Seville is incredibly hot. The sun just relentlessly pounds into you. It caught me a little off guard at first and I was getting a little light headed, but then I was fine when I started to up my water intake. Yeah, I know.. rule #1 of hot weather.
As you walk around the place you are almost fighting for shade space with other walkers. Going from the sunlight to shade, seems like you´ve just taken off a winter coat. Its 34c consistently. I have no idea how I will cope when I get to the Australian fruit fields.
Earlier on in my Spanish expeditions I wasn´t too fussed about the need to siesta come 2-5´o clock, but since arriving in Seville yesterday its becoming more and more appealing. It is near impossible to do anything really, other than crawl around in the shade (if you´re full of energy) or just have a big kip.
Last night´s hostel was ok - it was in an old building in the middle of a bustling town centre, with original banisters and such and from the ground floor you could see through to the roof (up 3 floors). It was just a shame the facilities were a little dire - no kitchen, no common room, etc.
I went out for drinks with a group of people from the hostel. Some Australians, Irish, Canadians, and a South African too. We attempted to get to a flamenco night, but after circling around for about 45 mins we completely missed the show. In the end we just hung around another bar until it closed, which happened to have music - a guy on guitar and another clapping. There was also a guy in a pink shirt dancing around, it was fun to watch.
So today I managed to book 4 nights accommodation in Granada for 44€ and have booked a ticket to see the Alhambra on Monday evening for 13€, cant wait! I´m going to take Michael, the Irish guy´s advice, and approach it from behind via the river. His theory was that you will enjoy it much more if you leave the best part until last, and don´t go the same way as everyone else.
Aside from that, so far today I have done very little, but, as explained earlier, thats the way to go. I will get some food to cook with later on.
I´ve been taking advantage of the Menu del Dias (fixed menu of the day) too much recently... they´re just so good! Yesterday afternoon´s one was only 7€ aswell. I looked at the main place in my guidebook and it looked a little overpriced, so wandered around a bit and stumbled on the little bar / restaurant that must rarely see any kind of tourist.
There were just 3 people in the place. There was the guy leaning against the bar, the bartender and a man spending too much money on a slot machine, going back and forth to the bar to get more change. They didn´t seem to mind my intrusion though and didn´t feel the need to give the prolonged staring you sometimes get.
I had a fish paella (beautiful), another plate of some small, breadcrumbed fish that tasted a little of cod and some bread and wine. Just as I was finishing the second course the guy on the slot machine won and there was some brief, quiet joy. I got the impression this was just a typical day round here.
I finished For Whom the Bell Tolls (really great book, sad ending) and am now reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It was quite a challenge to find a bookshop that had more than Danielle Steele books in English, but I eventually found one with Sam the Lahndaner in Madrid.
Some more pictures:
i - The cathedral in Seville, stunning
ii - Duff beer! Was actually pretty nice. Made in Spain.
iii - Some of the guys I camped with at the SWR festival, Barroselas, north of Porto (Nunu "Fish" at the back, "Fatal" infront of him, and Mendez in the bottom right). All safe as fuck.
iv - Pont Luis, Porto... I have far too many pictures of this bridge
v - This is along Alemeda de Hercules, Seville
vi - Another shot of the cathedral in Seville
