Weather: 35º C and Sunny (but felt hotter)

Mileage: 140 km; Total 3,915 kms

Decided to go up to the roof of our Seville hotel for a continental breakfast. Normally we find somewhere outside the hotel. What a surprise we got – a swimming pool and a good view of the city. We had not used the lift until then as our room was on the first floor. We would have used the pool as it has been so hot. Having said that, it is not a large pool and may have been full of people all day. Most of the places we stay in are 2 or 3 star and would not have pools – this was a 4 star.

Today we left Seville for Cordoba but decided to visit a town on the way – Carmona. Founded by the Carthaginians and later occupied by the Romans and Moors it has the usual churches, palace, fort and city walls, but also some Roman ruins including a Necropolis. Unfortunately being a Monday the Necropolis was not open, but we knew this before going there. It was a nice town to visit. Easy to find parking that was free, easy to find the Tourist Information Centre that was signposted and a pleasant walk around the old town, the buildings of which are mainly painted white. A lot of the sites had been plundered during the various wars and uprisings but some had been rebuilt over the years.

The Tourist Information Centre was in the old fort that was free to wander on Mondays. While a lot of it was not able to be visited due to its poor state, we could go up one of the towers and visit the “prisoners room” which had been turned into a room showing the history and some relics of the town. The city’s emblem has the words Carmona, Lucero de Europa (Carmona, Star of Europe) that dates back to something Ferdinand said about it when they reconquered it in the 13th century.

The Church of Santa Maria, built on the site of a mosque, was a mixture of Moorish and Gothic architecture. Its museum displayed quite a few items of gold and silver. While we were wandering around inside the church, someone was practicing his singing with the organist. He was not singing hymns and we managed to record a bit of it. He had a very good voice and the acoustics were excellent.

We had lunch in the main plaza and wandered through the streets some more, hoping to visit the church of San Pedro before heading off to Cordoba. It was supposed to the open but was not. We are staying in a family run 2 star hotel in Cordoba. Their website warned us that it was not easy to find using GPS systems as they have not updated their maps with some road changes nearby – one way street changes we imagine. The hotel provide very clear instructions on their website on how to get there and we had no problems.

Not sure why it is 2 star as it is newly renovated, is air conditioned and our room is large and comfortable. Onsite parking is for only 4 cars and we had booked one of these spaces. They do not have a kitchen however, so breakfast cannot be provided. We normally do not have breakfast in the hotels so this is no problem for us. The family spent some time with us going over the layout of the city, places to eat and pointing out the key sites.

Headed off for a wander around the city as several places we intend to visit here are closed (being a Monday). Easily found the Tourist Information Centre and got what we needed. Found a nice tapas restaurant for dinner before returning to the hotel and some air conditioning. Still very hot in the evenings.