Day 499 - 5th August 2008

Watch out Seville, I'm here! Of course, only for three days, so I won't have much time to do much damage to the place.

Yes, the presence of a flatmate here drove me to take an epic ten hour train ride from the French border right down here to Andalousia. I have since spent an evening wondering around, stopping at a tapas bar for some tea.

The journey was exciting, going along mountain ridges, riding on the very brink, the very closest to the edge a train can possibly get. Until Zaragoza that is.

It is no myth that Spain, from here southwards, is pure desert - and my goodness am I glad I had a fast train to take me straight south in a few hours. The trains were good, no, really good. Bloody fast, more than a TGV, great seats, and a huge bar space to stand and have a drink or lunch in all made for a thoroughly pleasant experience - despite Clint Eastwood-style scenery.

Britain shouldn't be envious though, where on earth in the UK would you need to be travelling at over 260mph? Nowhere of course! In Spain, they have great fast trains because for about 900 miles in a straight line down there is nothing to see except sand and scrub. In Britain we move slower for a good reason, who would want to miss the wonderful landscape, changing every half an hour?