9 December ’05, Friday.
Arriving in Seville wasn’t with out a little mishap. The highway we came in on, gave us an exit 8-A, and we were looking for “8”. Well, I guessed that we would find “8” after 8-A, so we continued…Wrong… So now I’ve got to go down the freeway to the next exit and come back. Well, it didn’t work out quite like that. It took us 2 tries to get back onto the freeway going the right direction and then when we did we still took the wrong turn again ( a very confusing intersection). This one ended up going down under the road through a small tunnel and coming out at a hospital. “Ok, that’s OK. We will just work our way through the parking lot and turn back onto the freeway going the right way”. About halfway through the parking lot, we came to a tunnel that passed under a walkway. “Are we going to go under that OK?” “I don’t know…better go slow..DID WE HIT ???” … “Tell the guy in back of us we have to back up…” “Who the hell HONKED their horn ???” Well, we were able to back out without any damage, except maybe my ego…and the guy with the horn, I would like to talk to him…
Pulling into the Seville campground about 3 pm gave us enough time to set up and head into town. We are camped in Dos Hermanos, which is about 12 km south of Seville and we have a city bus that will take us right into the middle of the areas we will be touring. It really is nice to have a secure location for “Bumble Bee” and not have to pay a bundle to the transportation systems to get us anywhere. This bus ride only costs us $2.30 for the two of us, and if we were to purchase a 10 ride pass, it would come to a total of $5.00. Seville was at one time, one of the most prosperous cities in Europe. The wealth of the city came from the trade with India and the Americas. As the bus brought us into the “city”, we were blown away by all the huge mansions/palaces that lined the road on both sides. Over 90 percent of these are still being lived in, and they are “BEAUTIFUL”. You feel humbled at the site of them, and the architecture…WOW !!! The Moorish influence is really felt and wonderful to see. As most of our journeys start, we went looking for the TI (Tourist Information) booth. Here in Seville, we found something else first…STARBUCKS !!! Yep, 4 in the afternoon and I wasn’t going to let the moment pass…”Double Decaf Latte, un Carmel Frapuccino Por Favor”… It was one of those perfect moments…Great City, Warm Sunny Day, Starbucks, and a Sidewalk Table available… I really don’t know why we get so excited about having a Starbucks, because every espresso drink we have had on our trip has been just as good and about 1/3rd the cost…Oh well, it’s Starbucks… Finishing up, we headed around the corner, found the TI, got our maps and questions answered, and went on our “fishing trip”. Our first stop was at Seville’s Cathedral. This is the 3rd largest in Europe, but the largest Gothic church “anywhere”…are you impressed yet? The Santo Maria de la Sede (the cathedral) was just about ready to close when we walked in, but we did have a quick walk through. Fortunately, we will have a chance to really explore it in the morning. Seeing as it was getting fairly late, we decided to take a walk around the “Jewish Old Town”, pop into a bar for a quick glass of wine and a little later a dinner at a little restaurant across the street from the University…no wonder it was so cheap. The sun had set, and the lights of the city and the sites had come on, so now it was time to see just what kind of “night photos” were available. We had a real nice time walking the narrow streets that always found their way to a “Plaza, Courtyard, or Patio”. You can’t believe the plazas, and parks that this city has, they are everywhere. While in Lisbon last week, we saw quite a bit of the city lighting up the Christmas lights, but so far here in Seville, we have seen very little evidence that Christmas is coming. On the other hand, the Old City Walls, Cathedrals, Churches, Palaces, Fountains, and any other “site” is lit up really well in the evenings. Well seeing as how we got a late start into town, we headed off to find the return bus about 8:30pm. Coming from Portugal, we had forgotten that we had crossed the time zone again, so we had lost an hour, and we were both ready to head home. Tomorrow…Seville
Arriving in Seville wasn’t with out a little mishap. The highway we came in on, gave us an exit 8-A, and we were looking for “8”. Well, I guessed that we would find “8” after 8-A, so we continued…Wrong… So now I’ve got to go down the freeway to the next exit and come back. Well, it didn’t work out quite like that. It took us 2 tries to get back onto the freeway going the right direction and then when we did we still took the wrong turn again ( a very confusing intersection). This one ended up going down under the road through a small tunnel and coming out at a hospital. “Ok, that’s OK. We will just work our way through the parking lot and turn back onto the freeway going the right way”. About halfway through the parking lot, we came to a tunnel that passed under a walkway. “Are we going to go under that OK?” “I don’t know…better go slow..DID WE HIT ???” … “Tell the guy in back of us we have to back up…” “Who the hell HONKED their horn ???” Well, we were able to back out without any damage, except maybe my ego…and the guy with the horn, I would like to talk to him…
Pulling into the Seville campground about 3 pm gave us enough time to set up and head into town. We are camped in Dos Hermanos, which is about 12 km south of Seville and we have a city bus that will take us right into the middle of the areas we will be touring. It really is nice to have a secure location for “Bumble Bee” and not have to pay a bundle to the transportation systems to get us anywhere. This bus ride only costs us $2.30 for the two of us, and if we were to purchase a 10 ride pass, it would come to a total of $5.00. Seville was at one time, one of the most prosperous cities in Europe. The wealth of the city came from the trade with India and the Americas. As the bus brought us into the “city”, we were blown away by all the huge mansions/palaces that lined the road on both sides. Over 90 percent of these are still being lived in, and they are “BEAUTIFUL”. You feel humbled at the site of them, and the architecture…WOW !!! The Moorish influence is really felt and wonderful to see. As most of our journeys start, we went looking for the TI (Tourist Information) booth. Here in Seville, we found something else first…STARBUCKS !!! Yep, 4 in the afternoon and I wasn’t going to let the moment pass…”Double Decaf Latte, un Carmel Frapuccino Por Favor”… It was one of those perfect moments…Great City, Warm Sunny Day, Starbucks, and a Sidewalk Table available… I really don’t know why we get so excited about having a Starbucks, because every espresso drink we have had on our trip has been just as good and about 1/3rd the cost…Oh well, it’s Starbucks… Finishing up, we headed around the corner, found the TI, got our maps and questions answered, and went on our “fishing trip”. Our first stop was at Seville’s Cathedral. This is the 3rd largest in Europe, but the largest Gothic church “anywhere”…are you impressed yet? The Santo Maria de la Sede (the cathedral) was just about ready to close when we walked in, but we did have a quick walk through. Fortunately, we will have a chance to really explore it in the morning. Seeing as it was getting fairly late, we decided to take a walk around the “Jewish Old Town”, pop into a bar for a quick glass of wine and a little later a dinner at a little restaurant across the street from the University…no wonder it was so cheap. The sun had set, and the lights of the city and the sites had come on, so now it was time to see just what kind of “night photos” were available. We had a real nice time walking the narrow streets that always found their way to a “Plaza, Courtyard, or Patio”. You can’t believe the plazas, and parks that this city has, they are everywhere. While in Lisbon last week, we saw quite a bit of the city lighting up the Christmas lights, but so far here in Seville, we have seen very little evidence that Christmas is coming. On the other hand, the Old City Walls, Cathedrals, Churches, Palaces, Fountains, and any other “site” is lit up really well in the evenings. Well seeing as how we got a late start into town, we headed off to find the return bus about 8:30pm. Coming from Portugal, we had forgotten that we had crossed the time zone again, so we had lost an hour, and we were both ready to head home. Tomorrow…Seville