¡Buenas desde Sevilla!

Good evening from Seville!

We climbed into the grey and wet skies over Birmingham about 50 minutes behind schedule. We were soon in the glorious sunshine at 30,000’ with fluffy clouds far below. I didn’t spend the whole time staring through my window but the clouds parted a little as we flew high above Brittany, with Lorient and the Presqu’île de Quiberon below us as we headed out across the Bay of Biscay.

Our flight crew made good progress and we ended up arriving only 25 mins late, into a slightly damp and drizzly Sevilla evening. But it is about 10°C warmer here.

I had a brief fight with an automated machine, which asked a bunch of questions about my stay (including whether I could evidence my ability to spend what the Spanish Government appears to expect tourists to spend each day). I of course answered truthfully and equally giving what I imagined would be the expected answers.

But the machine then told me (and it seemed almost everyone else) to go to a manual processing desk, which began with a passport scanner and biometric camera (like the usual automated gates), before I was permitted to approach a friendly policeman, who scanned my passport for the third time, and welcomed me to Spain with a smile and my entry stamp!

I soon found my way to the bus stop for the Aeropuerto Especial into the city centre, which dropped me about 9-10 mins walk to my hotel.

I’m staying at the Pensión Dulces Sueños (Sweet Dreams), a little family run 1* hotel just inside the historic centre where I received a friendly welcome.

After settling in, I headed back out into the city to have a little explore whilst scouting somewhere for dinner. The drizzle had stopped and it’s a pleasant 16°C.

As you can see, the city is rather beautiful. And contrary to my expectations, the orange trees are full of oranges!Read more