midday
Beds were wholly unknown at these places , the guests simply wrapping themselves in their cloaks and lying down on the floor , although in a few exceptional cases bundles of rushes were strewn about to form a common bed . But the travelling was delightful . It was now late in the autumn , and when they were once past the dreary district of La Mancha , and had descended to the rich plains of Cordova , the vintage was in full progress and the harvest everywhere being garnered in . Their midday meal consisted of bread and fruit , costing but the smallest coin , and eaten by the wayside in the shade of a clump of trees . They heard many tales on their way down of the bands of robbers who infested the road , but having taken the precaution of having the doubloons for which they had exchanged Geoffrey 's English gold sewn up in their boots , they had no fear of encountering these gentry , having nothing to lose save their wallets and the few dollars they had kept out for the expenses of their journey . The few jewels that Gerald Burke retained were sewn up in the stuffing of his saddle . After ten days ' travel they reached Seville , where they stayed a couple of days , and where the wealth and splendour of the buildings surprised Geoffrey , who had not visited Antwerp or any of the great commercial centres of the Netherlands .