Sevilla, Andalucia - SPAIN

FRIDAY 20TH NOVEMBER 1998

Picture this: the roar of the jet engine just metres overhead and the edge of the runway only 150 metres away. This is "Sevilla Camping" and all that separates us is a small wire fence, sparsely decorated in ivy. I love the smell of jet fumes and the wonder of flight - the atmosphere conjures up such an exhilarating spirit. We are so seemingly insignificant, but have somehow found a way to dominate and control our environment. The aircraft is a poignant reminder that we are becoming less insignificant all the time.

The nearest bus stop was one kilometre away and we found ourselves downtown in under 40 minutes, surrounded by renaissance and Arabic architecture. Sevilla is a vibrant city, the most exciting in Spain, but it does not offer the grand vistas of other cities. Its treasures can be found in the narrow and winding streets surrounding its centre, and it is in the interiors of its two crowd-drawers that you'll find its true hidden magnificence. Those two structures and its Alcazar (or royal palace), smothered in Arabic styles of intricate pillars, arches and mudejar plasterwork, and secondly its renaissance cathedral, the third largest in the world (after St Peter's Basillica and St Paul's). We spent a few hours in the Alcazar with the help of an audio-guide, which gave us all the juicy details of most of Spain's monarchs who lived there. The palace, of decorative Muslim style, tiers up out of a courtyard and is surrounded by a swag of other buildings for various uses. The most beautiful structure by far is the Palacio de Don Pedro, which was constructed with the help of the Emir of Granada, thus giving it extravagant areas of mudejar plasterwork, reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada. Two inscriptions adorn the entrance, one in Roman script: "the very high, noble and conquering Don Pedro", whilst the other below in Arabic states "there is no conquerer but Allah". Two quite conflicting statements - hmm. Lastly we strolled through the landscaped palace garden adorned with colour and enjoyed tapas and a coffee in a small Arabic building, drinking in the views form its arched terrace.

The cathedral, adorned in renaissance and Gothic magnificence, towers over the palace. It's interior is supposed to be way more impressive but we did not end up going inside as a religious conference was on and, would you believe, armed security guards were stationed around all entrances to stop the "riff raff" off the streets from getting in - and that included us in our Sunday best!! We tried to sneak in at several points to no avail and began to think "who wants to see the third best cathedral, anyway?"

The late afternoon hours were spent enjoying the city's other delights by foot and indeed Sevilla's real splendour emerged. Firstly we walked through quaint narrow passage-ways cobbled in stone and surrounded by white walls where balconies would almost touch overhead. The further you stroll from the tourist shops clad with glitzy souvenirs the more you get a feel for the real Sevilla. Although a lot of the squares and streets are quite rundown and have seen better days.

As the sun began to set we made our way across to the river and watched the day wind down and the colourful neon lights flash against the moving water. the walk along Sevilla's river took us past palm trees, marbled benches and a 17th century watchtower with its sandstone walls lit up like a beacon.

The most memorable part of the walk took us by complete surprise when, whilst walking through the Parque de Maria Luisa, out of nowhere came forth the red brick building centred on Plaza de Espana and its intricate tiles in both Arabic and renaissance style. It was lit up like a Christmas tree and horses pulling coaches would circumnavigate a large water fountain and small canals that surrounded the square. The best part was that it was only graced by locals, families taking a stroll, school children on an evening jog, etc, and it was absolute bliss to enjoy its atmosphere for a few moments and to take the weight off our legs.

Later we found a bar that the LP guidebook highly recommended - some of the most exotic tapas in town. La Infanta was its name, located just near the bullring in the centre of town. Arriving at 8:30pm we were the first ones there and our barman offered the ultimate service. The joint was jumping by 9pm and after a few beers and some of the yummiest morsels of food I was most content. The food was so good that I even ordered a "surprise" from our barman and was not disappointed. They've taken the French approach here by combining good fresh food with the most mouthwatering sauce. By 10:30pm, after our fifth tapas, we were absolutely stuffed and amazed to find the bill some GBP 15 total!! Afterwards we had coffee and tried to find the most jumping club in town - only to discover that they don't fill until 2am. The party however was on the street and in the square where hundreds of young people would BYO various alcoholic concoctions and make as much noise as possible. At 12am we were defeated and were making our way back to the bus stop to catch one of the last buses home when all of a sudden loud music filled the streets. We hurriedly made our way back to the Club Populous where we thought it was coming from when to our astonishment found that it was blaring out of the back of a beat-up white Renault. The party was certainly on the street more than anywhere else and cars parked along its edges became beer coasters and seating.

The one km walk back to the campsite had an element of bush-bashing in it and was an interesting conclusion to the day.