Seville

Seville

Our hotel in Seville was in the Barrio de Santa Cruz, which in Arab and Christian times was the Jewish quarter (Judería). It is the most picturesque and delightful part of the city, with narrow winding cobbled streets, gardens or plazas with beautifully tiled benches, and restaurants that crowd the narrow streets. It is somewhat startling to be sitting eating dinner on a table with a white table cloth and real dinner ware (not plastic utensils) and have a motorcycle drive through the “restaurant” which you then remember is really in the street. Or a tour group comes through clicking away on their cameras to hopefully remember you eating dinner at some time in their future.

Our hotel was wonderful. It was tucked in a tiny little street through which two people can barely walk side by side. But it was a lovely place built from an old manor house, at its center is a patio with a fountain. The rooms were spacious by European standards, air conditioned and the beds had memory foam and were so comfy. The place was covered in beautiful tile. Within a minutes walk of our hotel room was the Cathedral and the Alcazar among many other lovely sights and buildings.

Of course we visited the Cathedral which is the largest in Spain and the third largest in the world. It has the largest altar in the world and it is all made out of gold sculptures of saints and other folk. The building used to be a Mosque. Like so much of Spain, Seville was occupied by the Muslims for centuries. So much of the architecture is influenced by the Arabic style or is a mixture of Arabic and Spanish which style is referred to as mudéjar. It is a lovely combination. Anyway the Christians tore down the Mosque and built a Cathedral. All that is left of the Mosque is the court yard of orange trees (Plaza de Naranjas) and the base of what is now the Giralda tower. The Christians left the base and added onto it a couple of times over the years so that now it looms over the city and was a helpful tool for finding our way home. Leea and I climbed the tower and were rewarded with some astonishing views of the city and a near fatal heart attack when the bells rang right next to our heads.

The Cathedral is lovely with soaring Gothic arches. I just love gothic arches. They do what they are supposed to do which is to inspire a sense of God and his sweeping power. The organ is about 25 feet high and the whole place is just immense with lots of gold in its coffers. I am still curious how the church saved the gold from being melted down to fund the civil war. It must have a gazillion chapels and altars and I think we saw all of them. If they were to hold mass in all of them at once it would sound like the Tower of Babble (yes I know the word is Babel, but babble is more descriptive)

Alcázar means palace in Arabic and the Alcázar of Seville was first built as a palace for a Moorish prince by the Almohades on the site of the modern day Alcázar. The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture. Subsequent monarchs have added their own additions to the Alcázar. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional.

The Alcázar has some beautiful examples of Moorish tile work and carvings as well as some exquisite renaissance ceilings. It really amazes me how well all this architectural additions blend together. The gardens are a whole story unto themselves. It is like Disneyland. You try to cover the whole territory, but you can’t and you get lost and you have to find your way back. It is so very confusing. When John and I were there, I got so tired I laid down on a bench and was staring up at the sky through a tree. The next thing I know, a guard is waking me up and telling me I can’t sleep in the gardens, like I was some homeless person.

Went to an amazing Flamenco show the first night we were here. It was so full of drama. During a guitar solo the music was so full of sadness it brought tears to my eyes. The male dancer was amazing. I cannot believe how fast they move their feet. The place was small, hot and packed with people. But once the music started I was so mesmerized I forgot I was sweating like a pig, forgot everything until the dancing and music stopped. It is poetry, very dramatic poetry, in motion. Leea and I have decided that to be a Flamenco singer you have to be extremely good looking with dark eyes, a strong physique and shoulder length curly dark hair.

But I digress. I need to close this now because I am writing this as I sit in Granada and we’ve been here two days and I haven’t written a word about Granada. Oh, the stress, must meet my deadlines. I need an editor and a proof reader.

Leea and I look at each other at least once a day and marvel at how blessed we are and how grateful we are because not only are we in a marvelous place having a marvelous time, but we get to go home to a marvelous place with all our marvelous loved ones and have a marvelous time. Can it get any better than being blessed everywhere you are? When I was drinking I was always running and the bad news was that where ever I went, there I was. Now, thanks to the program the good news is that where ever I go, there I am.