Sevilla

Sevilla is the cultural heart of Andalusía. It is by all appearances a vibrant city, with interesting historic and cultural sites and nightlife. I had a wonderful time there.

I arrived late in the afternoon, and found my hotel without incident. It was a bit of a walk (15+ minutes) to the interesting parts of town, but I'm used to walking. On this walk early in the evening, I happened on a Indian restaurant that would later make a passable dinner for me. (When I decided I needed a really nutritionally solid meal, these were what I looked for.)

Sevilla has a lot to see. I focused my time on the the Alcázar (usually pronounced AL-kah-zahr in English, but al-KAH-zahr in Spanish -- I learned that the accents on vowels were a really good stress indicator), the Plaza de España, and the Santa Cruz maze of twisty passages. The cathedral is a large sprawling mass (being in part a converted mosque), and I wasn't in the mood for visiting churches, especially since I was planning to visit the Mezquita in Córdoba, a somewhat similar if allegedly more impressive structure, at least inside. Someone may tell me I screwed up here, but look at the Mezquita pictures first (coming next post).
View of the cathedral


Sevilla has a fair amount of architecture in the mudejar style of architecture, combining Muslim, Christian, and sometimes Jewish design elements.



The Alcázar is the real gem of Sevilla. I went first thing in the morning, and tremendously enjoyed more than 2 hours exploring its vastness and beauty. The mudejar style of architecture and design is at a real peak here, as the pictures show...
Entrance to the Alcázar

Some lovely tile work

Some lovely plaster work


Some lovely architecture

Some lovely gardens


In the lower reaches of the Alcázar there is a bathing pool that is dimly lit.
This the approximate natural light.

This is overexposed but looks way cool.


The Plaza de España was built for an exposition that apparently never really happened. It's a great piece of work, even though much of it is exposed to sun and heat, making it unpleasant when it's 35C (90-95F).


Inside the curve of the structure was a place for a stream, with tiled bridges crossing it.


Along its curve it has a bay for each province in Spain -- since I spent much time in Murcia at the dig, I figured I'd capture it for the fans here.


I also captured the bay for Barcelona, since it was also a nice place.


Santa Cruz is the old part of town. It's a veritable maze of small streets and plazas, and I had great fun trying to find things in it (for example, a flamenco club mentioned in Lonely Planet), sometimes without the help of a map (not that the map necessarily helped much, even if it did have all the streets on it).

I also visited the Casa de Pilatos Museum, which is a wealthy merchant's house turned museum containing more interesting mudejar bits, as well as a collection of historic Roman and Islamic artifacts.




Continuing in a theme of archaeology, I also visited the Archaeological Museum, which had a fair amount of interesting goods from prehistoric times through the Middle Ages, including some very nice Roman mosaics.

I spent two nights in Sevilla, and, having been unable to secure accomodations in Córdoba, decided to leave around noon. At this point I had my first experience with the Spanish high-speed AVE train service, which was a mixed affair.

This train service is essentially operated a little bit like airline service: access to platforms is restricted, and there is security screening (presumably a consequence of the Madrid Atocha bombings). This is where the sticky point arrived, when the security screen turned up the can of camping gas, which guard #1 said was not permitted. I dutifully removed it from the pack, placed it on the counter, and made to continue on without it. Guard #2 apparently didn't like this, and (I think) was trying to say I couldn't leave it there. Que? This after I've already said "Yo comprendez no gaz on tren". Eventually they get the hint, and I get on the train with few minutes to spare.

Since I had a Eurail pass, I reserved a first-class seat. Mmmm. Food service (entree not veg, so only desert and bread for me). Movies (also in turista class, as it turns out). Big seats (to be expected in first class).

In an altogether short time I was in Córdoba. Without a place to stay.