Seville

Thursday morning Julie drove to the railway station in Malaga. 

I have to give Julie the credit that is due to her - she made everything go very smoothly the whole time we were in Spain. I certainly don't claim to be a travel guide or a travel expert, but any time I've traveled in Ireland or had family touring Ireland, it was always me - and often my sister Patty with me - plotting out and leading the journey. We often plotted out trips or at least made suggestions for family and friends heading to Ireland. I think GeeGee and Beth will agree that I took the lead in Washington, DC last fall, and I certainly planned this trip to London.

I think to get the most out of traveling anywhere -  whether locally, nationally, or internationally, you need to do your homework - read up on where you are going - you'll have a better appreciation of your destination.

And although I had read up on Madrid, the Costa del Sol, Spanish history, Islam, and Morocco, it was great to just go with the flow - sit in the back seat and let Joan and Julie get us where we were going. Let Julie make the arrangements for everything. Just follow along, relax, and enjoy. 

But that ended on the way to Malaga! Joan had decided not to go. I was in the front seat, and Julie put me in charge of the GPS!! Me!  I don't have GPS - I've only used my son's a couple of time - and that was to go somewhere in Massachusetts!! Now I needed to help find the way to the railway station! I failed miserably - I couldn't figure it out. I kept starting over and over again. It was getting close - Julie was afraid we wouldn't make it in time - or if we did, there wouldn't be time to park the car - so she wouldn't be able to go. Oh my god! How could we go without Julie!! Not because we wouldn't be able to find our way - I was sure I could - but because she had done all the planning for this trip - plus she had never been to Seville!!

We were driving on a highway, but Julie managed to pull over at some point - lo and behold, we were not as far away as we thought.  We made it to the railway station, parked the car, and made our way inside with plenty of time to spare.

We didn't see Charlene's group but knew they would be there in time. Julie took our tickets and passports, and we headed to check in. 

I hate to admit this, but Julie tried to get us discounts on the ticket price because we are 60+. I'm not embarrassed about the discount -  didn't I obtain "concession" discounts everywhere Beth and I went in London. But the age!! I certainly can't be that old!! Where has time gone? Here in Malaga it was not so easy to get a discount - there was a glitch with the computer system - and it was in another language!! God bless Julie. They eventually told us to check with Customer Service when we returned that night.

We found Charlene's group - guess where they were? Having coffee at Dunkin Donuts!! Who'd have thought! 

Julie, Beth and I were in the same railroad car - the others were in another car, and poor Charlene was in a car by herself!! I loved the train - it was clean, comfortable, and we had great views out the windows.  And Joan, God bless her as well, had made us lunches to eat along the journey which would take about two and a half hours. So we just sat back and relaxed.

Roughly halfway to Seville - I think it was in Cordoba - the train made a stop. When it resumed the trip, I was suddenly facing backwards on the way to Seville. I guess that is why there was an engine in the front and back of the train. I had to change seats - I get motion sickness if I sit backwards in a moving vehicle. And that was the only burp in the journey.

We passed by SOOOO many olive orchards or farms - they went up the sides of the mountains. It sort of reminded me of the old potato beds that I used to see up the sides of the mountains in Ireland. Make the most of all the good ground that you can. There were fields with mature trees - some with young trees - and some that looked like the fields had just been harvested - maybe some kind of crop. I am very interested in any kind of farming after living in Gortdromagh, Ireland where my husband and his father had cows, sheep, hay fields. We passed places where there would be several houses close together - other houses would be quite a distance from each other. We saw some cows in the fields. Some of the houses were new - many looked old. I wondered just how old they might be. My husband grew up in a house that was over 150 years old. These houses could be as old - maybe older. I also wondered if the new houses used their old houses to store farm equipment, supplies, etc. like they do in Ireland. I saw people working in some of the fields. I wish I could have talked to some of those farmers.

The landscape became more urban, and we arrived in Seville. We went outside to the taxi rank. After a little confusion, we split up into a couple of taxis. We were meeting our tour guide outside of a Starbucks - that was all I knew. Julie was giving the drivers the directions.

On the way to Starbucks.

