Sevilla

We decided to visit Seville on a whim just to fill in time. Id heard it was a nice city but what we discovered was that it is the heart of Flamenco dancing in Spain. So all the shops were filled with brightly coloured flamenco dresses and hats etc. That was fun, but we also found out that Seville is nicknamed by the Spanish as "The Frying Pan of Spain". The temperature reached 45 degrees in the afternoons and so Oscar and I succumbed to the Spanish tradition of the Siesta happily. The streets were dead between 1pm and 7pm everyday. But after 7pm the city came alive with big demonstration against more government spending cuts and job losses. But unlike any normal protest/demonstration this one had live music, dancing, singing, chanting and generally a positive vibe which was unusual given they were supposed to be quite angry apparently (perhaps the abundance of pre-drinking in local bars is to blame). So in Seville we ate great tapas, clung to air-conditioned shops and did little touristing. Hence the lack of photos. Still a great city and lots of fun ... but a little on the hot side for me.

 An old palace surrounded by nice shady cool gardens.

 Great building that they lit up at night with fluro lights (but i forgot to take my camera at night). Selling yummy sweets and of course Flamenco gear.

Osc outside the Cathedral. Its the 3rd largest cathedral in Europe (maybe the world cant remember) after St. Peters and St. Pauls. The Spanish argue that its bigger than the other two in square meterage but i doubt it very much.