El Prado, in the Plaza Canovas del Castillo, is one of the world's top five art museums. The museum's annexes contain a special Picasso collection including his famous Guernica. The P{rado is so labyrinthine, an official guide is well worth your while. Private guides can be hired for $25-$35 an hour. Open Tuesday through Saturday 9-7; Sunday and holidays 9-2, closed Monday.

Villahermosa Palace, Paseo del Prado 8; closed Mon. Home of the Thyssen-Bornemisza paintings, one of the world's greatest private collections. Go to the second floor, start with the Italian Primitives and work your way down to contemporary Expressionism. Open 10-7 Tuesday-Sunday; closed Monday. Thyssen is stronger in Impressionism and 20th century art. 600 ptas, tel. 369 0151.

The most picturesque section is the narrow streets between Puerta del Sol and the Royal Palace. Each street has a sign depicting an activity that distinguished it in the past. Explore it on foot.

Plaza Mayor, the main square near the Royal Palace. A traffic-free square enclosed by early 17th century buildings with rock and classical concerts, opera, historical pageants and fireworks are scheduled, along with unscheduled street musicians and street artists.

El Palacio Real (Royal Palace), Plaza de Oriente; open Mon.-Sat. 9-6; Sun. 9-3. a Baroque structure built in 1764. Cost of tours of the palace cost about $5. You can still see bullet holes and other signs of the bloody civil war of 1936-38 in the tapestries, fescoes and furniture at the Palace. Franco decided to keep these as reminders of the civil war.

And the followiing for Seville:

The Cathedral: The world's third largest, including famous paintings by Murillo and Goya. Best seen and understood with a guide.

La Giralda: the symbol of Seville, a former minaret of a mosque but is now the Cathedral's belfry. Climb it for a vew from a vantage point over 300 feet high.

Flemenco pubs: Seville was the birthplace of flamenco dance and music.

The Cartuja, the Monasterior de Santa Maria de las Cuevas, built in the 1400s. Columbus stayed at the monastery and plotted his course west. Total restoration taking place there.

Ayuntamiento, in the Plaza San Francisco. City Hall built in the 16th century.

Plaza del Triunfo, where you will find the Casa Lonja, a 16th century building that now is the Archive of the Indies with a collection of charts and letters of the discoverers and conquerors of the New World.

Alcazar, the palace erected in the mid 14th century after the Catholic triumph over the Moors of Seville. Best seen and understood with a guide.

Barrio de Santa Cruz, Before the Inquisition this was the Jewish Quarter, the Juderia. It is a maze of alleys no wider than your outstretched arms, the whitewashed buildings on either side purposely built so close to keep it cool in the summer because the sun would not reach the street. In this area is the Plaza de la Azlianza with a fountain, an outdoor restaurant and some suvenir shops. Down the passage to the right of the shops is Calle Rodrigo Caro, on it is the flamenco tablao club on the right, which is popular after midnight. In the little Plaza Dona Elvira, young people gather after the late Spanish supper to sing, flirt and strum guitars.

Torre de Oro, 12-sided Moorish tower built in 1220.

Maestranza bullring, the place to see a bullfight if you only want to see one. Seville is the most famous for bullfights.

Casa de Pilatos (Pilot's House), a typical 15th century Andalusian mansion, built as a reproduction of the Praetorium in Jerusalem. A beautiful example of Spanish Renaissance art in Seville.

Plus have a drink in the Hoel Alphonso XIII, fabulously expensive, gorgeous hotel. Sandy in LA