The early morning departure from Toulouse worked well. Just a quiet 600 m walk through the freight and EAD area adjacent to Blagnac airport at 4.45am. The major drama was the night before as we arrived in Toulouse and tried to drop off the rental car. Servos are few and far between in France and when you get there they don’t take any of your credit cards (Choco and Vikki had a similar experience dropping off the rental at Agen) so finding some diesel was a real mission. We got through that, unfortunately I had left TomTom with our luggage at the motel as we went to get rid of the Pug and refuel, and we were flying blind.
The Air France flight was fine, experienced the longest descent through cloud I’ve ever had. It was cloud from around 20 000 feet to about 2000 feet, but when we popped out of the cloud the airport was there. Arriving anywhere at 7.00 am on Saturday should be avoided, but in Europe it is much worse as not only are lots of things closed for the weekend, they also close on Monday to boot.
The apartment in Sevilla is lovely, (Apartment Bellas Artes, Noble Edifice XVII century: sevilllehistoricalhouse@gmail.com) lots of marble and all well-appointed.
Not fantastically set up for cooking or laundry but most people don’t come here for those things. We found a little mercado open and did a bit of provisioning.
Then we went and had a look at Sevilla cathedral, which is the third largest in Europe behind the Vatican and St Pauls. It seems immense in comparison though, and has lots of very high domed ceilings, fabulously ornate rooms and adornments. Photos can’t capture it all, even our wide screen failed!
Christopher Columbus’ tomb is here although his remains had three other resting places before they got here.
Those who set up the build project for the Cathedral wanted to build something so big that everyone would believe it was built by madmen. They certainly achieved BIG.
Some of the areas are unbelievably ornate; the treasury room where the Cardinal oversaw the monthly meetings of the cathedral business is very ornate and has lots of very valuable items gifted to the Church. It is a far cry from the plain Jane (can we say that anymore?) Romanesque structures we saw around Dordogne with parishioners (past) buried all round, right up the church walls, then when that area is full, they dig up the floor inside to bury them.
We did Rick Steve’s self-guided tour of the cathedral and walked up the 36 ramps of the bell tower (Giralda) to view the landscape. Stunning weather vane at the top, Ross. There’s a full-size copy in courtyard below so you can see it close up!
The Moors were driven out of the city in 1248 by King Ferdinand III (you may remember the earlier defeat in 722 at Covadonga in Los Picos Europa) which started the glorious event of pushing the occupying Moors out of Spain. At 1248 I think they still had Granada and Cordoba, will check that out later in the trip. The Church incorporates parts of the grand mosque that occupied the site, and the bell tower has ramps not steps so the horsemen could ride to the top five times a day to announce the call to prayer.
Next day we did the Alcazar tour. This was the grand palace built originally by the Moors for the Caliphs, taken over by the conquering Christians and used as the Royal palace. It has been added to over many centuries by various royals, and is now a huge complex with fantastic gardens, lots of water features, and over a thousand years of history in its rooms, layout and décor.
The use of water, very thick walls and gardens creates a very cool environment. It has lots of useful features like separate courtyards and gardens for the maidens, (see the Courtyard of the Maidens on the next page) perhaps this made them easier to find, not sure really.
Also found some local heroes to aspire to: like Don Juan - he’s the one on the left of Steve in the photo.
And yes, we did the Flamenco. Guitar was very good, dance very impressive, but just one woman for the dance. I was expecting a guy in a sombrero as well and some slick melody and dance moves. The singing left me a bit cold. After the first 15 minutes of the initially tuneless, wailing song I wondered if it would ever stop. This is the passion apparently, making an appeal on behalf of some disadvantaged group outside the mainstream. They missed the boat really, ABBA would have given them something more catchy and with better popular appeal. Lonely Planet reports that the singing of Manuel Torre from Jerez de la Frontera one of Flamenco’s all-time greats inspired listeners to rip open their shirts and upturn tables. I can really relate to that reaction. Did find some spectacular outfits in the shops, maybe these for a NZ reprise?
Went for a meal afterwards, about 10.30 as you do here. Two white wines each and a couple of large tapas each, and we were both full. So I paid the 23 Euro and we came home. A top pick in Lonely Planet for Iberian food: Catalina. Ann reports that the baked aubergine with goat’s cheese and paprika they recommended did live up to expectations.
Today we visited the bullring. Contrary to popular belief, bull fighting is still all the go in Spain. It has been banned only in Catalonia, a political decision according to our guide. Bullfighting is Spanish and they don’t want to be Spanish in Catalonia, but they still play with bulls!
The arena seats 15,000, and is used every day in April (opening season) then every Sunday until mid-September. It is owned by 70 noble families and has been around for 250 years. Best seats are on the shady side closest to Toro and cost 150E, then its 70E in the middle and 40E up the back. Half price on the sunny side.
Three matadors fight two bulls each during the Sunday sessions. A good matador (the best) will earn 150 000 Euros for his day’s work (and we complain about CEOs and bankers!!). In the off season they all go to South America to kill a few more bulls over there.
There is now a lot of tradition. The matador has 5 minutes with a pink cape and a long sword getting to know his adversary, then the picadors have 5 minutes and two lances each to tire and wound the bull, the banderilleros take 5 minutes also and have some short lances to stick the bull with. The matador then comes back with a short sword and a red cape, to kill the bull, and he has only 10 minutes to do this. The Police chief decides whether he has done a good job and whether he gets a trophy (the bull's ear) I'm unsure of the rules on this but there is a lot of white handkerchief waving as part of the process. On the positive side only two matadors have been killed in this ring, but many bulls. If the matador is not much good the band stops playing and the president doesn’t wave any white handkerchief. The president (always the local Chief of Police) can spare any bull that shows great courage….you will be pleased to know this has happened twice in the 250 year history of the ring. The bull that killed El Cordobes, one of the greatest of matadors, (on left in the photo on the previous page) was the cause of the old cow who bore him getting the chop as well, in a bit of retribution. However, after the bull is hauled out by the mules he is cut up for sale, not sure it meets halal or kosher rules, but the oxtail is particularly prized locally.
The food here has been fantastic but also very reasonable in price. Last night we went to Vineria San Telmo, a little restaurant in Santa Cruz. We had set out to have an entrée and main to control the intake a bit better, but the menu was so varied we went with the tapas option again. Small helpings but you get to sample more of the menu. The pics show the food presentation, and after six tapas, a bottle of white (a dry muscat, not at all sweet and quite like a Riesling in style), a glass of red, two espressos, and two glasses of a port-like dessert wine (Pedro Ximinez) the bill was 51.90 Euro. Just amazing value.
Sevilla has given us showers most days, and some cool temperatures, but it has been a great place to visit without having hordes of tourists at the major sites. Sunday was busy but we walked straight in to Alcazar on Monday.
We took the expensive 35E train option to Cordoba, it just flew through the 120 km in 40 minutes. Very slick as well as quick. We could have paid 12E and gone an hour later on a train that took about an hour and a half, but no point in sitting around in train stations. We travelled through extensive citrus plantings, mostly flat country but with the odd bastida in the distance.
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