Europe 2007

Two city trains and two three hour bus trips, we arrive in Seville. The countryside is very flat and dry, almost desert looking, but with a few olive crops and wind turbines on the few hills...and a paddock of massive solar panels!!!! We board a crowded public bus (not helped by all our packs) and get about 5 minutes up the road when the bus stalls, stops and an alarm starts. Luckily we are on the main route into town so quickly get off and back on one closing following. Walking to our hotel through Jardines de Murillo we realise very quickly how beautiful and charming this city is. This weather is mild and the air has a feeling to it which seems to lift everyone’s spirits. We are staying in the Santa Cruz district which is a residential maze of narrow lanes cornered by boutique hotels, tapas bars and souvenir stores. This afternoon we take a walk around the city past Cathedral Giralda, the largest gothic church in Europe and the third largest of all churches throughout Europe (after St Peter’s and St Paul’s which we have also visited) and past Alcazares Palace and gardens. We stopped for a drink along the river Rio Guadalquiver and then back into town for dinner at a tapas bar. Although we find it difficult to translate the menu, we aleady think tapas is a great idea. Tapas is basically just sample portions of larger meals so we take a guess and end up getting small servings of Spanish omelette, crab balls and paella.

Christie and the group in one of many Tapas bars...