Seville, Andalusia

Yesterday evening, the visitors now left, the sun, not so keen to fade away just yet lit the village. The light was stunning, turning the green water of the reservoir golden. Dozens of swallows, dipped, dived and swerved as they hoovered up the airborne insects. Sometimes life's food chain seems a little unfair. The other two vans with us left, one stopping to fill with water nearby. Water available wasn't advertised on the internet. Were we sure? Well the woman was certainly putting something in her water filling hole. Margery being the only van didn't bother us. We'd stayed in the village before without incident, and until eleven o'clock one of the national park rangers was parked next to us. Keen to leave early before another days visitors invaded the tiny village we were up before the sun, and away by eight thirty. A miracle for us. A winding road through the olive groves took us away from Ardales, John was sat in the 'suicide seat', Angela the 'drop off the side of the road' seat. Neither ideal. And then when we did eventually reach the dual carrigeway the road surface was uneven and potholed, which surprised us, as the roads in Spain so far had been so good. And then we arrived at the outskirts of Seville. During the last four weeks Margery has bowled along happily, with very little traffic to worry about.

Today, talk about being thrown in at the deep end, it was horrendous. And to add to the stress, a no entry sign, that in fact wasn't a no entry sign meant we found ourselves driving into the secure dock area, because the camping aire was listed as being at the docks. The security man waved at Margery frantically. Reverse, and turnaround. Alright mate. Good job Marge wasn't with us, she'd not have been so tolerant. Angela parked to one side and the security man drew John a map, it seemed we could drive down the road with the no entry sign, and why wouldn't you? 

The aire is busy, it holds one hundred vans. What a difference a day makes. Last night we were just one, tonight we are one of a hundred. We arrived before lunch, once again packing up our food and heading off. It was 27c. By five o'clock it was 33c. A thirty minute walk took us to the old town.

The architecture in the area is amazing. We particularly wanted to visit Saint Mary's Cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Would we be able to purchase tickets to enter, probably not. But it seemed we could at 14 euros a person. Angela asked about concessions for seniors, ( we dislike that word, as we don't feel like seniors), and result. A fifty percent discount meant the ticket for both of us was just 14 euros.

The cathedral was amazing. Being Catholic, it was very high church. We both thought what an important building it must have been to the local people back in the day. Seville is amazing, with so much to see. We have only scratched the surface, and both agree we would like to return again, when it is both quieter and cooler. We would've liked to stay another day, but we are slipping behind schedule now. Tomorrow we will cross the border into southern Portugal, where we must remember to put our watches back and hour. Some careful planning needs to be made from there on, so we can enjoy our next three weeks away without rushing. Tonight we are tired, very tired. It is so warm though we think there will be no point in taking to our bed too early. Remember when you were a child and you could stay up late on holiday. How things change. Now we find ourselves ready for bed at ten o' clock.

Many signs of Christopher Columbus were visible the city.