Arrival in Barcelona, waiting for the others so we can head out to La Sagrada Familia. So now seems a good time to look back on Seville.

Seville was one of those places on the trip that had I travelled alone I would not have gone to. Which is why travelling with others is a good thing, because I would have deprived my self of a beautiful place.

Seville or Sevilla (silent l) in Spanish, is a very touristy place in the south of Spain. An old Capital, it’s age is shown in its narrow and cobbled streets. The taxi that took us to our apartment from the train station was deafening as the wheels bumped against the cobbles. Not fun.

It is simple to walk around, seemingly lost, only to find a corner you remember and find your way home. If all else fails of course, there is Google maps.

We were in Seville for only two nights. If only more. We arrived early and went to the Seville Cathedral. The third largest in the world. I walked in and immediately thought I was in Toledo. The design was so similar. It was truly grand, yet far more touristy than Toledo, which perhaps explains why I didn’t enjoy it as much. The main attraction the place offers is its bell tower. Built as a ramp, so that horses could go up it, it was far preferable to St Paul’s dome, which forced you to take stairs. 40 levels we went up and got a good look at the city. Truly beautiful.

After that, it was to the Alcazar of Seville. A royal palace built by the Arabs when they ruled Spain. The place came highly recommended, not to mention scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed there! Now this was truly exquisite. The walls were all inscribed in what appeared like Arab writing. Painted in simple blues, greens and reds. It wasn’t gothic, or classical, it was very different. Very Arab. I loved it, Michael thought it was the best place he’d been to. We spent a good three, four hours there and couldn’t get enough of it. I wasn’t as moved by it as Toledo, but it was certainly a highlight.

Returned to the apartment for our new favourite thing, siesta. Shopped for a bit as well. Then we decided enough is enough. We are going to be young, wild and free. We went to the main party district and ended up at a club called Libanos, with argili! It’s almost as if God wanted us to go there. The Spanish are crazy! We got there at 1am, on a Wednesday night. I thought maybe we’d left it too late. We hadn’t. The club only began to peak around 3am. It packed out. The drinks and drunks flowed. The argili filled the hot night time air. The music was Spanish and English. I was Shazaming the whole night.

Thien, Sarah and Dom, all ended up filling plastic bags around 5am. It was fun to be young again. After I finished taking care of them, it was bed time by 6.30 am as the sun was coming up. It’s fun to be young. I never want to do that again.

The next day was slow. Nothing really happened. The others didn’t wake till 12-1. We got time to go to the Plaza Des Espana. Beautiful! Then a unique experience in a convent. You go to it and ring a bell, from behind the wall a nun asks you what you want. They make sweets. So you tell them, put the money on this round platform that turns around, she turns it around from inside, accepts the money, places the sweets you ordered and spins it back around.

Caught a Flamenco show. Traditional Spanish dancing and singing. The guy who sang absolutely grated on my ears. The dancers though we’re amazing. They stomped their feet, and shook their hips, and worked up an enormous sweat. It was a true cultural experience.

Anyway the others are now about ready. First impressions of Barcelona. Too touristy and dirty. At this stage would have liked to stay in Seville and gone to Cordoba and Alhambra. Let’s see if that opinion changes.

Off to La Sagrada.