Wednesday – 22 August 2018 - updated with more photos

Seville

We had booked a hotel and train tickets yesterday so had to make sure that we were on the train in time. For all of the rail services that we have used, you book a specific train and have a seat allocated.  I don’t think that you can just get on and find a seat on these trains. Thinking that the station was quite a way away and carrying overnight bags, we went to the marina office and asked if they could order a taxi for us. “Can’t you walk? What time is the train?” we were asked.  It transpired that the station was not as far as we had expected and we did have time to get there on foot.  “I don’t go to Seville in summer, it’s too hot” the marina lady said.

The 55 km journey was uneventful and we were soon dropping off our bags at the hotel. This proved to be rather further out of town than we had thought, but fortunately provided a shuttle service into the tourist areas that we booked spots for.  We were given a list of must see sites and went first to the gothic style cathedral, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede, a world heritage site in the old part of the city. This is the largest cathedral in the world, although at first, we were a bit underwhelmed.  We found an entrance and went into what we subsequently found to be a wing of the cathedral, still used for daily services, and there was one ongoing at the time. We looked around without intruding on the service and went out.  Around the corner we found the queue for the ticket office for the main part of the cathedral.  Once inside this, it became obvious just how big and impressive it was.  The original building was a mosque started in 1172, but was then converted to a church when Christian Spain, under Ferdinand III, conquered the city. In 1401 the city elders decided to take that building down and replace it with the grandest cathedral that they could envisage, to demonstrate their wealth. The dome of the building has collapsed a number of times, the most recent resulting in a rebuilding that ultimately finished in 1903. There were now countless ornate side chapels, some open and others closed off.  The altar and its surroundings, and the organ were on a magnificent scale and suitably elaborate for this building.

Right next door was another world heritage site, Alcázar of Seville (royal palace in Seville.  It was built for the Christian king Peter of Castile by Castilian Christians on the site of an Abbadid Muslim residential fortress that was destroyed after the Christian conquest of Seville, although some elements of other civilisations remains. The palace, an example of Mudéjar architecture, is renowned for its beauty. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as their official residence in Seville and it is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.  The palace contains not only residential buildings but also extensive gardens, of various styles and purposes.  It is cool and tranquil and while strolling in the gardens, it is hard to realise that you are right in the centre of a major European city.

We wandered through the narrow streets of the old part of the city, stopping for food and refreshment when necessary. We were a bit disappointed when we asked for orange juice at lunchtime to be given a bottle. Our expectation was that here of all places, it would be freshly squeezed.

Much of this area was pedestrianised, and we commented on how little traffic and related noise there was, even in the other parts of the city. The old streets are too narrow and impractical for use by cars, and have been allowed to remain so.

When we were picked up and returned to the hotel, we chatted to the driver. He told us that we had experienced a comparatively cool day in Seville, it was only 38 degrees.  Usually in summer it is between 42 and 48, and last year it went to 53.  I can’t think of many places in Europe that get that hot, but we are quite close to north Africa.  The driver also recommended a restaurant close to the hotel, where we went to eat in the evening.

Distance covered today	0	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	1372	nautical miles
Distance covered 2018	2092	nautical miles
Steve (and Tricia)