After breakfast of a Spanish omelette (while in Seville, as Dad said...) I headed off down to the Maestranza, the main bull-fighting ring in the city. While I´m not that keen on the actual bull fights, the whole tradition is quite intriguing, and of course it´s a location in Carmen! There are half hour tours that you can take of the arena, which takes you to the seating areas, the infirmary (pretty well organised for goring injuries!), the museum and the stables. A very slick operation, but still very traditional.
After walking along the river for a bit and listening to the cheesy music of the riverboats, I went and had a look around the cathedral, close to where my hotel was. It was huge, with a high vaulted ceiling and enormous columns. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is also there. The largest carved wooden altar in the world is in the cathedral, and in fact, the cathedral is meant to be the largest in the world, larger even than St Peter´s in Rome. I walked up to the top of the Giralda, the cathedral´s tower - there are no steps, and were designed so that one of the kings could ride his horse up to the top. Views were pretty amazing from the top.
Made my way to the station next, where my train left at 15.55 for Granada. Very comfortable journey, modern train. Took just under three hours. Some great mountain views en route, as well as views of wind machines.
Got a taxi to my hotel when I got to Granada, as the train station wasn´t in the centre. I´m staying at the very pretty Hostal La Ninfa, about ten minutes from the centre of town. Went for a walk in the evening and had dinner at a restaurant which looked up at the Alhambra. Lovely old town with windy little streets.
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