Monday, May 16 was for flying from Madrid to Seville, meeting up with fellow travelers, and boarding the ship.
After auto-check-in for Iberia 106 I determined my gate. The estimated seven minute walking time turned out to be about right. I put on my AMNH name tag and met two other AMNH travelers on the same flight. The plane was an Airbus A321. All the rows of seats were arranged 3-3. The first six rows were Business Class; the same size seats as in Economy. They just don't sell the middle seats.
Upon arrival in Seville our group had grown. Outside baggage claim we were met by a representative of Travel Dynamics International. We boarded a bus for the 20 minute ride to the dock. We passed many Moorish style buildings. Some old and authentic; some built in that style for the Seville 1929 Exposition.
After locating my luggage and cabin I went out for a walk.
The picture above is of the Torre del Oro (Tower of Gold) built around 1220. It is part of the early defenses of the city. A chain could be run from the tower to the other side of the river to prevent pirate ships from going up river. Seville was an early capital of trade with the Americas. The top of the tower was originally gold colored. It is now the Museo Naval (Naval Museum).
Here's a taxi in front of the Palacio de San Telmo, originally the University of Sailors, currently used by the governor of the Andalusian Autonomous Government. The taxis in each Spanish city have a different color stripe on the front or rear door.
In the evening we had our first briefing. There is one small difference between this cruise and my previous one. On the earlier cruise we were supplied with bottled water on the buses each day. Now the cruise is more environmentally friendly. There was an aluminum bottle for each person in the cabins to be filled and brought with us each day. The briefing was followed by entertainment, flamenco dancers.
