Getting There
We're booked on a scheduled flight with Iberia this time. Heathrow to Seville. Got to the airport, to realise the camera bag was still at home, and no time to go back and get it. It's remarkable how well those cheap 'point and squirt' non-reusable cameras work. Having got over the trauma of no cameras, there were no other problems, just an uneventful trip. Seville airport turns out to be much like any other. The signs are in Spanish, but Taxi translates in most languages. So we grab a cab, give him the address of the hotel, and off we go. Then we find we've gabbed one of those Taxis which doesn't know where it's going.

Either that or he's only read the tourist maps of Seville. Watch out for this one. A lot of the tourist maps (and maps on the internet as well) show Seville rotated by 270 degrees, so that East is at the top. Not a problem if you know this, but as they don't indicate which way is up, it's a quick way to get lost. So if you're looking at a map of Seville, and the river is a nice shallow 'U' shape across the bottom of the page - WRONG - the river should be down the left hand side.

Anyway, after a scenic tour of Seville, the cabbie finally got his act together and found the hotel. He was quite happy to charge for the circular tour, and not so happy when I found the exact change, without a tip. Yes it was a rip-off, he charged 4,000 pts whereas the taxi back to the airport was only 2,500 pts.

The Hotel Grand Lar
Just off the main drag and not bad at all. The usual sort of 3 star and about 20 years old. It's obviously an overnight stop for coach tours and the place was heaving when arrived - 10 minutes later - they'd all vanished. The room's big, comfortable and recently decorated. Downstairs, even the leaflet rack in the foyer is well stocked - showing plenty of places to go (complete with sideways maps). There's also a nice bar and the barman speaks passable English. The restaurant looks as if it does good business, but the prices seem a bit steep, so I don't actually get to try it. The 'Continental' breakfast is served in the restaurant, and is good and varied. Obviously being kept on it's toes by the coach tour punters.

Getting Around
Unlike Barcelona, Seville isn't big enough to need an urban train or tram system so it's a city of buses, or you walk. The hotel is about 10 minutes walk from the centre of town and most of the restaurants. (I don't count the rather expensive one opposite.) Once in the centre of town, it's all there in a reasonably compact area. All the old parts are on the east side of the river whilst all the new stuff built for the 1992 World Expo is on the west side. One familiar sight, the open top tourist buses. In this case open top London buses, and owned by an English company offering a pound off their other trips in English towns. Anyway, if you want to learn the layout of a place and find out where the interesting bits are - hop on a tourist bus. Pay attention and it even helps to have a pencil and paper handy. That way you flit round the town in minimum time - tourist buses aren't known for the slow lazy passage round a city - you don't make money that way. Don't bother to get off, but note all the places that you want to visit over the next day or so.

Where it's at
The tourist heart of the place must be Plaza San Sebastian, the Cathedral is on one side and the royal palace and gardens, Reales Alcázares, are on the other. It's an area of narrow streets and a thousand restaurants (well perhaps a bit less than a thousand, but you get the idea). The palaces and gardens, built by the Muslim Caliphs are well worth the effort and were busy even out of season. Perhaps they aren't so pleasant in mid-summer. The cathedral is - well - impressive. But they charge an entry fee - an idea they probably got from Westminster Abbey, London. I don't think religious places should charge. Accept donations, yes, but not pretend the entry charge is a donation. That said, allow plenty of time for the Cathedral, it's pretty large. It started life as a mosque built by Yacoub Yousouf in eleven seventy something, but when Seville fell to the Crusaders, they converted it into a church and added bits. Over the years bits have continued to be added, you know, a chapel here, a cloister there - until now - it sprawls. A prominent feature of the Cathedral is the tower, La Giralda, added to the original mosque in 1195, the Crusaders later added a belfry. Stranger still, it doesn't have stairs, it has ramps, and it's said you can ride a horse to the top. I'd rather not, I've got a 'thing' about heights and anyway, I'd rather not mention my horse riding skills.

Rather more modern is the area round the Avenue des Americas, where the pavilions for the Exposición Iberoamericana were built in 1929. A grand idea to celebrate Seville's connections with America, but rather scuppered by the Spanish Civil War. Still, the buildings are unique, but many of them look run down and could do with some fresh paint. The better maintained ones host museums and galleries, etc. I wonder who actually owns them?

If you want even more modern, it might be worth crossing the river to the 1992 Expo grounds. It could have been because it was out of season when we were there, but nothing was open and it all looked in need of major repairs. Still if you take a tour bus, it'll probably go there if there's anything more interesting than a few closed up pubs and a disused pottery. There was an interesting sounding Monastery marked on the map to the north of the Expo grounds. We didn't find it, the site seemed to have been taken over by a ceramic works, itself closed. Sorry, but we can't recommend anything on the west side within comfy walking distance of the city centre.

It that it? Course not! There's loads of real interesting places close to the centre, 'Pilate's House' for instance. Supposedly modelled after Pontius Pilate's house in Jerusalem. Interesting styling, and I suppose the term Romanesque applies, only 1500 years too late.

Watch out for oranges. Many streets, or I suppose, technically, avenues, are lined with orange trees. There's a whole grove of them outside Pilate's House. Sounds nice, and I'm sure in spring the orange trees bloom and it all looks and smells lovely. In February, the trees are full of half rotten very sickly oranges which have learned one thing. There's considerable nuisance value in dropping on tourists. From the tourists point of view there's nothing quite like have a Seville orange drop on you, or worse, bumping into an orange tree and having half a ton of squidgy oranges drop on you. Beware, I think the locals get a certain degree of satisfaction by elbowing tourists into orange trees!

Down by the river is pleasant. Outdoor cafes feature, and I spent a whole afternoon sipping lemonade, watching people walk past, and sleeping in a comfy chair down on the promenade. How I managed that with the Mrs close by, I don't know. Maybe all this walking was getting to her as well. Also down by the river is the Golden Tower - actually not very golden, and hardly towering. It claimed there was a maritime museum inside - must be pretty small, and was closed every time we went past. Still nice try. Whilst down by the river, take a boat ride, it takes about an hour and moves gently upstream a bit, and then down again. You certainly get a different view of the city.

And so the visit to Seville comes to an end. Worth it? Well any break from the daily drag is worth it. Will I be coming again? Sorry, but probably not. So what was wrong? Nothing, I can't pick on anything that turned me against the place, it's just... Oh, I don't know. It just didn't seem to have the 'buzz' of some of the other places I've been to lately. Now there's a contradiction, I thought I liked nice quiet places and no hassle. Ho hum - sorry Seville, you can't win 'em all.

Updated: 01/10/03