Spain by Train

Day 2 - Sat 11 Dec 2004

Slept okay, but only due to my earplugs! It was 8am before I knew it, and watched the sunrise while I had breakfast. I'd forgotten what a totally different landscape Spain had - very undulating with few trees, and just scrub cover. So, a final trip on the Madrid Metro will take me to the final train in my "pack of cards".

In the end caught a train between St. Martin to Atocha - I'm sure that my ticket wasn't valid for that trip, but the guy at the barrier had other things on his mind - like dealing with fare dodgers.

Bad news! There are no non-smoking seats left on the 10am train to Seville, so I went for "preference" class 30 Euros extra, but there's no way I could handle two and half hours in smoking. The train is going at a fair lick now, and there's a lot of very thick (but patchy) fog around.

You're only supposed to use your mobile phone between the carriages, but that's not stopping anyone! Well I have to admit that my 30 Euros may have been well spent, I have more room, and free food and booze! And there's even an aircraft style TV hanging from the ceiling, showing "The Saint". The view from the train window is now full of trees in rows (Oranges? Olive?). Interestingly I've only seen one Brit, and one American couple (who couldn't possibly read the Financial Times).

As soon as I arrived in Seville I queued up and got the rest of the train tickets that I needed (well, I didn't want to get caught out again), then it was down to the LP map to get me to the Hotel, which it did with few problems.

There's no doubt, my hotel is very nice, but my room is rather on the small side and the window (with bars) is so high and small, that I can't actually see out of it!

Seville Cathedral

After a shower it was back out on the streets to see the Cathedral - a huge building, I made my way up to the top of the tower with great views over the whole of Seville, then back down to see the patio, which is full of Orange trees, and inside to see Columbus' Tomb. Some of the carving in this place is amazing, and there's a lot of gold leaf!

Then it was across the road to see the Alcazar, a moorish palace, very much in the same style as the Almanbra, but on a smaller scale. A beautiful building with a fabulous garden. Then back to the Hotel for a kip, and some tea and cake in the Piano Bar, with an evening stroll to finish the day off!