Cadiz

The next morning after our departure from Lisbon we've arrived at Cadiz, in southern Spain. Much of Spain's trade with South and North America moves through Cadiz. From here sherry wine, cork, olives, figs, salted fish and salt is exported.

Although you can visit Cadiz (it's a nice city), many of the cruise passengers decide to visit Seville, a two hours drive. According to the number of motor coaches, the cruise ship will be quite desolated today...

While almost everyone is on tour, there's time to do some maintenance on the ship.

We've arrived at Seville. Seville is Spain's 4th largest city with a population of some 710,000.

This is the Spanish Pavilion at the Plaza España. It’s a very nice building built for the 1992 World Expo.

The Regional Military Museum.

On our way through the old city wall to Casa de Pilatos.

La Casa de Pilatos (Pilate's House) is an Andalusian palace in Seville. The building is a mixture of Renaissance Italian and Mudéjar Spanish styles. It is considered the prototype of the Andalusian palace.

This is the main patio.

A detailed images of the decorated walls in typical Andalusian style, which can also be seen at the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazaba in Almería.

Casa de Pilatos is considered one of the finest examples of Andalusian architecture of sixteenth century Seville.

Another example of a good eye for detail.

On our way to the Álcazar, the royal palace.

The Álcazar is a famous royal palace in Seville. It was originally a Moorish fort. This is a beautiful dome in the Salón de Embajadores (Ambassadors' Hall or Throne Room).

Very nice tile mosaics. You can find them a lot in the Álcazar.

The Patio de las Doncellas (Courtyard of the maidens) is one of the patios in the Álcazar, with the characteristic rectangular reflecting pool.

Another view of the Patio de las Doncellas.

Afther visiting the Álcazar, it's time to see the Cathedral of Seville, the biggest Gothic Cathedral in the world.

Whether you like to visit churches or not, this cathedral is very impressive.

The cathedral claims to be the burial site of Christopher Columbus, although other places in the world also claim to be.

The cathedral has 80 chapels and is the third largest church in the world. A must see when you're in Seville.

A typical narrow street in Seville.

It's nice to wander around and find some fine restaurants.

Seville is extremely hot in Summer, like all the south part of Spain. Temperatures can reach above 104 degrees F (40 C) in the summer months.

The best time for visiting Seville is spring and fall. And as you can see on some pictures, we had some minor rain today (2nd half of april). For us it's time to head back to the ship in Cadiz.