Spain 10/7

Up early and off to Seville on an early train to avoid the heat. We get breakfast of cafe y tostadas at the station and i get out my tube of vegemite. Delicious. We check in early and head into town. We got a bit confused when we got a ticket for the cathedral, the bell tower and the collegiate church combined. We thought we headed into the collegiate church which was so very ornate that we wondered if we had actually entered the cathedral. We realised we hadn't after a while. Between the two churches we just stopped at the nearest cafe for something light. I don't think we ordered enough for the waiter who was particularly offhand with us. I got my plate of delicious grilled mushrooms and luckily Rob had one to taste as his Russian salad never arrived. He crossed the square and had dessert at the icecream stall anyway. The cathedral - I think the guide books have said pretty well everything to be said..but will add my two bob's worth anyway. Stupendous. Christopher Columbus's mausoleum! The Naranja courtyard! The altarpieces - plata and the main altar! Rob decides to climb the bell tower while I sit quietly downstairs only to return moments later to discover that his hat is missing. He had removed it and left it in one of the pews and when he realised its absence it had already gone. We asked one of the staff about lost property and she got on her radio - to no avail. It is a great shame as it was a good hat and it suited Rob. He gives up La Giralda (aforementioned bell tower) in favour of looking around at people's heads. He returns triumphant bearing the hat which we think someone took, tried on as he was leaving the cathedral and discarded on the ground in the courtyard. What? He didn't like the hat for a large head with the sweaty band - what's the matter with him? As it was the second hat Rob had lost in Spain we are delighted with its return. On our way back to have a rest i go and have a look through Casa Pilatos - so named as it is erroneously thought to be based on the house of Pontius Pilate. This is yet another remarkable building with tiled walls, cool verandahs and courtyards, one of which houses a well established vegetable garden. It also houses the city's first staircase. I walk around just marvelling then join Rob patiently waiting and bore him with its wonders. In the evening we enjoy a stroll through parklands to the Plaza Espana, built to impress at an exposition in the late nineteenth century. And it is impressive! It is huge and even has a sort of moat with bridges reminiscent of Venice. Unfortunately it is also being restored so the plaza itself is fenced off as a construction zone full of materials and machinery. The boat canal is drained and being fixed up. None of this deters the two bridal parties who have come her to be photographed in the main buildings on the tiled staircases as none of it will show in the snaps. I have never seen a city where so much reconstruction and restoration is going on all at once preventing viewing and enjoying the sights. It is quite extraordinary. Much better waiter tonight - if you don't count the first one to approach us and left in a hurry. We found out later he had abandoned us halfway through ordering to hand us on to another waiter with a smattering of English.