10-31 Seville, Spain

Happy Halloween!  The ship was totally decorated and in the spirit with everything black and orange – and lots of carved pumpkins everywhere! 

Today we arrive in the port of Cadiz, Spain.  However, we did not see this town as we set out early to the city of Seville, which is about a two hour drive from Cadiz.  It would be worthwhile to come back and visit this city itself since it is the oldest city in Europe – over 3,000 years old.  It is also different from other cities in this region because of its ties with Central America – and thus that influence is reflected in the city.   Behind a city wall is its historical quarter with some of the buildings over 200-300 years old.  There are also about 100 watch towers build by the owners of ships – built to protect their individual ships. 

We took the ship’s tour called “Stunning Seville” and really enjoyed our entire day.  There were many similarities to our visit to the Alhambra yesterday.  Seville is the 4th largest city in Spain with a population of 750,000.  It is flat – no mountains – with the Guadalquivir River running through the city.  It means “big river,” and it helped make Seville the rich city it was because of its ability to export products to Rome. 

As we arrived, we were stunned by the beautiful pavilions from the 1929 Exposition held in Seville.  The ones built for the 1992 Expo were temporary buildings – very unlike the magnificent ones in 1929. 

Off the bus we began our walk from the first naval university – now a government building – which looked like a palace in its Baroque style.  Above the entrance Saint Telmo holds a ship in his hand.

Continuing on we passed the most beautiful Hotel Alfonso – a five star hotel – built in the Moorish style for the 1929 Expo.  If money were no object, this would be the place to stay!

Our first stop was Seville’s masterpiece and equivalent to the Alhambra – the Reales Alcazares (Royal Fortresses) or the Alcazar. It was built 600 years ago by Christians to look Moorish.  However, the Christian symbols of castles and lions can be seen throughout it.  And like the Alhambra, individual pictures don’t really do it justice, so I bought a book! The above picture is the Hall of Ambassadors with a beautiful domed ceiling.  If the King and Queen are in Seville and staying here, the public is not allowed to visit.

The gardens of the Alcazar were absolutely beautiful with water and green everywhere.  We learned about orange trees in this area – the decorative ones have sour fruit and can be identified by the leaf – which is two part (upper small, larger bottom.)  They planted (and still do) lots of these for decoration and for their sweet fragrance. 

We then went through the old Jewish Quarter which is now in what is called Santa Cruz and is one of the most beloved and popular areas for the people of Seville.  There are only about 80 Jewish families living in Seville today, and they don’t have their own quarter as they did before when King Ferdinand gave them their own area.  At that time they built narrow streets to keep the sun from coming in as much and so they could be cooler in the summer.  In this area is a little center park with a monument including a cross that the Christians put up after taking down the synagogue.   Murillo, the Spanish artist, is said to be buried under this monument.

We walked around the streets briefly.  We had 15 minutes for shopping – so we bought Spanish bookmarks for our grandchildren, a book about Seville, and a blue and white tile plate because the tiles are made in Seville and representative of the area.  We also went down what is commonly called the “street of kisses” because the balconies are so close together, you could kiss from them on either side of the street!  Our guide told us that the houses look rather plain on the outside, but when you go inside, there is an amazing transformation – with many rooms coming off the beautiful center garden patio area.

Back on the bus, we drove by the old tobacco factory where 4,000 women used to roll cigars by hand.  This is where the story of Carmen originates.  

Our next stop was the Espana Square.  It was built for the 1929 Expo as Spain’s pavilion.  It is a semicircle (200 meters) of two story colonnades that end in two high and stylized towers.   Between this and the actual square is an artificial channel where boats go up and down.  There are several tiled bridges that connect the square to the colonnade area.  In addition, there are 54 small ceramic tiled areas (each representing a province in Spain in alphabetical order) with tiled benches where visitors could read and watch events.  If you put all these tiled areas together, it would tell the history of Spain.

Back on the bus, we drove past the Pavilion of Seville which is now a theater.  Also, we saw another one of the city’s landmarks, the Torre del Oro or the Tower of Gold built in the 12th century. It used to be covered in gold tiles, and thus its name, although the tiles are long since gone.  It was originally used (along with a similar tower on the other side of the river) as a protection for the port and city.  It is also where ships that arrived from the New World would unload their treasure next to this tower.  It now houses a Naval Museum. 

We also passed the famous bullfighting ring called the Real Maestranza.  It is an honor for bullfighters to fight  in this ring.  It is closed now – only open between April and October – a fight every Sunday at 6 p.m. 

We had lunch at the Macarena Hotel.  It too was a buffet with long lines for all the buses, but at least the food was better – and for Doug, there were other choices besides paella. 

We had to wait until after lunch to go to the Cathedral since it was Sunday and services were in the morning.  Since it was a holiday weekend, there were long lines, but we were fortunate to be in a group with a different entrance – and much less of a line.  This cathedral was originally a Muslim mosque. There are only two parts that remain today of that original structure – the outside courtyard where people cleansed before entering and the Giralda tower which was the minaret used to call people to prayer.  This tower is another symbol in Seville and one of the most admired in the world.  Inside, instead of stairs, there were 35 ramps with a gentle ascent.  It seems this was originally made this way for horses.  After the 1355 earthquake, the tower was renovated and made higher – with a crowning that moves with the wind.  That is why it has the name “giralda” which means weather vane.

The Cathedral of Seville is a Christian Gothic church and the third largest in the Christian world after the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome and St Paul’s Cathedral in London.  Unlike most other churches we have seen, the main alter and choir are in the center (rather than the front) of the church called the Main Chapel.  Above the main alter is an incredible wall of golden squares – each one designed to teach a Christian lesson.  In the middle, a larger square shows the birth of Christ.  The golden grille that closes to protect this wall is stunning as well. There is also another alter area with silver chalices in contrast to all the gold.

In another part of the church is the mausoleum of Christopher Columbus with four pages carrying his coffin.  Columbus’s remains have moved from Seville to Santa Domingo (Dominican Republic), to a couple of other places before now finally resting in this cathedral.  DNA was done on the remains to prove it was actually Columbus’.

This was our last stop before returning to Cadiz to board our ship.  We really liked our guide who gave us a great overview of this city.  And not surprising, we want to return here as well.  While we saw a lot, there is still so much to see. 

We had our Halloween dinner in the Vista dining room which was decorated for the occasion.  We then went to the ship’s show to see the comedian Tom Sutton.  He was actually fairly good.    We had hoped to stay up for the parade of costumes, but were so pooped out from the day’s excursion, we had to skip.