After spending the night near the Carrefour, the next day we headed to Seville. Seville is at least 2,000 years old and has a lot of history. (Duh!) What is most surprising, however, is that while it is way inland, it was a major Spanish seaport until the silting of the river caused the main port to move to Cadiz. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville)

We had expected southern Spain to be warm but we had not anticipated the kind of crushing heat that hit us when we found our way to the campground. The campground was a part of an auto storage lot, but despite having no charm, it did have all the required facilities and was wonderfully located to bicycle into town. There was, however, no shade of any kind, and it was close to 100F (40C). The first afternoon we turned on the air conditioning to cool off a bit. It worked well and we were pleased.

The next day we set off on the bikes for an exploratory visit.

We stayed on our side of the river and found a wonderful sidewalk cafe where we ate a merienda consisting of bacon bagels! 

We then crossed the river and headed towards one of Seville’s landmarks, the Torre de Oro. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_del_Oro) We didn’t visit the tower, but a quick cycle down the riverwalk led to a decision to take a boat ride down the river. They even agreed to take the bicycles on board.

After viewing the city from the river, we then headed back towards the campground. But first, we needed to find an ice cream and sparkling water. We cycled back through the Maria Luisa Park and enjoyed the odd fountain or two. There was also a big display of Ferraris that Fred admired (or perhaps it was the young ladies showing them!).

Then, ice cream found, we returned to the camper and turned on the air conditioner for a second night, as the temperature soared above 40C.

The next day we had an appointment for the Alcazar Real.  We decided that lunch would be in the same cafe, as we had really enjoyed the merienda the day before.  We then cycled through the old town and found a bicycle rack near the Alcazar, where we stored the bikes. We had a moment to spare, so we visited the General Archive of the Indies. The archive was set up to hold all of the documents relating to Spain’s colonization of the Americas. Some interesting things to see, but really a depository of original documents for serious scholars, not for tourists like us. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Archive_of_the_Indies)

That night, the air conditioner failed.  By the next morning, we felt very uncomfortable and as the temperature continued to climb we decided that our visit to the Cathedral was going to be cancelled.  Without air conditioning, camping was too unpleasant.  Time to head for the hills.  So we looked for camping that might be cooler, and found a lovely campground in the hills above Cordoba, so off we went. And that will be another story!