Tuesday 16 July 2013 Early the next morning, Ruby caught a taxi to the train station where she would pick up a bus to the airport and thence a flight to Valencia, en route to Benicassim for a music festival. It was not so hard to say goodbye this time because we would be meeting…

Monday 15 July 2013 Susie and I started the day by searching for somewhere to print train tickets. It did not take us long to find a suitable place on La Calle Feria, which runs through a busy commercial district. On the way back to the apartment, Susie took a detour into a second-hand clothes…

Sunday 14 July 2013 Our journey has taken us to a few of Europe’s amazing cities—Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon to name a few. But there seems to be no end to the wonders of Seville. Perhaps it is because Seville was the centre of world trade for a few centuries. Perhaps it is because…

Saturday 13 July 2013 I tend to get up earlier than my travel companions. Maybe my coffee addiction doesn’t like me to sleep in. On Saturday, I used the early hours of the day to cook: I made a mild chickpea curry for lunch. Ruby and I then went out searching for somewhere to print…

Friday 12 July 2013 A vast cathedral with a lunch to match; a peaceful park and a confected plaza—that was Friday in a nutshell. But we needed to start the day with something to fortify our legs. I learned how to cook Eggs à la Ho Chi Minh from a street-vendor who had a tiny…

Thursday 11 July: 2013 Today was flamenco day! But before we could climb into that sublime furnace, we had to walk across some ordinary coals… On our first morning in Seville, Ruby and I headed off to a supermarket in Plaza del Duque to stock the fridge. We filled two large shopping bags to the…

Wednesday 10 July 2013 We drove back to Faro in the little Fiat Punto with Susie dozing off in the front seat. The Europcar office provided a free shuttle service to Faro Airport, where we caught a metro bus back to the dismal bus station. Its only saving grace was that the small cafe there…