Days 8, 9 & 10 – El Rocio to Sevilla (Oct 21, 22 & 23)

Monday morning we left the spectacular (and highly recommended) La Malvasia hotel in El Rocio and made a point of stopping at the chapel on the way out of town. The Madonna statue there is an important destination for pilgrims to visit on horseback, and, as we witnessed, on their knees inside the chapel. (No video allowed in the chapel, but I described that experience in a video, below, after we exited.)

We passed mile after mile of covered gardens – olive trees in various stages of growth.

Found a perfect “Green Door”, although we are getting to be quite shameless. When you have to go… (See video.)

It was 74 very sunny and hot miles to Seville, we enjoyed a fantastic bike path approaching the city (see video) and miraculously found the Hotel Amadeus. Seville is a rabbit’s warren. They were gracious enough to accommodate our folded up bikes in a piano studio on the main floor. Refreshed with a swim in the rooftop terrace, we marvelled at the skyline and proximity of the massive cathedral, then hit the streets with only a loose agenda in mind.

We visited the Antiqua Fabrica de Tabacos – the former cigar factory that was featured in Bizet’s Carmen – which is now a university. 4,000 women worked there, it’s the second largest building in Spain. We stopped at Cafe Sierpes for a tripe dinner. Everywhere, stores are selling hand painted fans and flamenco dresses which are a key part of the social season in Seville in Spring. We found ourselves at Las Setas (the controversial mushroom shaped structures) at sunset. Then, tuckered out, we went to bed.

Next morning, churros and chocolate to dip them in, plus espresso for breakfast. We met up with our tour guide from Sevillewalkingtours.com. We had a fantastic tour of the old city and Santa Cruz. Factoid: there are 15,000 sour orange trees in the city, when they come into blossom in the Spring it’s intoxicating. Their oranges are harvested by a private company and converted into biofuel which is sold to the UK.

Hint: book tickets to the cathedral and the Real Alcázar weeks in advance. We hadn’t, so we had to line up IN THE BRUTAL SUNSHINE to see the Cathedral. (Real Alcázar was completely sold out so we missed out on that entirely.)

The cathedral is the third largest Gothic building in the world. There are 80 chapels within. And it made us thirsty so we stopped for a drink and an Iberian ham sandwich (when in Rome) just up the street from the bullring (bullfighting is still legal in most of Spain).

Next up was a pre booked Flamenco show at the Museo del Baile that left us astounded. Highly highly highly recommended. The show ended at 6 so we used the evening to fill out 20,000 steps by walking to the grand Plaza de Espana where we caught some flamenco buskers in the setting sun. It was built for the Iberian-American exhibition. See the video.

John bought some roasted chestnuts to nosh while we walked but, to be honest, they made me long for dental floss. Charred bits of shell in one’s teeth are annoying. We walked back through the Alcázar Gardens, had a quiet nightcap and dip on the rooftop and fell into bed.

Seville is hot, crowded, and worth every step. Highly recommended.

Remember, you can click on a photo to start the slideshow. Easier on the eyes.

Our Ride With GPS Collection, so far. Open to see where we’ve been and the routes for each day.