Our original plan had been to cycle down to the Coto Doñana National Park for a couple of nights but it was so hot that we opted to remain in Sevilla, since we’d have had to return anyway to fly home. The Samay could only offer us bunks in separate dorms so we booked somewhere else. Checkout was noon but they allowed people to store their luggage until 6pm. However, on the day of departure a different receptionist insisted that we’d have to move our bikes by noon even though they were tucked out of the way at the top of the building.
We made the most of the morning, calling in to a bar for breakfast and then walking to the Plaza de España, designed by Aníbal González for the 1929 Exposición Ibero-Americana. It’s a beautiful ensemble of fountain, canal and official buildings, and features a tiled alcove for each Spanish province depicting a key episode in its history.
We then had to take our bikes and luggage to the apartment we’d found online. This was very luxurious with a well appointed kitchen and granite worktops and two bedrooms overlooking a quiet plaza. In the afternoon we visited the cathedral as a respite from the heat then returned to the apartment to cook. In the evening we strolled around the lively Santa Cruz district.