Monday 16 September

On Day 3 of "Amazing Spain & Portugal" with Insight Vacations we are up and outside the hotel ready to visit the Alhambra Palace just after 8.00am. We will be one of the first groups through the gates and we have to be on time. Some 3 million people visit this UNESCO World Heritage site and a maximum of 8,000 visitors is allowed on any day, so book early. Each ticket is individually identified with your name to prevent scalping and occasionally staff will ask for identification so you need to carry a passport photocopy. We line up to go in, and the only person who has to show ID is... Tony of course.

Located on a hill overlooking Granada, the Alhambra dates back to the 13th Century and the founding member of the Nasrid Dynasty, a family responsible for building successive palaces and other buildings in the complex. Originally a military base, the Alhambra expanded to include palaces for the Sultans and their family, their court, residences of noble families, gardens and recreational buildings used by the Sultans. In 1492 Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragon forced out the last of the Nasrid Sultans. The Charles V Palace was later built in the Medina, but never used as a royal seat as the Court had been moved to Madrid by his son in the interim. The complex fell into disuse, and in fact some sections were destroyed by Napoleon's cannons. It was "rediscovered" by British and later other northern European travellers in the 19th Century.

The palace is renown for its Muslim architecture with brightly coloured and decorated courtyards with water features. In contrast, the outer walls are very plain and almost appear unfinished. Our local guide Bernardino takes us on the approved route through the various palaces including the Sultanas private rooms and the Harem.

We are a bit delayed leaving Granada so we only take a short lunch break on the drive to Seville, Capital of Andalusia. Known for its orange trees that line most of the main streets, this city of ~750,000 million was, in the 16th Century, fabulously rich thanks to being the only Spanish port permitted by Royal Charter to trade with the Americas. Although it is 50km inland its river port on the Guadalquivir, links the city to the Atlantic Ocean.

We are dropped off on the edge of the Old City and walk quickly to the Catedral de Sevilla, which is the largest Gothic cathedral on the planet. Like many churches the building started as a mosque, which was completed between 1184 and 1198 in brick. After the Christian "reconquest" by Ferdinand III in 1248 it was declared a Cathedral but the building was largely unchanged until 1434 when the mosque was progressively demolished to make way for the gothic building. Work continued until the early 20th Century and in 1987 it was granted UNESCO listing.

We are the last group to leave the Cathedral and walk through the Plaza de Triunfo, then though sections of the Old City to Plaza Alfaro and finally through the gardens to end at the Jardines de Murillo and the monument to Christobal Colon, otherwise known as Christopher Columbus. Insight had organised a photographer to meet us for a group shot in the warm afternoon, and then on to our hotel. The Ayre Hotel Seville is a modern comfortable business-style multi-story building some 2km northeast of the Old City.

No Rest For the wicked, an hour to unpack and shower, then downstairs for a sangria and then into the bus for a short ride to Tablao Flamenco El Palacio Andaluz, in Calle María Auxiliadora. Two theatres on the ground and first floor present a Flamenco show at 7.00 and 9.30pm, mostly to tourists. Perhaps not for the purist, but the show was approachable with references to Carmen, individual virtuoso performances, amusing interludes, and more usual flamenco dance and songs. There is an optional dinner and wine package which our group was on, which consisted of tapas-style starters, a main, small sweet and coffee, washed down by half a bottle of rather average wine if you were thirsty.