Our Last Day in Sevilla

We had free time for our last day here in Sevilla.  I confess, after a late night and lots of sun, Tony and I slept in.  We even missed breakfast.  So once we arose and dressed for the day, we decided we should visit the Archivo de Indias (the Archives of the Indies).  This museum celebrates Sevilla’s important role in the colonization and exploitation of the New World.  It contains letters from Columbus, Cervantes, and George Washington.  Despite our extensive research on the place and how to get there, we never found the damned place.  Nevertheless, we ended up enjoying our leisurely stroll through the center of Sevilla.  We stumbled upon some flamenco dancers performing in the street, and we found some performance artists who were scaring the hell out of people walking past them.  I have video of much of this, but the Internet is so slow at our hotel that I cannot get the video to upload to Facebook.  I will try again when we get to Granada.  

Tony and I figured out the underground train system today.  What is most interesting is that once you buy your tickets and travel to your destination and back, you can put your card into a machine when you return, and by turning your card back in, you get one euro.  Clearly, this is one more way Sevilla helps stay “green” by giving folks an incentive to turn in their used cards instead of throwing them away.  I used my euro to buy some water on the way back to the hotel!  Win!

While we were in the center of town, we ran into Mary Beth Shults and Katie Taylor.  Then, as we were entering the train station, we ran into Stephanie Windle and Hannah Raines.  Crazy!  Then, while waiting on our train, we saw Darris Saylors sitting on a train going in the opposite direction.  It is just wild running into so many people we know in a city this size.  

So, tomorrow, we check out at 7:45 am and head for Cordoba, and then Granada.  I hope we are also heading for cooler weather.  I won’t lie.  I am NOT a hot-weather girl.  I love the cool weather, so this heat is killing me.  

Joanie

More Stories from Sevilla

We are having a big time in Sevilla despite the unrelenting heat.  I think we are a bit sunburned and sun-roasted just a bit, but no one has gotten sick, and only one student has been pickpocketed so far.  No worries if you are a parent – she has already been in touch with her mom.  Credit cards have been canceled, and funds have been wired for the rest of her trip.  

As I mentioned in an early post, we started our visit at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Sea.  It is largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, and third largest church in the world. What makes this cathedral so interesting, I think, is that it began as a Muslim mosque in 1184.  Then, when Ferdinand III conquered Sevilla in 1248, he Christianized the mosque. In the 14^th century, one of the mosques minarets was destroyed in an earthquake and replaced by a bell gable.  By 1401, the decision was made to replace with mosque with a Cathedral that would demonstrate the city’s wealth.  It has been under construction and/or renovation ever since.  What one sees in walking through this constantly evolving structure is not only Gothic architecture, but also examples of Baroque, Romantic and Renaissance influences as well.  Wow.

We also visited the Royal Alcazar, which was originally a Moorish fort, but when Ferdinand III conquered Sevilla, he made it his palace.  It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe!  I found several things very interesting about this palace.  First, it has examples of extraordinary tile work throughout the palace.  Second, was truly an example of how Muslim and Christians can work together in both practice and in style.  

Last night, Tony and I wandered to dinner with the O’Deas.  We decided to just find dinner randomly somewhere.  We wandered into what looked like a neighborhood bar where no one spoke English.  We ordered beers, and the bartender gave us some eats that included peanuts, olives and what looked like fava beans.  When we ordered our second round of beers (which were very large and served in what looked like large wine glasses), we asked for tapas (which are like appetizers).  He attempted to ask what kind, and we indicted we just want 4 kinds, and that we trusted him to decide.  We threw caution to the wind.  Well, first he brought something that looked like some sort of cured ham on a sliced tomato on a small piece of toasted bread.  We each got one serving.  It was delicious.  Then he brought out something fried.  Initially, we thought it might be fried clams, but I suspect it was fried shrimp – served with mayonnaise.  Again, wonderful.  Then, squid.  Two different types of squid.  I don’t do squid, but Greg O’Dea gave me grief for not trying it, and I ate some squid.  I didn’t gag, but I still don’t do squid.  We even had tiny octopi on the plate!  Finally, we had some sort of mildly spicy pork dish served over French fries.  The whole experience was delightful, and partly so because we left it to chance.  

Today, we are trying to figure out what we want to do before we tomorrow for Granada.  It is still wicked hot, but we are hanging in there.  

Joanie

Sevilla, Spain: A City of Contrasts

We have spent only 24 hours in Sevilla, Spain, but those of you who know me well know that won’t stop me from going ahead and making some potentially judgmental observations about this city.  As noted in my title, it is a city of contrasts.  As the fourth largest city in Spain (with a municipal population of about a quarter million and a metropolitan population of about 2 million), there are lots of people living within a relatively small area.  Consequently, Sevilla prides itself on being the “greenest city in Spain.” As a result, we see these enormous recycle bins all over the sidewalks.  Interestingly, though, garbage cans are far more challenging to find.

Sevilla does a beautiful job of celebrating its historical buildings – the Cathedral of St. Mary (which has been under construction and/or restoration for centuries) and the Alcázar (a one-time Moorish palace that dates back to the 12^th century), but some of the vintage buildings have graffiti all over them.  Weird.

The city has embraced the modern world, and it seems to be building some gorgeous new buildings using cutting-edge modern architecture, and yet Sevilla’s Roman heritage in evident in the Roman ruins that can still stand all over town.  Another area where the city’s contrasts are evident is the traffic.  Drivers generally seem polite, especially with tourists who occasionally cross the street outside of the crosswalks.  Drivers will stop for pedestrians without honking at them.  That said, however, what we have noticed multiples times is that many drivers blatantly ignore traffic lights.  So, when we get ready to cross the street the light tells us that we can, we still have to look and make sure that no small trucks or cars are barreling through the light.  Yikes!  

Anyway, despite the fact that the temperature was 99-degrees yesterday, and it promises to be as hot today, everyone is well.  I promise to write more later about what we have done.  I also promise to post some pictures.  Just too much to do right now.

Joanie