This is where we met Concepcion from Sevilla Walking Tours - at Puerta de Jerez.  Charlene had recommended Concepcion after being on a tour with her a few years ago. I had seen Concepcion on PBS - she was in an episode with Rick Steves about Seville. His book mentioned that she used him as a guinea pig when developing her walking tours.  www.tripadvisor.com had quite a few favorable reviews about her walking tours.

Hotel Alfonso XII across from Starbucks.

Outdoor cafes are everywhere - and are very inviting!

Don't you love the colorful tiles?

We'll come back for a horse and carriage tour later.

The Cathedral in Seville is the third largest in Europe and is the largest Gothic church in the world. I love the details!

Charlene, Debbie, Julie following our guide in the white shirt in front of Julie.

I love the architecture!

An exhibit on Castille and Leon was taking place in this dome.

Those blinds above going from building to building are to block the strong midday sun. Concepcion said that they would soon be taken down when the days get shorter and before the holidays.

Common colorful sight.

Another exhibit but look at the motorcycles! Easier to navigate through town than cars.

More motorcycles!

Colorful shop in the old city.

Sarah heading down this narrow street.

Tom, Charlene, Sarah, Beth, and Julie in front of bell tower.

The Cathedral was built on top of a mosque - this is part of the oldest section of the Cathedral.

This bell tower was originally a minaret of the mosque. Many churches in Spain were built over mosques and the minarets became bell towers. Where once muezzins called Muslim worshippers to prayer five times daily, now the bell calls Catholic worshippers to prayer.

Sarah, Debbie, Tom, Charlene, Concepcion, Julie.

The tour ended in this plaza. Above, Julie, Charlene, and Beth are listening to Concepcion wrap things up. Below, Concepcion was ready for rainy weather!

Another colorful tiled bench and a souvenir shop.

While Concepcion came to the end of a wonderful tour, Sarah and Debbie were grabbing a table at a nearby outdoor cafe. We all managed to squeeze into one table. The food was good but we weren't sure where it was coming from. The restaurant that owned the spot where we were sitting was closeby, but waiters were running down the street with plates of food! 

After eating, we split up - Tom, Sarah, and Debbie were going to see the Cathedral and then shop - they were looking for goatskin wine bags for their kids. Julie was interested in a carriage ride. Beth and I also wanted to see the Cathedral. So Julie watched our bags, and Beth and I headed off to the Cathedral. 

Oldest part of the Cathedral. 

This is where we entered. 

My hips were starting to complain so I did a quick loop around the inside of the Cathedral. I saw the elaborate memorial and grave of Christopher Columbus.  I sat and said some prayers at the main altar. Beth caught up with me. The exit was out the opposite side of the Cathedral. We were surprised at all the police gathered around - they were on foot, on motorcycles, on bikes, in police cars and in police vans. Someone told us they were there in case of protestors!

We met up with Julie in a small park - Charlene had joined her. 

Charlene in the small park where she and Julie were watching our bags.

These white pigeons were everywhere.

So Beth and I went with Julie and Charlene on a horse and carriage ride around Seville. 

I was fascinated by the roots of this tree - a little blurry - I took it from the carriage as we passed by. 

Love the stone, the tiles, the architecture!

When we finished the tour, we headed to the agreed meeting spot to catch up with Debbie, Sarah, and Tom. We found a couple of benches and sat and people watched for a while. But it was getting late. We had to grab taxis to get to the train station.  Charlene said she would wait for the others so Julie, Beth, and I headed for the taxi stand. And who did we meet at an outdoor cafe? Tom, Sarah, and Debbie! Someone ran back for Charlene, and we headed to the train station. 

Julie hadn't forgotten about the discount on the tickets. We headed for Customer Service when we got off the train. Julie and Beth went inside. I plopped in a chair outside. Julie was tenacious - I could tell from outside that she was giving as good as she got. One supervisor was quite rude - she left the office where Julie and Beth were and walked out past me. She was through work and apparently couldn't wait to get out of there!! I was thinking way back to Ivan, our tour guide to Morocco, when he was saying that the average Spanish person didn't care about anyone except his immediate family and friends. This was pretty evident with that supervisor.

Julie filled out some forms and is supposed to hear something about the discount. I don't think she has heard anything yet.

I felt badly for Julie driving home - I was tired so she must have been as well. When we got back to the apartment, we ate some supper. I finished packing up, hit the shower, and headed to bed. We head to Madrid tomorrow!!