Arrived and decided to take a cab to my room only to find that the cabby did not have GPS and had never heard of my address. Not a happy guy. I finally got him to look at the map on my phone and as if doing me a favor he agreed to take me. It turned out that because of the narrowness of the street and the one way pattern it was almost impossible for him to drop me at my place. I know where it was on the map and finally got him to let me out and walk. The drive had taken us under the miraculous Municipal Parasol.
The Municipal Parasol. AKA the Mushrooms.
The “largest wood structure” in the the world. I had seen photos but I didn’t even know it was located in Seville. We drove under it on the way to my room. And it turned out not to be far from where I was staying. After dropping off my stuff I hoofed it back to see it. What a surprise and a delight. It’s not perfect and I’m not sure raising the plaza under it up two stories works but still its fantastic. I walked around up and down to look and finally setteled into a comfortable chair across the street chosen most because of its view point rather than the food. I just sat and watched as the people went by and tried to get the perfect combination of beautiful Spanish lady strategically posed in front of the structure. Not bad work if you can get it and there was no shortage of models for my photo.
My land lady Lola did not speak English so we used Google translate to communicate just fine. I asked to do a load of laundry and put it in before I left for dinner. Lola had given me a suggestion for dinner that took me to a very popular tapas place not far away and I made the smart move of getting there at eight before the fashionable late Spaniard even consider starting dinner. This for me a seat at the bar and the attention of the bartender who recommended four tapas three of which were amazing in flavor and presentation. The fourth only tasted great.
TBA
As I ate and drank the place started to fill up and became so crowded and frenetic that I paid me bill and squirmed my way out and into the perfect night. I found a bench across the street in front of a church and watched the remnants of a wedding party socialize and disburse. I went for a walk in the neighborhood and eventually made my way home. I returned to find that Lola had taken my laundry out and hung it on the rack to dry. In the morning everything was neatly folded.
Friday June 2nd
I made my way to the cathedral, called the largest in Europe. Huge lines greeted me but after some quick research on the web got a tip to walk to another church and buy a combo ticket for it and large cathedral and miss the wait. The other church was just a few minutes walk away and I do hate lines. I waited for two minutes at the other church and came back and just walked in with a group. I really didn’t need a ticket cause they thought I was part of the tour. But I waved it at the guard who pulle me out of the group and made me wait until they had all passed before letting me in.
The cathedral Bell tower.
This building was gigantic and filled with much gold leaf and gold decorations. So nice to find out where all of the gold that the Spanish stole from the americas ended up. Seville was a very rich city because it had been give the monopoly on the American trade routes and used much of the profits to build and embellish its churches.
Incredible carved ceiling.
The city had also been a capital of the area under the Moors and so the other great attraction of the city is the Alcazar palace that I”ll visit tomorrow. The other claim to fame of this gigantic church is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus.
Tomb of Christopher Columbus.
Apparently he had been interred in the new world but his remains were finally transferred to seville in the 19th century. The scale of the the building, its decorations and Columbus’s tomb were not enough to really keep me there for longer than 45 minutes but the courtyard planted with orange trees was nice and I found a shady bench where I could watch the tourists and enjoyed the floor show. There has got to be an Olympic event using selfie sticks added to the game next go round. An easy win for the Chinese.
I walked over to the other church to get my money’s worth out of my ticket but here I found a bench in front of a fan where I could sit and examine the decoration. I tried to count all the figures in each alcove but could never be sure I wasn’t missing one. Those putti are good a blending into the woodwork. That being said, the amount of work on these carvings is just staggering. It really nauseating but in a in a over the top fashion. It did keep me looking.
San Salvador Cathedral.
The “other” church
Walked around till late enjoying the nightlife which is mostly young people parading up and down the plazas and shopping streets in their finest state of undress. I’ve never seen so little cover so much.
Bought my ticket to the Alcazar palace online and was able to walk right in at 9:30. Got to see much of the building which is still used by the royal family when they please. The building and its grounds was s originally a Moorish palace and mosque.
The courtyards and the carvings and tile work in some of the rooms were outstanding and made it difficult to move to the next room.
I ended up staying for 3-1/2 hours which included coffee in the cafe overlooking the gardens. Parts of thee complex were Moorish, other Moorish and Christian and other parts just Christian . Large parts of the gardens were laid out in the nineteenth century and were just delightful.
And quiet! Most of the tourists stuck to the buildings. Every time I wanted to leaved I turned around and went back for “one last look.” The carvings and tile work left by the Moors beats the gigantism and gold leaf of the baroque in the church next door.
Room with dome.
I managed to enjoy the garden and Palace before it got too crowded. I also filmed dozens of bird charming in one of the courtyards. I accidentally put the video on Slow Motion and was delighted with the accidental results. Too bad it doesn’t include sound.
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