Our itinerary was exotic … Schiphol to Zurich to Barcelona to Sevilla. Everything to Barcelona was fine, snacks and lovely service on both flights (flying on Swiss airlines, there was plenty of chocolate offered!). We had a good-sized layover there in any event and it got extended a couple of hours (as we know, the airlines NEVER explain...) Chuckle of the moment ... I like to "set free" reading material I've finished, especially while travelling. Left a copy of Threads on a table-between-seats in Zurich and was amused to see it picked up by a "my age" gentleman ... wondered if perhaps it was for his wife! Then in Barcelona on the big layover/delay, we left two sets of a New Yorker and a Science News on tables adjoining ours. We saw one claimed right away, then after an un-fruitful check on our flight status, saw another weary traveller enjoying the other one. VICTORY!!
We arrived a bit after 11P, and an appalled cab driver dredged us out on a 50 Euro tour to reach this place, which is SERIOUSLY out in the country, by 11:59. It is, however, grand and posh and probably you're not supposed to want to leave. Twice the room size of the mousehole we inhabited in London. So I guess it all balances out. It appears that the hotel is maybe 10% occupied, apparently they have some marketing to do to overcome the image of whatever it was they used to be. The accommodations are regal, so no doubt the word will filter out apace. Even though it's a TITCH cooler out here in the countryside, it's still plenty hot for a Wisconsin kid.
Our room included breakfast in a lovely outdoor setting beside a manicured courtyard garden. The steam table offerings were so-so (watery scrambled eggs, limp bacon, small sausages, stewed beans) but the fruit bar, ham & cheese selection, and pastry table more than made up for that. Happily, Judy had schooled me in the ways of her pod-fuelled coffeemaker, so I was able to brew my own without further instruction. Juices, water & teas rounded out the beverage selection; a wide variety of flavored olive oils (vanilla??) added interest to the breads and cheeses.
We took the hotel shuttle van downtown mid-morning, where it was hotter than the hinges, breeze or no. But we strolled pleasantly around these couple of days, following the routes Gabe had developed to amble from his host family’s apartment to the university. The Official Bus Tour of Sevilla ("hop on, hop off") has a total of ... four stops! We've seen pretty much all 4 stops (though Gabe persists in his allergy to actually ENTERING any of these places). On my own I'd probably take the tours, but I do have some sympathy for the "you've seen one cathedral, you've seen them all" perspective. We are doing very nicely accomplishing the "people" goals, and that's the key thing here.
The first day, 2/3 of his Spanish harem took us to a tiny bar that makes its own wine, for drinks and tapas (they’ve GOT to be authentic when they come out on a stiff sheet of waxed paper...). While passing some time in a tapas bar later, we chuckled over the mal-translated offer of “Troubled of Cod” … but we opted not to disturb the poor fish any further and had a grand spinach salad with warm goat cheese instead. The next day we had "lunch" with his host family, a delightful afternoon and great to get to meet them.
Gabe hung with the ladies in the evening & they headed to an amusement park to celebrate Ana’s birthday on Wednesday. I enjoyed a lazy day therefore; accomplished a bit of work on both reading & needlework, then packing the both of us up and enjoying a light room-service dinner in the evening. Gabe arrived "home" this morning a 5:30 for a 6:30 taxi so he's wiped. But surely all necessary farewells are now complete!
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