Ah, Sevilla....bicycle heaven!

Aracena to Sevilla by bus

Day 11 - Thursday - June 23
Since this was the beginning of the bus's trip we had the whole bay to put our bikes and panniers in which made it pretty easy. The bus was 6.45 euro each and the bikes were free. The journey was bittersweet as much of the country was pretty gently rolling but it would have taken us 2 or 3 days instead of 2 hours because it was so hot. Even at 9am it was already 85F and it reached 106 that afternoon.

These are the city bikes right outside the bus station in Sevilla. We observed many people utilizing them over the 2 days we were in here. The first 1/2 hour is free.

The other side of the bus station and after seeing almost no other bicyclists for the last week, we were surrounded by people going everywhere by bike.

 

 The hotel let us check in at 10:30 so we "unpacked" and headed out into the city. This was our first experience with Iberian ham i.e. salt pork. It was everywhere and the main ingredient in sandwiches.

Take note of the traffic signal. The bike lanes are mostly painted green. The crossings are very wide  but we had to work on remembering to not walk in the bike lane. We caught a city bus that took us to the area of the Real Alcazar, Plaza de Espana and Garden of Maria Luisa.

We aren't sure how these beds are used but they sure looked inviting on a hot day.

The Plaza de Espana. Our sound of the day was a man playing guitar in the tower where we entered. The acoustics were great and we enjoyed his playing.

Everyone of these was covered with different tiles. You can see them lined up along the curve in the picture above.

These tiles were on the inside wall and seemed to represent many of the cities in Spain.

This whole building is still being used for government functions. We decided it must have cost the citizens a lot of time and treasure to build.

A ceiling panel

These horse-drawn carriages were everywhere in the area and quite popular.

Detail of the bridge you can see in the picture above.

These patterns were all created with round river pebbles.

We took refuge from the heat in the abundant shade of the Jardin de Maria Luisa. That is where we heard our second sound of the day. Someone was playing a flute and the doves were cooing along with it. It was quite the soothing sound.

As you can imagine, fans are quite popular here. There was some of the local pottery style displayed.

These guys are very busy cleaning the cobblestone street of the horse manure created courtesy of all those carriages moving through the area.

The Cathedral of Seville. We were circumnavigating the Real de Alcazar trying to find the front entrance when we got here. We also ran into a British pub, of all things, where we got something to eat. The church was closed when we first got here.

Part of the Stations of the Cross on the outside of the cathedral.

The doors opened while we were eating. It was worth the wait.

Even the carriage drivers were seeking shade. The Real Alcazar is on the right. We decided that it wasn't worth the price of admission given the heat and our state of  wilting.

Yes Starbucks has even invaded Sevilla, though hot coffee had no appeal this day.

These medallions were embedded in the sidewalks in places that weren't painted green.

Day 12 - Friday - June 24
Today we decided to experience Sevilla's first-rate bike facilities on 2 wheels. It was a delight. The paths are very well laid out and the routes intuitive. This path follows the river. We went all the way to the train station without ever being on the street with the cars. The drivers in Sevilla are very courteous to both cyclists and pedestrians.

Not sure what he is fishing for but the pole is really, really long.

Kayaks and racing shells were quite numerous. There were even permanent courses set up in the river.

Another Roman wall. The old and the new blend quite well in this city. We should note that all the crosswalks had shade trees.

We bought some cherries at a local marketplace and this is how the vendor wrapped them.

They were delicious and juicy!!!

The Barber of Seville i.e. Joaquin Peluquero, also a cyclist and a wizard with the scissors.

Another version of Stations of the Cross outside a very small church we came across during our walk back  from the barber.

Small  but still very ornate!

The end of a fine though VERY hot day (41C at 5pm). We actually cycled 15 miles around this fine city. According to the locals we  were just a couple of months late weather-wise for excellent cycling.