A Sevillian Homestay

 Train travel.

Number 2, the house I am staying in.

Roberto and Maxim.

The third largest Christian cathedral in the world.

Part of the facade of the cathedral.

 A 'royal' wedding at the cathedral.

The Hurton getaway car. (Can't find it on the internet)

 Wedding number two, in a different cathedral.

Beautiful architecture. 

The cafe where I had dinner.

Saturday, September 9^th.

I was up and getting organized by 7;30. I went for a short walk along the beach area which was deserted except for a few dog walkers and joggers. Then I returned for the continental breakfast, checked out and caught the bus to Malaga Maria Zambra Station. When I got on the train and sat in a seat, I was told by another passenger I was in his seat, so he showed me the seat number on the ticket and I had to kick someone out of my seat. This started a chain reaction as none of the English speaking passengers realized that we had assigned seats.

The train ride was uneventful as we passed from the hilly region of the south to the flatter interior. We passed fields of orchards, not sure what kind but some looked like olives. The fields were parched and looked like dust and the trees are irrigated by hoses. We stopped at six or seven towns before arriving in Seville.

I had booked an AirBnB in a private home for 20 Euros per night. I hailed a taxi and gave him the address. He spoke no Enlglish but he drove me close to the address, but not right too it because the streets are very narrow in the city centre. He explained in Spanish how to walk there, two blocks and then right for two more blocks. I had no idea where I was, so I asked a delivery guy who looked up the address on his phone and told me where to go, again Spanish. I didn't really understand and quickly got lost. I wound up in a little plaza or square and there were two young girls sitting on a bench playing with a phone. I asked if they spoke English and they did! I asked if they could phone the lady I was to stay with which they did. I talked to Natalia for a couple of minutes explaining that I didn't really know how to get to her place. She said she would talk to her mom who lives with her. She called the girl's phone again and said her mom would walk over to get me. She arrived a few minutes later and walked me to the house. She speaks no English and just talked to me non stop in Spanish, but I understood that there were four keys to get in, three for the gate, the door and the floor and one to get into my actual room. So here I am.

I know there are friends reading this who say “maybe you should have a phone Joe, it would have maps on it and you wouldn't have to get other people to call for you”....

As I was typing this two young men came down to my door from the bedroom next door and introduced themselves: Maxim from Russia, living in Italy and Roberto from Italy. They are here on some kind of student work visa and will be staying in this house for a month. They are both 18. We talked for a bit and they went to eat, as they have a food program something like what I had at home hosting students. So now I am the guest in a homestay rather than the host.

After talking to them for a while I decided to try to find the meet up spot for tomorrow's tour. I have to be there at 6:15, so I thought it would be better to rehearse the route. I entered my address in Google maps and the address of where I was going and found that apparently I can walk there in 13 minutes. I don't have access to a printer so I wrote out the the directions, all 13 steps. This is the oldest area of the city and was never designed for cars. The streets are narrow, cobble-stoned and not straight for long. I started out and immediately found that the first direction was wrong, so I went back to the room (having to use all four keys to get back in) and checked to make sure I hadn't made a mistake; I hadn't. So I headed out again. Through trial and error and carefully proceeding I managed to find my way to the meeting place (tomorrow I will have to do it in the dark!), but they were closed for the day.

Just down the road is the Caterdral de Santa Maria de la Sede, better known as Seville Cathedral. This is the third largest Christian church, behind St Peter's in the Vatican and St Paul's in London. There was only a portion open to the public, which was over the top as usual with myriads of statues, paintings, vaulted ceilings and little chapels. The artistry in these places is mind blowing. Then I walked all around it and stumbled on a group of people dressed elegantly milling around the rear entry. As I stood there a horse drawn carriage clip-clopped up the road with a bride and her father in it. What a place for a wedding and almost regal in appearance. There was a police presence as well and they were armed.

After that I wandered around the central district again and came across another really beautiful old cathedral with a classic sports car outside with a bow on it. I walked in and there was a wedding going on their too. The proceedings were over a loud speaker and anyone could walk in. I was amazed by the size of the train on the brides dress, check out the photo.

I was hungry and this point and decided to try to find my way back. On the way, one of the streets had a few restaurants with tables on the sidewalks. I picked one and ordered a beer, seafood salad, and fish and seafood paella. Both were tapas sized (half portions) but were enough and total was only $20 Canadian.

Finally I walked the rest of the way home, and even found a small grocery store where I bought some supplies for breakfast and the trip.

I phoned my father and wished him well on his knee surgery on Monday.