Leaving Seville
That night there was a big party and reception planned off site. There were buses lined up to take all 3000+ people south of the city to a place called Dos Hermanos and the Hacienda San Miguel de Montelirio. This was a very interesting place. It was quite a compound. There was a large barn like convention center hall that also contained a museum of sorts about horsemen of the casa. Inside there was plenty of little booths with food and drink. There was also a band playing music, traditional flamenco dancing, and games. The party was spread around grounds in various little plazas. There were beautiful gardens with lots of fountains, and a very large main casa.
One of the big attractions was the making of paella in an absolutely huge pan (probably 6 feet in diameter) over an open bonfire. The paella was delicious.
Plenty of paella for everyone.
The party was over at 10:30pm and I was back at the hotel by 11pm.
The next day Linda gave her presentation on the Solaris 10 support on IBM systems. The sessions were well received and we had a pretty good turn out considering the previous night's activities.
Linda giving her presentation
Alvaro Lopez also took some pictures of the conference.
After the sessions were done I made a final trip into the city to do some final sight seeing. I was able to get over to the Cathedral before it closed at 5pm. The Cathedral and the Giralda bell tower were amazing. Inside the Cathedral is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. There are niches and alters in every space, and they are elaborately decorated with the gold and silver from the New World. The climb to the tower was long, but the views of the city were spectacular.
Looking down at the city from the Giralda tower.
It is hard to describe how absolutely ornate the interior of the Cathedral really is, so check out the pictures here. The original Cathedral building dates back to the 1100's.
The next stop was the Alcazar. This is a Royal Palace and its architecture is heavily influenced by the Moors who once controlled this area. Surrounding the Alcazar are a series of beautiful gardens and fountains. Inside the Alcazar you can walk through the Admiral's room where Columbus made his travel plans and secured backing from Ferdinand and Isabella.
From the Alcazar I ventured into the heart of the old city. The streets are extremely narrow here and there are little plazas on every block. Lots of touristy shops and sidewalk cafes. I got lost here several times, but thankfully had a map to help keep me headed in the right direction.
Did I mention the streets were narrow?
By 8pm the weather was starting to come in. It got very windy and cloudy. On my way back to the train station, I did another detour around the Plaza de Espana. After a nice dinner at a small restaurant near the hotel I packed my bags and set the alarm for an early wakeup to get to the airport. That night the wind intensified and it poured rain all night. The hotel room had a small balcony and the door to it rattled and whistled all night long because of the storm. Needless to say I only got about 2 hours of sleep and was already up before the alarm went off.
A quick taxi ride to the airport, but then I had to wait in a huge line for check in and security. Thankfully, I got there with plenty of time before the flight. The flight to Madrid was quick and I had a long 3 hour layover before getting on the flight to Chicago. I did some shopping and bought some food with the last of my Euros. Next stop was across the Atlantic to Chicago. The flight was pretty rough at times and I didn't get any real sleep. Another layover in Chicago, then the final leg to San Diego. I was pretty worn out by this time and I ended up sleeping through the entire 4 hour flight. It was a great trip and I'm glad to be back home.
