a short train journey...but checking out of accommodation & checking in has all it's own individual idiosyncrasies that need to tie up so that we are not wasting time in stations etc. We have everything we need here to start off our new day in a new place. A little wander round the village to orientate ourselves, via the info centre & onto the ferry to Cadiz. Good weather...have to sit outside for the views..35mins across. Old town Cadiz was swamped with cruise ship tourists....so that means blankets of people...so therefore difficult to negoiate. Very Malta like with the buildings having similar galleries to those of Malta. So how did that work....the Spanish were in Malta too. We ventured into a few monumental ... read more

Last day to look around Seville so over to the old town & came across a parade of the Madonna from the Caterina church.....I have seen these type of events on tv etc but to witness first hand was interesting. So emotional for the crowd they were in awe of the Statue....the band was so loud & the procession was so long. The crowd truely appeared to be blessed she had passed their way. We went on & came out at the Caterdal to find it was open & there were no tour groups... so of course we were in. Gothic in style it started as a Mosque & over time it grew & changed. 3rd largest Catherdral in the Christian world but the 1st largest Gothic temple in the world. We felt quite small.... Easy ... read more