Day 31 - Sevilla to Argamasilla de Alba (437kms)
We woke to another beautiful day in Spain and quite excited about seeing the inside of the largest cathedral in the world - Cathedral de Sevilla. We were admiring the cathedral from the outside all day yesterday, and despite seeing many a church on the trip so far, we were looking forward to the biggie.
On our walk across the river back into Seville we noticed a cruise ship moored on the opposite river bank. Maybe not a full sized ocean going vessel, but it seemed very big for the river considering there was no ocean in sight. Then it was back along the beautiful cobble-stoned streets to the cathedral - on the way passing some gum trees, which reminded us of home.
The queues weren't too long and after only a few minutes we were inside the cathedral. Inside we were blown away by the sheer size of the main cathedral. The height of the ceilings like nothing we'd seen to date, and the volume of the internal area was amazing - more like a sports stadium except with lots of pillars supporting the roof. The stone arched ceilings and ornate windows letting in plenty of natural light.
We did waste too much time before climbing the Giralda Tower for views out over Sevilla. The walk up was very busy and entailed (according to Sierra's journal) 36 ramps at right angles to each other - around the inside of the tower, and then 22 steps to the top. At times it was a frustratingly slow journey, as the narrowing ramps allowed people of all levels of physical fitness to give it a go - which meant there were plenty of people that were walking painfully slow and struggling with the constant ascent. Given the outside if the ramp was a queue of people ascending, and the inside of the ramp people descending, passing was not always very easy.
From the top we got great views over Sevilla, and even a reasonable view of the bullfighting arena we visited the outside of yesterday. Apart of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we have had the best weather for viewing cities from above when climbing church towers. After the tower, we walked through some of the smaller chapels around the outside of the church, and I was fascinated by the different ornate ceilings in the different chapels. Eventually we exited the cathedral via the Orange Tree courtyard - beautiful in itself, except for the hundreds of people also trying to take it all in.
The cathedral done and dusted, we were out of time in the beautiful city of Sevilla. To avoid being charge another 24 hour stay in the car park, we headed back to the car park through the city streets, stopping along the way to post postcards and buy a few souvenir's of this wonderful place. It is with a tinge of sadness about leaving Sevilla, as I personally have become quite fond of this city, with its beautifully clean and wide tree lined boulevards, romantic horse and carriage rides, and picturesque fountains and streetscapes everywhere. It has so much to offer.
Safely back in our humble abode, we decided to hit the road for our long commute to Barcelona. We stopped in the warm weather for lunch outside Seville at a service station on the A4 highway heading northwest. Skinless hot dogs - which have become an all too easy favourite for lunch, and then it was time to get some distance behind us on our trek to Barcelona. Heading north for the first time, we were officially starting our long trek home and the end of the holiday. We were now starting to feel the pressure of time and for the first time that our holiday was indefinite.
We only got about two thirds of the way to Valencia (our intended halfway to Barcelona point), and around sunset pulled off the motorway into a rural town called Argamasilla de Alba. After google maps took us about 15 kilometers out of our way, we eventually arrived at a free roadside park for the night complete with a sewage dump point and fresh water refilling point (kinda). So we emptied the toilet, drained the grey-water tank and after trying in vain for half an hour to fill the freshwater tank, setup for the night. Parked in the car park, come park, Kristie prepared dinner while I walked the kids across the road to a another park/playground for a play before dinner.
While the kids played in the park I received a phone call from my cousin Michael - living in London, as he had heard through family that I was having problems recharging our UK mobile number. Of course you can only pay for a recharge on a UK credit card, so Mike kindly offered to pay the £20 to ensure we weren't cut off from the rest of the world. He also kindly offered to host us for our last night in London before home.
On our walk across the river back into Seville we noticed a cruise ship moored on the opposite river bank. Maybe not a full sized ocean going vessel, but it seemed very big for the river considering there was no ocean in sight. Then it was back along the beautiful cobble-stoned streets to the cathedral - on the way passing some gum trees, which reminded us of home.
The queues weren't too long and after only a few minutes we were inside the cathedral. Inside we were blown away by the sheer size of the main cathedral. The height of the ceilings like nothing we'd seen to date, and the volume of the internal area was amazing - more like a sports stadium except with lots of pillars supporting the roof. The stone arched ceilings and ornate windows letting in plenty of natural light.
We did waste too much time before climbing the Giralda Tower for views out over Sevilla. The walk up was very busy and entailed (according to Sierra's journal) 36 ramps at right angles to each other - around the inside of the tower, and then 22 steps to the top. At times it was a frustratingly slow journey, as the narrowing ramps allowed people of all levels of physical fitness to give it a go - which meant there were plenty of people that were walking painfully slow and struggling with the constant ascent. Given the outside if the ramp was a queue of people ascending, and the inside of the ramp people descending, passing was not always very easy.
From the top we got great views over Sevilla, and even a reasonable view of the bullfighting arena we visited the outside of yesterday. Apart of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we have had the best weather for viewing cities from above when climbing church towers. After the tower, we walked through some of the smaller chapels around the outside of the church, and I was fascinated by the different ornate ceilings in the different chapels. Eventually we exited the cathedral via the Orange Tree courtyard - beautiful in itself, except for the hundreds of people also trying to take it all in.
The cathedral done and dusted, we were out of time in the beautiful city of Sevilla. To avoid being charge another 24 hour stay in the car park, we headed back to the car park through the city streets, stopping along the way to post postcards and buy a few souvenir's of this wonderful place. It is with a tinge of sadness about leaving Sevilla, as I personally have become quite fond of this city, with its beautifully clean and wide tree lined boulevards, romantic horse and carriage rides, and picturesque fountains and streetscapes everywhere. It has so much to offer.
Safely back in our humble abode, we decided to hit the road for our long commute to Barcelona. We stopped in the warm weather for lunch outside Seville at a service station on the A4 highway heading northwest. Skinless hot dogs - which have become an all too easy favourite for lunch, and then it was time to get some distance behind us on our trek to Barcelona. Heading north for the first time, we were officially starting our long trek home and the end of the holiday. We were now starting to feel the pressure of time and for the first time that our holiday was indefinite.
We only got about two thirds of the way to Valencia (our intended halfway to Barcelona point), and around sunset pulled off the motorway into a rural town called Argamasilla de Alba. After google maps took us about 15 kilometers out of our way, we eventually arrived at a free roadside park for the night complete with a sewage dump point and fresh water refilling point (kinda). So we emptied the toilet, drained the grey-water tank and after trying in vain for half an hour to fill the freshwater tank, setup for the night. Parked in the car park, come park, Kristie prepared dinner while I walked the kids across the road to a another park/playground for a play before dinner.
While the kids played in the park I received a phone call from my cousin Michael - living in London, as he had heard through family that I was having problems recharging our UK mobile number. Of course you can only pay for a recharge on a UK credit card, so Mike kindly offered to pay the £20 to ensure we weren't cut off from the rest of the world. He also kindly offered to host us for our last night in London before home.
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