Plaza Nueva

Our next destination was Seville, almost three hours by train from Madrid. We arrived at the train station and proceeded to make our way through security. Then all of sudden I hear from the security person, “¿hablas en español? (Do you speak Spanish?)”. We reply and are taken off to another area. Apparently the steak knife and fork set that I bought from the $2 shop, and which had made its way to Madrid, was too big to travel to Seville. The second security person continued to interrogate us about a second knife that they thought Jason had in his bag. We kept saying that we had nothing else. After a few minutes of back and forth, the security person gave up and let us continue on. But not before questioning us about the aerosol fragrance can that I had. It was like we were hardcore criminals. Were we now going to be tracked by the Spanish Secret Service all the way to Seville?

We got to our AirBnB apartment without being intercepted by the secret service or getting embroiled in any other altercations. Phew! Although we did need an all-terrain vehicle the size of a matchbox car to get around the city. Some of the streets are merely a crack between buildings and the footpaths are barely wide enough for an Olsen twin to walk down sideways. You'd probably need a can opener to get into your car if you parked in the streets.

Unlike the streets of Seville, our apartment was spacious – well, compared to the Madrid apartment, it was palatial. We were only located a short walk to the Alameda de Hércules and a slighter longer walk to the Casco Antiguo (the old town). That is if Google Maps doesn't get us lost in the labyrinth of laneways and alleys.

After settling in, we headed towards the old town, Casco Antiguo, to explore the hidden treasures of the city. All the walking worked up a thirst and appetite that could only be satisfied with a little alcoholic beverage and a hot chook from Jason’s favourite supermarket, Supermercado Día. However, unlike at home, the chooks weren’t hot, but cold and cryovaced. Still it went down well!

The next day we picked up where we left off and continued wandering around the old town. Along our travels, we spotted an elderly woman hooning around town in her motorised wheelchair, towing her granny master 2000 trolley behind her. She'd obviously gotten her provisions for the day and was hightailing it home. There was no way that our tired and weary feet could keep pace with her. Clocking over 15,000 steps, we felt we deserved a little, itty, bitty mojito and bocadillo to help sustain us for the stroll home.

The following day, we set out to explore the UNESCO heritage-listed Real Alcázar, the official Spanish royal residence in Seville. Originally, the palatial complex was built for the Christian King Peter of Castile in the Thirteenth century CE. Unique to this part of the country, the palace is an example of Mudéjar style, a type of ornamentation and decoration, influenced by Islamic art and used in the Iberian Christian kingdoms, primarily between the Thirteenth and Sixteenth centuries.

We continued the tour through Seville’s ancient history with a trip to Itálica, the Roman settlement nine kilometres northwest of the city. Itálica was founded by the Roman general Scipio in 206 BCE and has barely been excavated but includes well-preserved mosaic floors in the houses of the elite – well, at least the ones that weren’t stolen.

We were a little skeptical about the tour and initially thought we may have fallen into a tourist trap. But we were pleasantly surprised. Our tour was led by knowledgeable Nieves (Snow) and Barbara, except Nieves kept calling her Patricia. Each time, Barbara would politely correct her. When Nieves got it right, I could have listened to her say "Barbara" over and over. The way that she rolled the Rs. Barrr-ba-rrra.

Itálica was followed by a tour of the ex-monastery of San Isidoro del Campo, founded in 1301 by Alonso Pérez de Guzmán. According to tradition, San Isidoro de Sevilla (Saint Isidoro) was buried on the site of the church. Over 700 years on and Guzman's family are still allowed to be buried inside of the monastery.

On our final day, we decided to hire Lime electric bikes so we could cover more terrain. We’d forgotten that we needed four-wheel drive cars to traverse this landscape. Firstly what was supposed to be a 15-minute bike ride, ended up taking almost 40 minutes. Stupid Google Maps was set to car mode.

We eventually made it to the Plaza de España, which was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. The architectural style mixes elements of Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival (Neo-Mudéjar). The trip home felt like another episode of Groundhog Day, as we bounced along the cobblestone pathways. We didn't need to worry about monkeypox blisters, we were developing bike blisters instead. Again, Google Maps had us going in all kinds of directions, taking us from one side of town to the other but going nowhere at the same time. It was supposed to be a 4-minute bike ride but we ended up going around and around like a dog chasing its tail. Dazed and confused, we eventually made it home unscathed.

And Jason’s Lost World tally is now five. Nope, make that 6: wallet and glasses. Steady and consistent average of 1.2 per location.

Next stop: MálagaRead more