Sevilla

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This morning I went on a group tour of old town Sevilla. It was fun to see the back lanes and little squares as well as the better known churches and other sights. A bonus today was the horse-drawn open carriages carrying ladies in flamenco dresses and gentlemen wearing the traditional broad-brimmed Andalusian horseman hats. They were getting ready for the April Fair, a major festival each year and I am sorry now that I didn't plan better so that I could stick around for a day or two to see the festivities. The weather is supposed to be nicer, too! But back to the tour, we visited a Baroque church where every little space was covered in some sort of decoration (see photo). Baroque churches are not unusual here, but if you plopped one down in my hometown, it would be a center of attention for anyone passing through. Miguel Cervantes lived for a time in Sevilla and he set part of Don Quixote here, so there is a statue of him in one of the little squares (see photo). I got in one more picture of the magnificent Sevilla cathedral (see photo) and then headed out to the airport to fly to Portugal. I was in two little turboprop planes (see photo), one from Sevilla to Lisbon and one from Lisbon to Porto. Each flight was about an hour. The rides were pretty bumpy and the passengers on the last leg of the trip applauded when we touched down. As for me, I was happy to be in a new country. This is my first time in Portugal and I am looking forward to exploring it.

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