ONE DAY IN SEVILLE

During our recent trip to the Algarve we were blessed with some scorching hot days – a welcome surprise since good weather is by no means guaranteed in April and May (and we've been known to find rain in Africa, Greece and beyond). But when the clouds began to roll in towards the end of our week, closer inspection of the forecast showed that towns further inland would be dodging the heavy cloud cover.

So we hatched a night-before plan over dinner in Portugal to road-trip in our Fiat 500 to Seville. Dinner needs a better mention in fact – D'gusta in Tavira was one of the most incredible recommendations we've ever had; a local secret where no English voices could be heard (#1 goal when travelling: live like a local). Tapas the size of main courses was rolled out to our table including hake ceviche, a bowl of giant prawns, tuna tartar with almonds and sweet chilli, garlic octopus and two vast goblets of red wine and came to a total of €26. We tried to send the bill back in confusion.

So, still talking about dinner the night before, we embarked upon our quest in search of MIA sunshine, a dose of tile porn and a day of getting lost/exploring.

Spellbinding Spanish hours were whiled away in 28 degrees with Plaza de España, the lush, jungle-like Parque de Maria Luisa and Place de Pilatos all on our hitlist (the latter of which was a suggested alternative to the main palaces which all had queues snaking around the corner). None disappointed, with all throwing up stellar sights that had me reaching for my camera every two minutes. We finished up with another delicious dinner at no frills, fuss-free restaurant Molares, an ex-wine cellar where we rubbed shoulders with giant barrels alongside tables; a far-from-touristy, inexpensive tapas recommendation we found via Condé Nast Traveller. The service didn't feel all that warm until we were walking down the street post dinner and our waitress ran after us to return a souvenir Seville fridge magnet we'd left on the table, which really touched us.

So, without further ado, I will let the pictures do the talking. Have a little scroll...

I'm marrying a child...

Olly recently showed me an app that counts your steps and, after a day of pavement-pounding in Seville, it equated to 16km/10 miles. So the next day looked very much like this.