I woke up to the sound of the Cathedral bells ringing and breakfast being prepared down the hall at my hotel. I decide over breakfast that today will be the big sites: the Cathedral & the Reale Alcazar (the Royal Palace). But first to find a cuandera (notebook). Despite Francisco's directions, I never do find the store that sells notebooks and get hopelessly lost on the narrow streets of Seville. But I'm not scared, because there are so many interesting things to see, like the tapas restaurant that tells you what they are serving that day by the items displayed in the window, like the whole fish in ice and the ham legs hanging. And I do find where all the shoe shops are! I head towards the Plaza Nueva and realize it is the wrong direction, figure out where I am and head back towards the cathedral - where I find a little notebook in the Cathedral shop.
The Cathedral & El Giradella - The cathedral actually life as a Mosque. The Moors ruled in southern Spain for 800 years. When the Christians "conquered" Seville, they did so peacefully, and so they came into a "clean" city which had not been damaged by war. As a result, they retained many of the original buildings and re purposed them to new uses. In Seville they were so impressed by the art and architecture, that they merged it into a new artistic style, the Mudejar (mood - ha- jar). The cathedral was consecrated as such in the mid 1200's and construction began in the 1300's and essentially was continually added to until the 1800's. It is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, and apparently was the largest in the world until St. Peter's in Rome was built. It is filled with stained glass from the centuries, finely detailed plasterwork, silver & gold. The silver alter is absolutely astounding, and the gold leafed High altar an awesome site.
The only remaining Moorish structure is La Giradella, the Tower. You can climb to the top of it using a series of ramps - no stairs, as they used to ride their horses to the top of the tower for some reason (I never found out why). From here, you have the most spectacular views of Seville.
From here, I went to the Reale Alcazar, which is still used as the royal palace for the King & Queen of Spain when they visit Seville. It was started as the al Caliphe's royal palace in 844, and extended by the Christian kings, Pedro the I and Carlos the V in the styles of the day. And so you have the most wonderful blend of Moorish style with Renaissance ceilings, Gothic arches and Baroque plasterwork, tiles from the 800's to the 1800's and gorgeous gardens. It is huge and it is beautiful.
I took many photos and then...the camera battery died. I wandered some more and decided I would come back the next day after I resolved the battery issue.
After I cooled down and located a new battery and a charger, I bought tickets to a Flamenco show right next door, at Auditerio Alvaraez Quintaro, right next to the hotel. Then I meandered down to Calle Sierpes, one of the pedestrian shopping streets. I went into a store selling art and crafts from around Seville and walked out with a hand painted fan and a necklace. I watched the artist, Concha, finish off the fan I wanted and we chatted in a combination of her good English and my very rudimentary Spanish. She told me the necklace I purchased was made by her sister, and had been used in several of the articles and advertising campaigns (and so it was, as I saw). I spent far more then I intended, but these will remind me of Seville each time I look at them or wear the necklace.
Just a word about Spanish fans. Do you think these are mere tourist trinkets? No, ladies in Spain use them frequently. If you ever experience the heat, you will use them, too.
Next, I went to the Flamenco show. This is a small venue and not one of the large Tablaos that have 2 or 3 professional shows a night and cater to the tourists. There are more and more smaller venues popping up and they have very good shows as well, often with the performers coming from the penas - the clubs and schools of flamenco. In Seville, the Tablaos are not considered real flamenco, because the whole story of flamenco is about passion, and they feel that after 2 or 3 shows a night, you lose that passion. Flamenco is the Andalucian country dance and song. It is not just the dancing, but the whole package. The singer and the guitar player are integral to the story, usually a story of longing for love, or a lost love, so kind of like American Blues, in some ways. There were several locals in this place, which I like because you get a different flavour for the performance. Tonight, the singer would start, and sometimes, you'd hear comments from the audience (in Spanish, of course), like a "right on" or "I hear you", encouraging him on with his story. Then comes the dancer, adding visual interpretation to the song.
The dancer was great, of course, but I have to confess, it was the singer who completely blew me away. I should have turned on the video of my camera to capture both the sights and sounds of this show.
After the show, I walked around the corner to Robles tapas. Casa Robles, the parent restaurant, is very famous in Seville, as the king & queen eat there when they are in town. I can't afford the meal prices there, so the tapas bar next door is better bargain. I sat outside, drank sangria, ate tapas and enjoyed the night.
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