Michael and I jetted into Seville for a dose of Spanish
warmth and, in Michael’s case, a rest from the long hours that he has been
putting in at work. The Ryan Air flight
was good and it was just a short bus ride from the airport to our fabulous
hotel. We spent the afternoon exploring
the streets and admiring the architecture until it was time for Michael to have
a siesta (we had a very early flight, and when in Rome etc). Michael awoke much refreshed by which time my
energy levels had flagged, so he set off to find some dinner and explore some
more whilst I had an early night.
The next morning we headed back to the old town and located
the Basilica of Macarena as we wanted to see the Virgin of Macarena. This image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is
greatly venerated in Spain and features a sorrowful face with glass
teardrops. She is dressed in an
elaborately embroidered gown, which is decorated with five emerald brooches. The Virgin of Macarena is the patroness of
bullfighters.
We also called in to a number of other churches, all of
which were large and ornately decorated.
The one thing that stands out in Spanish churches is, that the statues
are all clothed and not just painted as they are in other churches. The garments are often richly embroidered
with gold and silver threads and sometimes embellished with gems. They really are quite lovely to admire.
Seville is a beautiful city with many public squares, both
small and large, invariably shaded with orange trees. Orange trees absolutely laden with fruit are
everywhere and I was fascinated with just how much fruit was on each tree. If you picked one small twig (not a whole
branch), you would easily have six or eight oranges. It must be wonderful walking through the
streets in springtime as the scent of orange blossoms must be
intoxicating. There were also a number
of olive trees and Michael was amused to see that all the olives had been
picked from the lower branches and only the ones too high to be reached
remained on the trees.
Late afternoon we visited the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the
See, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.
Obviously, the first thing that we noticed was the sheer size of the
building – it is enormous with 80 chapels and we spent quite a while trying to
see as much as possible. It is also the
burial site of Christopher Columbus and his remains are interred in an
elaborate tomb.
I really would have liked a longer stay in Seville as I felt
that there was much more to see and do however it was necessary to keep
moving. Perhaps we will return someday.
The Mosque of Cordoba
A short train journey the following day took us to the
lovely old town of Cordoba. We checked
into our hotel, the Itaca Colon, and I was much relieved to discover that Colon
is Spanish for Columbus!
We spent the day wandering the narrow, cobbled streets of
the historic city. We crossed the many-arched
Roman bridge of Cordoba, which was built in the early 1st
century. The bridge crosses the river
Guadalquivir and has been restored many times, most recently in 2006 and is in
pristine condition.
The next day we headed to the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba
(Mezquita-Catedral de Cordoba). This
World Heritage Site is an amazing monument of Moorish architecture. The site was originally a small Christian
temple until the Muslims conquered Spain and then the church was divided into
Christian and Muslim halves. Eventually
the Muslims purchased the site and built a grand mosque. The building was converted to a Roman
Catholic Church when Cordoba returned to Christian rule and a cathedral was
inserted into the mosque. Spanish Muslims
keep lobbying the Catholic Church to allow them to pray in the cathedral
however the Vatican keeps rejecting their petitions.
The Mosque-Cathedral is an amazing building with 856 columns
of jasper, onyx, marble and granite made from pieces of a Roman temple and
amphitheatre. The double arches give the
illusion of a never-ending space, quite unlike anything seen elsewhere. Then, in the middle of the mosque, a
Renaissance cathedral nave suddenly appears.
The size of the church is huge and yet it fits inside the immense
mosque. Dazzling.
The garden is full of orange trees and fountains and a
lovely paved courtyard. Michael climbed
to the top of the minaret of the mosque, which has now been converted to the
bell tower of the cathedral and waved to me in the courtyard below.
We also visited the Museo de Julio Romero de Torres. This artist was a native of Cordoba and
Michael and I enjoyed the artworks on display, particularly one of his most
famous works, Oranges and Lemons (although we still aren’t sure where the
lemons are).
A change of pace took us to the Inquisition Museum where we
were treated to an extensive collection of torture instruments. I don’t know what possessed me to even think
I would enjoy such an experience. In no
time at all I was feeling ill just looking at the devices and imagining the
agony endured by the people being tortured.
It beggars belief that someone could even think of such cruel torments
let alone inflict them on a fellow human being.
We asked the concierge at our hotel for his recommendation
of a restaurant for dinner. He phoned
ahead to one of the local restaurants to ensure us a warm welcome and to tell
them that Michael wanted to try a local specialty dish. This was not only very kind of the concierge
but also very practical, as the staff at the restaurant did not speak any
English. We had a lovely evening with
good food and wine and Michael wanted to finish the meal with a digestif. What followed was a hilarious pantomime of
Michael trying to mime an after dinner drink whilst trying out various Spanish
phrases to convey the message. The
waiter was perplexed and called upon two other diners in the restaurant to
assist with the translation. After
lively toing and froing, the waiter finally understood what Michael wanted. It was a fun way to finish the evening.
Granada, Land of
Dreams For Me
Another train journey, another fabulous city – this time
Granada. We arrived late in the
afternoon, dropped our bags at our lovely hotel and then it was off to explore
once more.
We headed straight to the Granada Cathedral and collected an
audio guide and spent a while exploring the imposing edifice. The cathedral was built by Queen Isabella and
is a masterpiece of Spanish Renaissance style.
It has a stunning interior and the most amazing grand altar and many
chapels. The audio guide was very
informative however, when it came to describing the various chapels, the
commentary seemed to go into hyper speed.
Thereafter followed the amusing sight of Michael and I jogging from
chapel to chapel in an effort to keep up with the commentary. Michael later remarked that he felt he was in
the scene from Flying High when the plane lands and it is announced as landing
at Gate 1, then Gate 2, then Gate 3 and so on whilst all the people awaiting
the arrival run from gate to gate.
The main reason for visiting Granada was to see Alhambra, a
massive fortress and palace complex.
Everything in Spain seems to be built on a huge scale, however, this
complex is truly vast. Located on the
top of a hill with a view over the whole city and meadow it is surrounded by
ramparts. The architecture is amazing
and every single space is covered with decoration. There are rich ceramics, plasterwork and
exquisitely carved timber frames.
Geometric patterns adorn every inch of the ceilings. There are a number of museums and galleries
filled with art and ceramics and the gardens are extensive with patios,
fountains, pools, pathways and trees. We
even saw a red squirrel in the grounds along with cats, lots and lots of cats. It would be quite easy to spend an entire day
there.
The afternoon was spent wandering the streets of the old
town and enjoying some churros con chocolate.
Not many shops were open as it was a Sunday, however there were plenty
of people out and about strolling the streets.
