Day 4

Sevilla – Wednesday September 25

A lazy day for certain.

I cannot remember the last time I slept in until 9:15 after a delicious night’s rest! We rushed to meet Finnoff’s for breakfast at 10:00. Then we lolly gagged and talked til after 12:00.

We met again in the lobby with plans to go to the contemporary museum. First, I wanted to check out the shopping in the hotel. The most beautiful perfume shop I have ever seen yielded a beautiful bottle to take home. I spotted a 1928 photograph of King Alfonso (namesake of the hotel) taking flying lessons in an aircraft I did not recognize. That too was added to our suitcase. At home I will look it up in “Janes All The World Aircraft” (I have a substantial collection of annual Janes publications). All this took the better part of another hour.

Outside we made an “executive decision” to visit the ice cream shop across the street. Relaxing at a table under an umbrella we ate our ice cream (very delicious), talked, people watched etc. etc. Right next to our table was a bike path with tons of traffic including pedal bikes, electric bikes, three wheelers, and electric scooters – many moving at a very fast clip. Just beyond the trail was a tram station with trains frequently moving in both directions. The electric tram would pull into the station, from the top of the middle car a charging attachment would go up to touch a charger for 30 seconds, then retract and the tram would depart. Very efficient, very cool.

Should we ride the tram to check out the City? Could we see out through the advertising that covered the sides of the cars? We did and we could. We rode from one end to the other (only 8-10 stops). It was a great way to see a slice of the city and its people. The Museum idea had faded away.

Dinner was fun and crazy. We failed to realize it was a fixed menu – our choice of long or short. Only Chris chose the long – the short was 10 or 12 corses and it took hours. Each course was just a bite or two however I was full and tired about 2/3 of the way through. We laughed and laughed. Another day another dollar.