On day 11 we left Madrid and hurtled towards Seville at a
blistering 200km per hour today. John sat there watching the speedometer and
announcing the changes EVERY two minutes. I love him but after 20 mins or so I
have to admit I had totally lost interest. Honestly these trains are fabulous! Why
can’t RENFE run the Victorian trains? The onboard cafeteria had free
newspapers, hot, good coffee and an assortment of good food and cold drinks. We
snacked on chips, olives, tim tams and coffee!
The landscape we passed through had an undulating horizon. The
rocky peaks that rose out of the ground had that worn look that reminded me of
the Grampians. Olive trees were planted everywhere and on the really steep
sections it was probably their roots that prevented the grassless soil from being
washed away in the rains. Once out of the city and well into the trip, the
landscape changed from the grey soils of the north to richer and redder land
and the olive groves gave way to orange groves.
We could feel the warmth as soon as we got into Seville. As
soon as we got to the hotel we ditched our jackets. We got out into the streets
as soon as possible so as to get our bearings and it was really pleasant
sitting in the street cafe in short sleeves. We had a late lunch of a plate of
cured meats, bread and beer before looking for a bike hire place. The locals
get a 6 month or 12 month ticket that allows them unfettered access to the
public hire bikes but we had to find a hire company. Soon we were winding our
way through the streets towards the river, which we followed for some time
before cutting through the parks. Unbelievably many of the city streets really
are planted with Seville orange trees. When we were safely in a park and out of
sight of police, I climbed on a park bench and picked one. They were tart and
juicy. Lovely!
It’s really a cheat going on a trip with john. He books the
tickets, hotels and transfers. He downloads maps and guides. He navigates
around the cities. What do I do? I follow and enjoy myself. As we rode around
the streets and parks of Seville, I had no idea where we were but I had full
confidence that we weren’t lost because Johnny was navigating.
During a short break back at the hotel we texted with Brit
and Face timed with Ginny. We posted photos and caught up with work emails. Isn’t
technology amazing.
While we were not really hungry we knew that if we had
nothing we might regret it later. It was shortly after 7pm when we went out and
it was like rush hour on the Seville streets. Families were all out walking. It
looks like a bit of a tradition. There are kids out there skating. People were
taking their dogs for walks. Friends were meeting up. Church services were
taking place. Even though it was dark, it felt perfectly safe.
We had a little bit of trouble finding a restaurant. There
was no shortage of cake shops and bars but in the streets we walked there were
no restaurants with the sort of meals we were looking for. At the national
ballet building the culture vultures spilled out across the footpaths. As we
ducked down the side street we found a welcoming looking place. It was full of
people grabbing a pre-show supper but we got a couple of seats. The food was
nice with Johnny settling on a duck tartine with pears and me on a duck
risotto. We didn’t have dessert there but picked up cakes and took them back to
our hotel to have with coffee. Nice!
