Seville

Well the good news is that I finally found a guy in a Kodak shop in Seville that knew his camera batteries. He sold me a Camera charger for a Fuji camera and it works perfectly. 35 euros was a lot cheaper than a new camera. Since I had mentally spent the cost of a camera in my head I went on a shopping spree and bought my self some new clothes. These will help extend the periods between laundry visits which are getting increasingly expensive. After dodging the 14 euro laundry in Lisbon I had to get my clothes washed in Seville for 10 Euros.

Seville - Evening by the river

Seville is another one of a string of nice cities I have been in lately. There is no metro but the center is compact enough to walk around in comfort. The Cathedral is beautiful on the outside. I have no idea what the inside looks like as I was not prepared to pay 7 euros to walk around a church. On the other hand I did pay 7 euros to walk around the Alcazar as this is unique to Seville. It is a old Moorish Palace but over the centuries people have meddled with the place so much that it is now a mush of styles. Luckily there is a lot of the Moorish influence has survived. The gardens are also a mishmash of styles but they are a pleasant enough place to have your packed lunch.

Seville - Features in the Alcazar garden

When I went down to the bus station to by my ticket to Gibraltar, the girl on the information desk told me that the bus for Gibraltar goes from the other bus station. She quickly pointed to a map on her window with a note saying "Blah station C4". I looked up C4 on the map and it pointed to the Miraflores part of Seville. So I walked for 40 minutes to that suburb and got lost. I started asking people where the bus station was but nobody knew. You don't build a Bus station and not tell anybody. So in desperation I went into a Travel agent hoping that they would speak English and also know where the station was. They didn't speak English and did not know about any bus stations in the area. They fetched the Optician next door who could speak English but he also did not know about a bus stain in the area. The Optician phoned a friend ( The 50:50 was gone) and he knew where the Gibraltar station was but again it was not in the suburb I was in. The Optician got on to Google maps and located the station not far from the Alcazar. I was amazed how helpful they were, I was well out of the tourist zone. So after a big round of hand shaking I had to walk all the way back to the city center. Who said independent travel was no fun.

Seville - The Bull ring

I found the bus station and bought my ticket for 9:30 am the next day for "La Linea" which is the Spanish town beside Gibraltar. The next morning I left the Hostel at 8:00 am and arrived at the station at 8:30 am. I sat down and was just about to eat my breakfast when I looked at the station clock. It said "9:30 am". I thought thats funny that is the second clock I have seen with the wrong time on it. 10 seconds later I thought maybe I am wrong. I look down the line of buses and sure enough a bus for "La Linea" was pulling out of its bay. I grab my backpack and chase it through the station. I caught it at the gate thanks to some traffic. I waved my ticked at the bus driver and he opened the cargo door( they open and close here with out the driver getting out) and I flung by backpack in. I thought the driver was going to chew my ear of  for being late but he just laughed as I got on the bus. That was a close one. I obviously for got to reset my watch when I came back from Portugal.  

Seville - The Cathedral

Seville - The center of the city

Seville - The entrance to the Alcazar - Fortress

Seville - The Garden of the Alcazar

Seville - The Giralda - Old Minaret

Seville - The Santa Cruz district

Seville - The Torre del Oro