Seville

I’m starting to fall behind on this blogging thing, so bear with me as I recall events that are a little hazy. We arrived from Carmona and found the hotel with no problem this time… kind of a first for us. I think that we’re getting better at this google maps / navigation thing. Since Carmona is only 40 km away we arrived fairly early and wasted no time exploring around. Our first stop was the Cathedral: a massive structure that is supposedly the largest (gothic cathedral) in the world and was at one point the largest overall in the world. The remarkable thing about this structure is that it was completed in only 100 years… quite a feat for the time. The building stands on the location of an old mosque which was torn down to make room for the new Cathedral. One of the buildings that still remains from the mosque is the Giralda: a 320 ft. minaret that towers over the city. The legend goes that King Ferdinand III rode his horse to the top of the Giralda to view the city after the Reconquest of Seville. Click Here to read about the history of the Cathedral.

For dinner we decided to head to the barrio of Triana: an old gypsy quarter across the Puente de Isabel II. We were searching for Flamenco in the town renown for it… and had heard that sometimes people danced Flamenco just for fun in bars there. When we arrived we were a little confused, as quite a few streets were closed of by the police. It turns out that somehow, we managed to stumble into a festival for the area and the police were making way for a procession… and no little one either. There were groups singing, people flamenco dancing in the street, musicians, ox drawn wagons, and some large glittery holy relic that was being carried to the local church. I wish that we had gotten some pictures of this, but alas my camera battery went kaput just at the wrong moment. Sigh.

The next day we took a walking tour of the city and strolled around the local park: always one of our favorite things to do. We didn’t really get to see any flamenco close up because of the parade craziness, so we went hunting for some clubs in the Barrio de Santa Cruz. We though we had some promising leads, but all we could find were some touristy set productions that cost an arm and a leg to just get in. No thanks. On our way back to our hotel we stopped in a cool looking bar that was surprisingly empty of locals and tourists alike. I kind of have a theory about cool local bars in Spain: To find a good local bar, look for a nice bar that is empty of both tourists and local around 12am. This works because there are no tourists, and it’s too early for locals to head out. We met a nice bartended from Mexico City who was in the middle of an argument with some people who did not agree with the bill. Some friends had put their drinks on their tab and didn’t tell them. The owner finally showed up and settled the situation, somehow blaming her (the bartended) for the mess. Drama!

Check out the pictures linked below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/richmosko/Seville

Also look for Seville on the google map linked below:

Map of Seville, Spain

Tags: Spain,Seville,Flamenco,Cathedral,Giralda