One degree of separation between me and Rick Steves

                                           
                                    View of Sevilla from the Giralda Tower

Let's get one thing straight.  I am not obsessed with the Steve Jobs of travel (and boy do they look alike - both geeks!).  I do not check the PBS television schedule to find out when "Travel with Rick Steves" will be on.  If I ever watch it, I have stumbled upon it accidentally.  I realize that this is the second time I have mentioned him on this blog so it might appear differently.

I actually did want to bring his guidebook to Spain with me on this trip but Brad nixed it in the packing process (remember I mentioned on the first blog post that he was packing like Rick Steves so what did that mean - don't bring any guidebooks!  Hah - Rick Steves is shooting himself in the foot without knowing it!).

Anyway - as a compromise I tore out the section on Sevilla and Andulsia from his guidebook and stashed the pages  in some other book I brought along (this has proven to be exceedingly inconvenient and we have found stray pages in the oddest of places).  I have managed to actually use his guide and followed some of his advice which mainly goes like this:

Brad:  We should go on a boat tour.
Me:  Nah, Rick says it's dull.

OR

Brad:  Isn't the royal palace closed on Sundays?
Me:  No, Rick says it's open seven days a week.

So when I found one of his pages endorsing a certain Concepcion who gives great tours here in Sevilla, I wanted in.  I actually recognized a picture of her that he had in his book from one of his episodes on Sevilla.  I remember them strolling along the avenues, chatting away while Rick Steves tried to appear casual while asking his scripted questions.  

I called Concepcion and she told me that the tour was full for Saturday.  A rare event apparently.  But she told us to show up in case there were cancellations.  So show up I did with Lucas.  There were other people there who showed up too but I knew I was first on the list.  In the end, she took us all and it was a very pleasant two hour tour which covered Sevilla through the ages and modern Sevillan life.  Her pacing was perfect and in no way did it feel like information overload.  Lucas even gave her the thumbs up.  

                   Concepcion using a small microphone in the center.

Turns out there were lots of Rick Steves fans on the tour and you could tell that they were a bit star struck.  Not me though!

         
                          Lucas pretending not to be interested.  
                      Concepcion is somewhere on the left.

                              Lucas in front of a Moorish fountain that used
              to be part of a Mosque as explained by Concepcion.

      Concepcion on the right leading the group down a narrow alley.

Yeah so the moral is this story is I basically met Rick Steves.  I did.  Really.  How?  There was just one degree of separation between us and Concepcion was it.  So yeah.  I'm not obsessed at all with Rick Steves. You guys have it all wrong.  Completely wrong.  :)

Adios!
Nancy