October 28
Seville
The next leg of the journey – Granada to Seville, 248 kilometers (155 miles) due east . . .
[Yes, it looks like a train station . . . ]
[But we actually got on a bus there to go to a train station . . . ]
[Said train station . . . ]
[And a first view from the train out of said train station . . . ]
[Hillside wind farms . . . ]
[Looks like the Andalusia villages we would be visiting the next day . . . ]
[Rooms with a view . . . ]
[Generic out the window shot . . . ]
[Church and castle, a common combo in the old countries . . . ]
[We 4 had 8 seats – loved it!]
[The arid rolling hills of the South of Spain . . . ]
[An absence of green . . . ]
[And three from the Super along the route . . . ]
[Villages unknown . . . ]
[The ever present olives . . . ]
[Seville, we are here! At the Seville Cathedral . . . ]
[Monument of the Immaculate Conception. Since 1918, the Monument of the Immaculate Conception has stood in Plaza del Triunfo near Seville Cathedral. Some people mistakenly believe this name refers to the virginal conception of Christ. Instead, after a papal bull issued by Pope Pius IX in 1854, the Catholic church confirmed Mary was born free of all original sin. The statues at her feet are some of the men who pursued this dogma. In Seville, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 is a public holiday and holy day of obligation. That is when this monument becomes the center of costumed celebrations, processions and bands (www.encirclephotos.com).]
[Santa Marta – Plaza Virgen de los Reyes – Seville Old Town. Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, Virgen de los Reyes Square, which is the beautiful and iconic square located between the Cathedral and Barrio Santa Cruz. In its centre you can appreciate a gorgeous fountain constructed for the 1929 Ibero-American exhibition, defeated by an ornamental farola (street light), and surrounded by three of Seville most prominent historic buildings, the Cathedral (including the Giralda tower and the adjacent Patio de los Naranjos), the Archbishop’s Palace and the Convent of the Incarnation (www.terratraditionsconsulting.com).]
[We toured the Alcazar of Seville in the afternoon . . . ]
[The Alcazar of Seville is a royal palace built for the Christian king Peter of Castile. It was built by Castilian Christians on the site of an Abbadid Muslim residential fortress destroyed after the Christian conquest of Seville. The palace, a preeminent example of Mudejar architecture in the Iberian Peninsula, is renowned as one of the most beautiful. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as their official residence in Seville. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, and was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies (Wikipedia).]
[Our tour begins here – with Maria . . . ]
[This seems somewhat like the entrance to the Kremlin?]
[We enter with a mass of our close personal amigos . . . ]
[Not unlike the Alhambra, n’est-ce pas?]
[Ceilings are a big deal – here at the entrance to Patio del Yeso . . . ]
[Stucco – carved plaster . . . ]
[Likely not a lap pool . . . ]
[Patio de la Monteria, or Courtyard of the Hunt . . . ]
[Moorish courtyards . . . ]
[Central panel of the triptych altarpiece, Virgen de los Mareantes, or Madonna of the Seafarers . . . ]
[The following two photos by the Super . . . ]
[Always looking up because it’s about the ceilings . . . ]
[This is generically called an “old ship decoration” . . . ]
[Moorish arabic design pattern on the walls . . . ]
[Courtyard of the Maidens . . . ]
[No “maidens” in sight . . . ]
[But arches – oy, the arches . . . ]
[Maria getting ready to wrap it up . . . ]
[Hall of the Ambassadors . . . ]
[Walls and glass ceiling of Courtyard of the Dolls . . . ]
[The tiled arches are the signature features . . . ]
[Golden Dome of the Ambassadors room in Alcazar . . . ]
[Arabesque Mudjar plasterwork and arches of the 12th century Salón de Embajadores (Ambassadors’ Hall or Throne Room) . . . ]
[Can you say, “intricate”?]
[Yup, floors too . . . ]
[The Super next to a column with writing on it . . . ]
[Said writing . . . ]
[And Maria wraps up her tour for us . . . ]
[And Ruthie’s take this session . . . ]
[We will continue from here in Part 2 . . . ]
It is impossible to travel faster than light, and certainly not desirable, as one’s hat keeps blowing off. ~ Woody Allen
Up Next: Part 2
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