After we finished our lunch at La Bar Hosteria Del Laurel in the Santa Cruz section of Seville, John and I went for a short walk. On the way back to our group, who were assembling in the square to get back on the bus, a tour group from Edward Jones Financial walked past.  As the people passed us I said to John, “I know that lady.”  And sure enough there was Judy, a lady that worked in the same pharmacy as our sister-in-law in our home town.  Her husband works for Edward Jones and they were in Spain for a week as part of a work bonus.  So weird…to see someone you know from home walk by in a foreign country.  Very cool!Our last stop on the tour was the Plaza d’Espana; the Spanish pavilion constructed for the Iberian Exposition of 1929. In order to have parking room for the bus we entered the pavilion from the back.  We walked up a few steps and into a large building.  When you came out the other side you overlooked a massive marble-tiled plaza with a large fountain, a water canal with rowboats, and a sprawling building curving around the perimeter. Absolutely stunning!

On the wall at the back of each of these little partitions every province of Spain had a tile picture of some important happening or event that took place in their area.  And there was a map of the province on the floor.

It took 11 years to build the pavilion and I think they finished paying for it in the 1980s.  Certainly was an amazing structure.  And obviously a lovely spot to wander and putter in a rowboat on a sunny afternoon.The ship set off again at 4 pm, sailed across the Mediterranean, passing by Gibraltar at midnight, and on to the north Africa coast and our next port, Melilla, Spanish Morocco.