Like a sauna, but with no refreshing lake to jump in

From Malaga, we headed to Sevilla, which was blisteringly hot. We arrived midday and did nothing until 6pm because it was too hot. (Over 40 degrees Celsius.) Luckily, our hostel was nice and we met some interesting people, who were also avoiding the heat. In the evening, Tiina and I took part in a free tour offered by our hostel. We saw some of the key sights and even learned a thing or two! Then we went and had paella at the hostel. Paella is a quintessential Spanish dish consisting of rice and more or less whatever else you have on hand. The one we ate had seafood and chicken, I think...

A pool in the palace garden, there to remind you how much you wish you could cool off.

After eating, we met our friend Jüri who was visiting his sister and cousin, Marja and Tormi, in Sevilla. We hung out with them and some of their friends and had a great time! Marja´s apartment is near the oldest church in Sevilla. We spent the next day with them as well. Jüri and I went to see the palaces and then met Marja to check out the cathedral. It is the 3rd largest cathedral in Europe, 5th in the world. We climbed the 97m high giralda (tower), which was originally part of the mosque that the cathedral replaced. The tower was once the tallest building in the world, and gives a great view of the rooftop swimming pools nearby. Looking at swimming pools when its 45 degrees or more is.. hard... Originally, the tower was used to call people to prayer before being converted into a bell tower, so instead of stairs, there is a ramp running up the tower because the man would take a horse up so as not to lose his breath. I went for an absolutely lovely dinner with them, which unfortunately Tiina missed because of heat stroke.

Mosque? Or cathedral?

Our next stop was Cordoba, where we arrived at 3pm, or in the middle of siesta. Absolutely everything in southern Spain is closed from about 2pm until 5pm for siesta because it is way too hot to do anything. So we arrived and had to brave the blow drier like wind because we weren't staying overnight and therefore had no hostel to escape to. The main reason we went to Cordoba was to see the cathedral/mosque, and luckily it was open and cold! It was a beautiful building with these archways that made it feel like a forest. The mosque was built on the site of an old church, but was later taken over by the Catholic church and turned into a cathedral.

These signs were everywhere in Spain, they not only tell you how hot it is, but also show the time (above). Siesta is taken very seriously in Cordoba (below).

There happened to also be a flamenco festival while we were there and our bus wasn't until midnight, giving us a chance to enjoy the music at the beginning of the festival. There were events scheduled to start until 5am!! It's what you do when you can't go out during the day.