Saturday 2nd October
As soon as we arrived on our cheap Vueling flight from Paris and launched ourselves into the sunshine of Sevilla we took off our jackets and basked in the warmth.
Paris had been cold and barely 20° but this was the above 30° dry heat that we enjoyed. Off came our jackets as we headed to the Airbnb apartment in the car of the owner's son.
We chatted on the way as he drove through the newer parts of town and headed for the old parts. He is a university student studying, rather half heartedly, business management. But his big interest in life was bull fighting! He learns at the Academy here in Sevilla which is not surprising as it has one of the oldest bullfighting arenas in Spain. Despite his mother's concerns and his understanding about people's objections he seemed very keen to talk about it, and made a point of showing us the hotel where all of the famous bullfighters stay when they are in town.
Fortunately the bullfighting season is over now, so we don't have to deal with the issue of whether to go or not. A visit to the bullfighting arena tomorrow will be more than enough.
The apartment turned out to be an enormous 4th floor apartment the size of a small house. We have our own terrace overlooking the skyline of Seville and a kitchen so large and well-equipped that the owner, Conchita, runs cooking classes there. It's a pity she can't run any whilst we are staying there as she teaches both Spanish and Moroccan cookery, which would have been great for me.
Whilst sitting on the terrace we could hear the sound of horses hooves in the street below and it appears we are on the trail for tourists (see photo of our street and horse).
It's only a few steps away from the main attractions of the town so we headed off to wander around and get our bearings. Firstly to El Centro which proved to be a long cobblestoned shopping street where every second shop is a shoe shop - lots of beautiful Spanish leather goods here. I just have to work out how to get rid of Ewan - temporarily not permanently! - so I can have some shopping time. Lacy mantillas, frilly spotted aprons, painted fans and Tshirts with bulls on them, are everywhere too of course.
Then we found an amazing building/ structure / market place officially called the Parasol, but named the 'five mushrooms' by the locals. It is supposedly the largest wooden building in the world and was very controversial when it was being built as a well respected civil engineering firm decided it shouldn't be built as it wasn't safe. During the excavations Roman ruins were found and on the lower ground floor you can see the ruins still intact. It was finally completed in 2011 and I have to say that from both the ground, and the top of the structure, it is very impressive.
It replaced an old marketplace and to my delight the space was being used for rollerblading classes for young and old, and some dance performances as well. The toddler class was very cute and more skilled than some of the adults! When we crossed the road to look at a real market, suddenly the toddler class appeared flapping their wings and weaving through the crowds following their teacher with great aplomb.
We seem to have hit Seville with a few events occurring. Nine grand pianos have been stationed around the city and the music reverberates around the buildings.
Tonight and tomorrow night is their equivalent of White Night, and there are people everywhere. The bars are jammed full and there is a huge queue to get into the Cathedral that we visited today. Apparently it's not usually open at night and tonight entrance is free so it seems the whole city wants to visit and climb the Tower at night.
Today we decided to visit the main attractions: the Cathedral and Bell tower, and in complete contrast, the neighboring Alcazar which is an Arab palace.
Whilst waiting in a very long queue for the Cathedral a portly older guy came along looking for English speaking people to join his tour, and jump the queue by going through the groups entrance. For the next hour we were entertained and informed byhim about this overwhelmingly ornate and completely over- the-top Cathedral.
Just to drive you nuts and test my memory here's some trivia about it:
- fourth largest Cathedral in the world,
- 1700 kgs of pure gold in the altar and 900 kgs of silver in a huge ornament ( both funded by smart Sevillians who imported gold and silver from Mexico and sold it for profit elsewhere)
- originally built on the site of a mosque which was pulled down except for the square bell tower where a new section was added to convert the traditional Arab tower into a Catholic style.
- only 43% of the wealth of the church was on display and there were rooms full of gold, pearl and jewel encrusted treasures on display which indicated the huge amount of wealth of the Church (far more than the royal family as the guide pointed out! )
- the bell tower has 34 ramps to reach the top, not stairs, because when it was a mosque tower, the 72 year old mullah who had to ascend to the top 5 times per day to call the Muslims to prayer rode on horseback to the top. The array of bells was very impressive and every day at 9am they seem to toll for a very long time.
- some of Christopher Columbus's bones are buried there in a very impressive tomb. There is some controversy about where he really is buried but it's a very nice tomb!
- it took more than a hundred years to build: probably to give them time to make the money it must have cost!
It's hard to remember this is a holy place as it is so ornate and gaudy, and filled with thousands of people.
In stark contrast the Alcazar next door is decorated only with beautifully colored mosaic tiles and plaster wood and stone carvings. It is cool, serene and elegant as you can see. Small circular fountains and citrus trees are a feature of the gardens which surround this 12th century buildings. I loved it!
After a siesta - it's important to follow the Spanish schedule here! - we headed off for some tapas and an oversized gin and tonic. Both of which we found in a restaurant near the bullring, decorated with the heads of bulls who didn't survive the bullfight. We had vegetarian tapas mostly, probably in sympathy for the bulls. See the photo: smoky spinach and chickpeas, eggplant in special sauce, cod fritters, fried goats cheese and grilled mushrooms. Suoerb!
As southern Spain is the place to be for flamenco we bought a ticket to a late show after wandering around the tiny narrow streets of the old Jewish Quarter. Then off to a tiny bar crowded with hanging Jamon, each of them with a tiny cup catching any fat that may drop from them. A glass of sangria and a couple more tapas - sardines and grilled red peppers - and we wandered back to the performance space.
Flamenco is very dramatic and the guitar player, the singer and the two dancers were fantastic and highly skilled. For an hour we watched them play, clap, twirl, sing, stamp and somehow keep in time with the complex beats. We both found it enthralling.
On our way home there were still thousands of people in the street, clustered around bars, and in the queues to get into the church and the bell tower. The bells did ring at one point and I would certainly not have liked to be in the tower when that occurred: deafening!
There were no special lights as there is in Melbourne for White Night, but our flamenco tickets were half price and there seemed to be free performances everywhere too.
We were happy to fall into bed after a busy noisy and exciting day!
Your warmed up correspondent
Dianne
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