The Streets of Seville

Like Lisbon, Seville used to be a major seaport serving the nation’s expanding empire - in the case of Spain, that meant much of the Americas. You can see the wealth this created in the unbelievably lavish art and architecture in the churches and other surviving buildings of the ‘golden age’. The builder of Cathedral de Sevillla is purported to have said, “Let us build it so huge that those who complete it will swear that we were mad!” The Treasure Room of the Cathedral has to be seen to be believed: crowns, reliquaries, chalices, crucifixes and other artefacts in ornately wrought gold and silver, encrusted with precious stones – the materials plundered from the new world and mined by slave labour. An ugly story behind all the glitter and glory. Between gawping at all the paintings, sculptures, carvings, tapestries, jewellery and other stuff, I did pause to wonder what a simple Jewish carpenter's son would have made of it all.

The city went into decline after it was decimated by the Great Plague in 1649, the Guadalquivir River silted up and the Armada got their arses kicked by the English. Seville was the administrative centre for the Inquisition, so it’s fairly clear what God thought about that little enterprise. The layers of history, glorious and ghastly, do make every walk through the narrow streets an adventure in time travel. The old Santa Cruz district, for example, housed poets and revolutionaries and was the setting for much of Bizet's Carmen, however it was also the ancient Jewish quarter, the scene of terrible pogroms under the Inquisition.

 Interesting places to see: the Reales Alcazares, a Moorish palace and gardens begun in 1181, that took 500 years to complete. The Hospital de los Venerables Sacerdotes (Old Priests' Home) a beautiful building with a fabulous art collection, including works by Murillo and Velasquez. The Torre del Oro (Tower of Gold) another Moorish building that overlooks the river and houses an excellent maritime museum. The Placa d'Espana, built for the Expo in 1929, and the surrounding gardens... and so much more.

From a design perspective, you can’t help wishing that Australian cities and homes had had more Mediterranean influences. Lovely shady town squares with fountains, cafe seating and beautiful tiles. Balconies, street dining in tapas bars and roof gardens where people socialise in the cool of the evening. (Siesta is serious here – virtually nothing is open between 2 and 5.30 pm, but things really come to life at night). I especially like the homes in town: behind a massive studded wooden door, an entry opens into a welcoming courtyard with tiles, orange and olive trees, jasmine and other flowers and a pool or fountain. The style is called Mudejar, a mix of Renaissance Spain and north Africa.

And after a brief Spanish interlude, we're back in Lagos; the new AIS and radar have been installed, the sails arrive for fitting tomorrow and we've done a massive cleanup of all our tools, spare parts and equipment. Just a few more days and we should be on our way. Next stop, Faro, then Gibraltar and the Med at last!