Sevilla is an amazing city. We started the day at Plaza de Espana after an early hotel breakfast around 8 a.m. This is now under construction, so sorry for the lame pictures! It's a really magnificent place that is actually mostly used just for administrative offices today. But fun fact: This is Padme's palace in Star Wars! She and Anakin were walking on this very plaza! Also, there were cool mosaic designs for each city in Spain. Mel and I wanted a picture with Madrid, but they were in alphabetical order and we were on a timed schedule! It was a really nice way to start the day. And don't be fooled by the lack of sun... trust me it came out soon enough!!
Our next stop was Barrio de Santa Cruz (a neighborhood where all the Jewish residents of Sevilla lived in the past-- VERY wealthy and beautiful). They lived there because they needed to be close to the Cathedral (which you will see soon!) for protection. This neighborhood was cool!
This neighborhood led us straight to the magnificent Cathedral of Sevilla! This place was absolutely amazing. Before we got in, there was a pretty fountain and some cool sites to see.
Then we entered the cathedral! This place is HUGE. I saw it from the rooftop pool at our hotel, and I'm so glad we went! There was a HUGE organ (I want to know how many pipes!) as well as part of Christopher Columbus's interred body (see the statue of the four men holding a box, and one of them with a spear into a pomegranate-- Granada!) and some really nice stained-glass windows! Check out the pictures!
There were lots of other rooms, but none of them looked as cool as the main altar and area! Then, we climbed the Tower (La Giralda) which is basically the main symbol of the city. We didn't climb stairs, but rather ramps. The tower was made this way so horses could bring people up in the past, although it was INCREDIBLY narrow and I wouldn't want to be a horse climbing up there. Our Spanish professor Bobby told us that there were 88 floors but he was lying-- only 40 or so! The views from the top were AMAZING, and if you look closely, you can see a plaza de torros in one of the pictures! Check it out:
After the Cathedral and our big walk up the tower, we went out to lunch, and got more salmorejo and eggplant! I also got a great tinto de verano (my personal favorite over here- red wine, lemonade, and sparkling water). I ordered a salad with goat's cheese and veggies, and we split a toast with honey and goat's cheese on it. We sat outside this cute little restaurant for a few hours before heading to a palace-type place right next to the cathedral (although this gets its own blog entry... Mom and Dad get ready for LOTS of beautiful garden photos!)
After the gardens (which I will tell you guys about in my next blog) we walked back to our hotel and spent a few hours out in the sun. The sun here doesn't set until about 9 p.m. and we spent a long time at the pool before dinner. Then we went out to a cool little plaza with the group, then returned for bed because Saturday morning was yet another early wake up call for Granada, Spain!
So, next blog post: gardens by the cathedral. Then the following will be about Saturday!
Whitney
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