Unlike a lot of young drivers today, I can drive a standard shift car. This skill came in handy during a recent trip that my wife and I made to Spain and Portugal.

And it did so in more ways than one – the ability to shift gears, I mean.

Amid the several stops that we made in both countries, where we traveled by train, bus and plane, we also rented cars that required me to remember how to use a clutch when shifting gears. But it was in Sevilla that the other kind of shift occurred.

One of the main attractions of that scenic and historic town is the Catedral de Sevilla. With origins dating back to the 12th century, when the city was still under Islam control, the cathedral was rebuilt as a Christian church and, beginning in the 15th century, gradually evolved into the massive structure that it is today.

Pretty much any tourist guide you consult says that the cathedral is a must visit. Here’s how Fodor’s describes it: “Seville's cathedral can be described only in superlatives: It's the largest and highest cathedral in Spain, the largest Gothic building in the world, and the world's third-largest church, after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London.”

For various reasons, we weren’t able to score advance tickets to the cathedral online, something that Rick Steves among others advises travelers to do. So, when we arrived in Sevilla, no tickets were available. Even the concierge at the place where we were staying, Hotel Casa 1800, failed in his attempts to score some for us.

Then my wife had a brilliant idea. She went online, found a tour group that had an opening and signed us up. The only problem: It was a French-speaking tour. And neither of us speaks French.

Yet the tour got us the access we wanted. And even though we couldn’t understand much of what our guide said, we’d read enough beforehand to get the gist. His hand gestures and excited manner told us the rest.

He was particularly enthusiastic when pointing out Christopher Columbus’ tomb, which was a tour highlight. Of course, there’s still an argument as to whether the bones – or, in any event, all of them – are the real deal.

Folks in the Dominican Republic claim that they have Columbus’ authentic remains.

Maybe my wife can get us on a tour group there. We do speak at least a bit of Spanish.