Sevilla, Espana

Karen and I went for a long weekend to Sevilla, Espana, when we found some cheap airfare. Gotta love the competition between Aerlingus and Ryanair!

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We can't wait till Ryanair starts flying to the states! Then we'll start to get some good flights home.
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We stayed at the la Casa del Maestro. It was perfect. We stayed by ourselves on the top floor of the place (59 stairs w/o an elevator though).

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Here's a tiny 'hole-in-the-wall' tobaceria that wasn't too far from our hotel. Karen loved the guard puppy in the doorway.

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Here we are in front of the beautiful Gothic Sevilla Cathedral. It was built between 1401 and 1519. The audio tour told us that it was designed so that people who saw it in the future would think the builders were mad to construct a cathedral so large.

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Here's a good picture of the Palacio Arzobispal (Palace of the Arch Bishop). Its palatial façade is the color of sand and bull’s blood. It's one of the best examples of Baroque styling in the city.
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Here we are inside the Alcázar of Seville. It was originally a Moorish fort that was first constructed in 1364. Those are not cell phones... we each had portable audio guides.

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This palace is particularly interesting because of the combinations of the dominant Islamic style combine with elements of Christian and Gothic styles.

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At the last minute we decided to try and see some flamenco dancing. We got tickets to a performance at Los Gallos. If you want to see video of the performances, click on that link and select videos on the top tool bar.

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We're so glad we decided to go. It was really high energy and a lot of fun.
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After the Flamenco dancing, we went back out for some more tapas and we just had to take some pictures of the Giralda tower illuminated in the night sky.

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You can barely see the sliver moon on the right side of the tower, half way up. It was really beautiful.
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We are so lucky to be able to do this much travel. This time in Europe is really the opportunity of a lifetime.
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Here's another picture of the Giralda tower flanked by orange trees. It was all we could do to put the camera away and go back to the hotel.

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We could have taken pictures all night!
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The next day we decided we'd tour the inside of the cathedral.

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The Gothic Style is something that we hadn't seen much of before coming to Europe. The intricate detail in the style is just incredible.
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There's a little controversy regarding the final resting place of the remains of Christopher Columbus. The folks here put into the audio guide that his remains were bought here in 1902.

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There is some controversy regarding his true resting place. A lead box bearing an inscription identifying "Don Christopher Columbus" and containing fragments of bone and a bullet was discovered at Santo Domingo in 1877.

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Apparently he rests in at least two places, Sevilla, Espana and Santa Domingo in the Caribbean. Here's a picture of the elaborate catafalque that holds part of the remains in the cathedral of Seville.

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The decoration inside the cathedral is pretty ornate. Here's a picture of the main altar.
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It was designed by Pierre Dancart and thought to be one of the finest altarpieces in the world. Composed of 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ, it is carved in wood and covered with staggering amounts of gold.

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As we climbed up the Tower of Giralda, we took a few pictures from the windows along the way. In this Gothic style, there is no edge that's missing intricate little decorations. It's just breath-taking!

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Here's a view from the tower looking the other direction. This place is HUGE!!!

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There's a courtyard in the cathedral grounds filled with orange trees. Here's a picture of the cathedral framed by these trees.

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Later that afternoon we walked over to the Plaza de España. This is where they hosted the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.
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We were both a little tired by this time in the afternoon. We decided to find a spot in the shade of the cool bricks and Karen took a short nap while I read a little more about the history of Sevilla.

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Here's a nap-time movie.

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I held up my sunglasses (the ones Phil HATES!) to the camera lense. I love the view through these glasses.

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Life looks pretty good through rose tinted glasses, huh?

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Bordering the interior of the plaza's crescent shape is a detailed tile section honoring the history of each region of Spain.

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It was cool to see the sections of Spain we've visited (Canary Islands and Sevilla).

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Here's a view of the main fountain that dominates the plaza. .

This is one of the main shopping streets in Sevilla, la calle Sierpes. They put up these screens above the street to block the beating sun rays of summer. It keeps the place a little cooler on hot days. .

Here's a picture of a carniceria (meat shop) on la calle Sierpa. We had a couple pork tenderloin sandwiches that had a slice of these cured legs. MAN did it make the sandwich!