Super Seville, Spain

It would be hard to overstate the charms of Seville, the lovely Andalusian town on the Guadaquivir River in Spain. I spent the day exploring the old town, parts of which are still flanked by the 12th century Muslim-period walls. It’s Easter weekend and the religious processions are in full swing, with all of the Sevillian confraternities competing with each other to carry around elaborate–and heavy–floats with religious scenes on them. Some weigh thousands of pounds. Ever wonder where the KKK got the idea for their robes and the tall conical hats? From these religious brotherhoods. Today I saw a group with forest green robes with hats about four feet high. Here’s a short video I took of them on YouTube. The city is in full bloom with orange blossoms, Judas trees, jacarandas, and wisteria in full glory. Check out my Seville Scenes slideshow .

The highlight was the Plaza Espana with its riot of tile work. The old city was filled with tourists but still a pleasure to walk through. I met a priest from Toledo who was trying out his new digital camera and exhibiting less than saintly patience with his new machine. I told him I was from Canada and he spent the next five minutes trying to pronounce ‘Saskatchewan’. He was unable to do it, but it was great entertainment to listen to him try. I met a family of Indians from Calcutta who now reside in Dusseldorf. Lovely people.

I started the day at 4:00 am in Madrid, caught a flight at 7:00 here with many from the Lindblad/National Geographic group. We begin in earnest tomorrow. As I was walking around and took pictures today with my staff shirt with the NG logo, I heard an American girl say to her friends “He’s a National Geographic photographer!” I’ll have to milk that for all it’s worth.