Salida Espana

July 14 (continued): Restaurant alert - Mesones del Serranito, Seville: bacalao panes, 9 euros, perfect; Frito Mixto 2 personas 16 euros, very acceptable if a little unbalanced; start with a sweet sherry in a frosted glass followed by Rioja - Monticello Casa, Crianza 2004 then melocoton brandy to finish, approx 40 euros. Excellent service from Miguel.
July 15: Walked to Lavandería Roma (found on the internet see http://www.exploreseville.com/), 6 euros for laundry, pick up at 19:30. Later we calculate that this laundry would have cost 110 euros if we had used the hotel service. Dodged the column.

Walking tour to see the Cathedral y Giralda, Reles Alcazares and Barrio Santa Cruz. We follow the streetcar tracks looking for the depot and come across the Mercada Puerta de la Carne (the Antigua Estacion de Cadiz) - a wonderful old railway station closed in 1990. Great to find a slice of real Seville. Now a thriving fruit, veg, meat and fish market. A neglected treasure.

Lunch at Casa Dioni nearby- three course menu of the day, 8 euros; half chicken plate 7 euros. No English spoken, no worries. A rare moment of peace. Walk back to hotel by hot, complicated route. Siesta. Evening walk to la Macarena via the Alameda de Hercules. Overpriced, healthy fruit drink on outward leg. Lidl shopping. Sandwiches and drinks at Las Columnas, a self service cafe with a bar on the square. People watching. The guy featuring with his secretary better be more discrete. We head for our beds as the party gets started.

July 16: Breakfast once more at Place Duque, stroll back to hotel and take taxi to the modern Estacion Santa Justa , a nineties fantasy. Pick up rental car, a Fiat Punto diesel, and drive to the Algarve in Portugal. A look at Portimao convinces us that it would make the Portuguese editon of Craptowns. We continue on to Lagos. We check into the Hotel Marina Sao Roque for three nights of Anglo-Portuguese cultural tour. Blowing like a breeze. Chilled white out.