September 17, 2016
I woke up late in the morning feeling good because I had a very good night of sleep and I was surprised that I slept over seven hours. Last time I was here it took me ten days to get over my jet lag before I could sleep that much.
However, when I started to get out of bed I immediately felt dizzy and a little nauseous. I felt so dizzy that I had to sit down several times before I was actually able to stand for a while as I was getting ready. My first thought was maybe I’ll just stay in bed and hopefully feel better later. But I had been told that because Saturday was the hotel’s busiest day and my room was booked. If there was one available later I’d have to pay double. The thought of walking to another hotel seemed impossible the way I felt. 
I search the Internet and luckily found a highly recommended hostel, Samay Hostel, that had one bed left in a four bed room, so I booked it. 
I managed to shower and shave, but had to sit down several times because I became nauseous. I was a little nervous wondering why I was feeling this way and whether I could even walk the mile to the hostel?
If you see a map of old Seville you’d think the streets are a maze and there is no direct way to get anywhere, especially because the street names are not on signs. Some, very few, are on the corners of the buildings. You have to count the streets on the map and then hopefully do the same as you walk the streets. 
I left the hotel and immediately felt sweaty, like when you are sick rather than from the heat. I was struggling carrying the Wheelie and had walked several blocks and had already become lost. That one mile was going to be a long way! How can I even think of walking the sixteen to twenty-three miles the first day if I can’t walk a mile?
I found a little shaded park as I felt nauseous and was tired of carrying the Wheelie. Hey! Why don’t I assemble the Wheelie and put my backpack into it? Wow, I guess that’s what I brought it for. 
I assembled the Wheelie and decided the easiest way to find the hostel was to backtrack and walk on the large main streets that go around the perimeter of the old town. It took me over one and a half hour to make it to the hostel because I was walking slow and because of the multitude of people walking the sidewalks. Oh yes, and I guess I did get lost a few times too.
The hostel was very nice and clean and it was more like a motel and very friendly staff. The room had individual door keys and safes. 
I felt a little better walking by the time I got there and was a little concerned whether I’d feel this way tomorrow. If so, I would definitely postpone my start. I decided to book the bed for two nights just to be on the safe side.
After a short rest I decided to look around the cathedral area and maybe get my Camino passport, or credentials, as they call it. This is the paper that is stamped at various locations while on the Camino to verify that you were actually there.
I wasn’t sure where to get it, so I went to a Starbucks to get wifi and looked it up. I ended up spending several hours there drinking cold green tea and enjoying the air conditioning as it was already in the mid nineties.  
As it turns out the Hotel Simon, that generally has the credentials, was a half block away and the clerk there said they were out. I was able to post a question on the Camino website hoping someone somewhere in the world would be up and looking at the website posts. I was surprised when I got a message less than ten minutes later from a lady, who had actually recommended the Camino Via de la Plata to me, who suggested that I try Triana Backpacker, a hostel across the river. The clerk at the Hotel Simon called to confirm they had it. I walked over and picked one up and the clerk stamped it with my first stamp for this Camino. I at first was a little disappointed as I had wanted the first stamp to be from the Seville Cathedral, but I didn’t mind because I was glad I found one.
After having lots of cold green tea and drinking water much of the day I felt a little better and had a late dinner as I had been so nauseous that I hadn’t really eaten anything. 
I headed back to my room and had it to myself until the roommates slowly came trickling late at night. It was a change from the Camino Francis where most hostels have strict rules about being in bed and lights out by ten. This is to assure that the tired pilgrims could get a good night of sleep. But this is a different town and the hostel here seems to cater towards the younger crowd. Hey, I still think I am young!
Hopefully I will wake up and feeling better tomorrow morning than I did this morning. 
Best wishes, 

Ted

September 18, 2016

I had a little trouble fall asleep last night and I tossed and turned until close to three. The room was nice and cool and the bed fairly comfortable, but I think the jet lag caught up to me again. I had started to fall asleep around midnight, 3:00 PM back home, when one of the roommates came in. He was quiet but it just woke me up. 
I did sleep to almost nine, midnight back home, and was a little nervous about getting out of bed thinking I might still feel dizzy. I finally got up and thankfully I didn’t feel dizzy or nauseous! 
I could not think of what would might have made me feel both dizzy and nauseous when I really didn’t feel like I was sick. And after thinking about it, I think it was probably that I was dehydrated. I was really sweating both in the mole tunnels and then walking the streets of Seville, and I only had a small bottle of water on the train and then another from a store that night. Obviously not nearly as much as I needed I am always very conscious of drinking every time I trek, but it wasn’t really on my mind when I was in the city, and I should be aware of it. I will take this as a reminder to drink extra water starting tomorrow because it was around 94 degrees today.

This morning I walked around the cathedral looking for the exact place marked as the starting point of the Camino Via de la Plata. I found the typical yellow painted arrows on the light posts across from the cathedral, so I will start at the front door tomorrow and follow the yellow arrows.
I had also wanted to get my passport stamped with a cathedral stamp and walked around looking for some type of official. I noticed a long line of people waiting to get in to the cathedral during their limited open hours. I just walked past the people in line as though I was someone very important and told the young lady working there that I needed my credential stamped. She called over to another man, who opened up the gate for me. And yes, I could hear those people in line say, “wow, he must be someone important!” Not really, but I can imagine, and I did feel a bit special. He in turn led me to the alter area and then called over to another man. Wow, maybe this will lead me to the pope? This gentleman was very friendly and took me to a side room where he stamped my passport. I asked if I could take a picture, and he gave me a little no nod and a no look, but then took my phone and slyly took a picture of me near the alter. 
For the rest of the day I just walked the streets and enjoyed the scenery. Seville is so rich in history that one could probably spend weeks, if not months, see all the sights and learning the history. Seville was the center for the Spanish where all the gold and silver, and all the other ill gotten treasures Spain captured, ended up being offloaded and stored. 

Christopher Columbus is buried in the cathedral, even though he was Italian. Being in Seville is so typical of so many places on the Camino that are so full of interesting places that it would take years to trek if you stopped at all of them.
It looks like I’ll have two choices the first day. Either trek a little over thirteen miles to the first town, or go another twelve miles after that to the next town? There is nothing in-between, so it will be an important decision, especially if it’s hot.
I should have a good nights sleep as I am alone in the room tonight. I planned to leave fairly early tomorrow because it is suppose to be hot. I will bring lots of water, which will make bringing the Wheelie worth it. Hopefully I’ll find wifi so I can post my first day’s trek on the site.

Best wishes,

Ted

Seville with what I think is a hundred horse carriages 

Seville is modern too

A wedding in Seville’s Jewish quarter

Another wedding there

The Seville Cathedral 

Another view of the cathedral 

The river through Seville where the old war and merchant ships sailed up to unload 

The tower were all the gold and silver were unloaded and stored

Where’s the Pope?

I wonder if this Segway might make the Camino easier? 

Impressive! They don’t build them like this anymore.

My bed for two nights, lower bunk next to the window. 

The bridge I will cross tomorrow as part of the start my Camino