It was a very peaceful night in Alto Hotel they even had those wonderful metal shutters that cocoon you into complete darkness.I would no doubt have continued sleeping till Tim told me it was nearly 7am , unheard of for us Ozzie early risers. Breakfast was a Fawlty towers affair, first we walked into dining room , no, we were then ushered into the bar.So much for thinking we would be helping ourselves to a nice breakfast all laid out. Another couple were looking for breakfast too.They ordered and got coffee so I said to Tim you had better order us some tea, Tim does have some vague remnants of O level Spanish, tea arrived. Meanwhile the other couple (spanish) were eating food, we waited and waited nothing happened.I then said to Tim I think we have to order something.There was no menu so all I could think of was ” dos tostadas por favor”.Anyway we ended up with 2 lumps of bread with very nice cheese and ham on.The ham was freshly carved off one of the bones hanging down in the other side of the bar. I did see the other couple had tomato puree so said “tomat” por favor and then Tim not to be outdone asked for 2 orange juices , narankas which were freshly squeezed, so in the end a good Spanish breakfast.It just took a long time!

It was an easy ride downhill towards Seville meanwhile the serious cyclists from Seville were peddling their way up the hill we had just gone down.Some were trying to work out our nationality Tim would say “hello” and I would say “Ola”and then they would be in fits of laughter.Sunday also meant the motorcyclists were also out for their Sunday jaunt but there were 100s of them, all sorts some followed by police motorcyclists.Finally I saw a peleton of female cyclists first one, the leader was way ahead so we exchanged waves then I saw the rest of them, heads down so no waves.

At the first village we stopped at for coffee some people were arriving really dressed up and family parties were congregating.Inside the cafe was decorated with animal heads, and they were laying out 30 cups for coffee so big parties were expected.As we cycled out everyone was leaving church all the men in their suits and women in their best dresses.I’m not sure whether everyone is dressed up because it’s Palm Sunday or they always get dressed up for church.Its many years since a whole Anglican congregation dressed up for church!

A reasonably easy entrance into Seville guided by other cyclists onto cycle paths, past some great modern architecturally interesting buildings, the Sevilla Tower finished in 2015, towered above us.We found a cafe near to where our appartment was and grabbed a coffee whilst I phoned up the appartments agents to say we were close. No hiccups this time and we met and keys handed over.We are in Triana a walk over a bridge takes us into the old city but here you are surrounded by cafes and unusual shops.A market, Mercado de Triana is full of eateries and fresh fruit,vegetables and patisseries!The appartment block we are in is very Spanish, huge wooden doors lead us into a central courtyard and even better for us there is an underground carport so we have our own space for our e-bikes.This is fortunate as rain is forecast and e-bikes with batteries out should not get wet, or they will not work!

We venture into the streets crowds are building, a huge statue of the virgin Mary, Esperanza de Triana, is due to be paraded towards the cathedral and back again.We wait and wait .The young men are all dressed in dark blue suits and nicely groomed, incredible.Some people have been waiting since 430pm it’s now 6pm.We wait till 630pm the crowds are dense and thick with cigarette smoke plus the air is heavy with the prospect of rain and there is still fine sand still in the air.The bridge Isobel Puente feels as if its almost groaning with the weight of all the people. A brass band marches up the street in the direction of the church.The procession is meant to be impressive with nazarenos hooded figues walking in two lines with the float bearing the statue being carried by men that have practised for months for this honour. We do see 3 children dressed in white robes with their pointy hats also heading down the street. We give up, our appartment is close so I plan to rush out if we hear the noise of the parade.We keep checking out the windows, nothing then people are dispersing, it’s raining .Did we miss it?There are processions all week I’m sure we will, catch one.Apparently no processions in the rain as its too dangerous carrying the heavy statues.

We retire to our appartment heavy rain has dispersed the crowds and hopefully all that sand in the sky.Tomorrow it’s seeing the sights of Seville and catching up with friends who said they knew we would get here even if we didn’t!!

Bueno, hasta el miercoles- see you Wednesday, cycling west in Spain’s holiday holy week,could be tricky….