Sevilla

Today, we headed from rainy Barcelona to a very sunny Sevilla, via Madrid. This distance is a 6 hour train trip, 10 hour drive, 2 day cycle or 9 day hike. We opted for the train.

In Seville, we emptied our bags into piles of dirty washing, started the clothes washer and then also washed our stinky selves! After a quick siesta, we braved the 7pm blasting sunshine to get ourselves orientated.

We are staying near the Real Alcazar de Sevilla, which is comfortably nestled into the Jardines de Murillo. Just beyond this, lies the labyrinthine old town, which is mostly incredibly narrow (presumably to keep 99% of the scorching sun out), and any wider parts are lined with glossy, thriving citrus trees.

The Catedral de Sevilla was busy hosting a wedding ceremony, and four horse and carriage teams were napping outside. We found a tapas place for dinner, which happened to be lined with eight taxidermied bulls heads. They were very nice bulls. Poor bully boys.

A little bit merry from the sangria, we were walking home through alleys when we happened upon a flamenco performance, that was starting in 5 minutes. It was stunning. The team was a guitarist, a husky-voiced woman who was probably a flamenco star in her day, and a dancer, who could stomp to tempos faster than I could think them.

Sun finally going down, it’s time for bed - tomorrow we’ll be doing a day trip to Cordoba, which will be new territory to explore for both of us.