October 19, 2022: Our first day in Sevilla we went to the Real Alcázar. It is newer and in better shape than the Alhambra, and a little more manageable in size. We got lost there too, so it was plenty big.
The first part of our tour was of the Upper Royal Apartment. We had to store our cell phones in a locker, so no pictures are available. This is where the king receives visitors when he is in Sevilla.
The entrance to the Real Alcázar.
View of the Alcazár from the courtyard.
Stairwell outside the royal apartment.
Example of ceramic “carpet” tiles.
Beautiful paving in the courtyard.
Floor tiles, including the Spanish motto “Plus Ultra”, which means “further beyond”.
Entry into another courtyard which led to the gardens.
The gardens. We think this might be a silk floss tree flower.
It was easy to get lost in this garden too.
We think these are Angel’s trumpets.
Parakeets blended in all over the grass.
Peacock!
Peacock!
The labyrinth garden.
This is the Privilege Gate in the Real Alcázar. We just learned that the Real Alcázar was the shooting location for Dorne in Game of Thrones on HBO.
One last bunny tile in the sidewalk.
After a quick lunch, we headed for the Seville Cathedral. We explored inside and saw Christopher Columbus’s tomb, though we didn’t take a picture of it. We capped our visit by climbing the bell tower for fantastic views of Sevilla.
On our way from lunch, it was hard to miss the Giralda, the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral.
The only picture we took of the interior of this cathedral!
The ramps got narrower towards the top.
We walked up 35 ramps and 17 steps to the observation deck of the Giralda. The ramps were constructed so that the muezzin could ride a mule to the top to invoke the call to prayer. When the Christians took over they extended the tower to include bells.
The bells rang the quarter hour while we were up there, but they weren’t as ear-splitting as we expected
Flying buttresses visible from one of the windows in the Giralda tower.
View from the observation level of the bell tower.
The exterior of the Giralda tower.
Elaine can never resist a carriage ride, and William loves to indulge her. We rode around the cathedral and to Plaza de España.
The carriage stopped at the Plaza de España, which was built in 1929 in Renaissance style for the Ibero-American Exposition. It’s had many purposes since.
These are Sevilla’s “Spanish Steps”.
That evening we visited the Setas de Sevilla. It is the largest wooden structure in the world. It opened in 2011 as sort of an urban renewal project, an attempt to bring tourists into a declining area. From all appearances it was successful.
As we walked along a ramp over the top of the Setas, colored lights and music accompanied us.
This gives one an idea of the scale of the Setas, with the plaza below and the city beyond.
The Cathedral in the background as seen from the Setas.
Sevilla from the Setas.
Elaine and red lights.
The underside of the Setas.
When they dug up the plaza to install the Setas, they found Roman ruins, which are preserved in a museum under the Setas.
We dined back in the old part of Sevilla at Bar La Tradicional. The hams were impressive.
Walking back to our AirBnB, we saw this. We’re pretty sure the two white spots near the top of the tower are planets. Maybe Mars and Jupiter?
October 20, 2022: We started with a lovely walk across the Rio Guadalquiver to the Mercado de Trianna where we had a guided tour of the market followed by a cooking class where we prepared four dishes, including paella.
Skull in the river.
The Guadalquivir is the only navigable river in Spain.
Inés hosted a tour of the Triana market, and co-hosted our cooking class. Here she tells us about this olive and olive oil vendor at the market.
We get the low-down on a cheese and ham vendor.
Inés told us about the spice merchant.
Chef Leo begins our cooking class.
Elaine is put to work sautéing garlic for the salmorejo soup (tomato, bread, salt, and garlic). The soup was served chilled.
A little while later Elaine toasts some rice for the paella.
Chef Leo expounds on paella.
Elaine and Chef Leo show off the finished paella.
After feasting on paella, the tomato soup, and some spinach with garbanzo beans, our dessert was a delicious mixture of sorbet and cava.
The bull fighting ring was next. There we saw Goya engravings depicting the violent death of his matador friend, and other works of art concerning bullfighting. We got to stand in the ring where it was easy to imagine spectators such as Hemingway and Picasso.
The main entrance to the bullfight ring.
Elaine poses with some bullfighting posters.
One of many taxidermy bulls they have on display.
In the corner of the chapel where the matadors pray before they fight, there is a jug from which they take what may be their last drink of water.
The bullring’s field.
The Puerta de Toriles, or bull pen gate, from which the bulls are released into the arena.
The Prince’s Box, reserved for the royal family.
An etching by Goya of his matador friend who was gored to death by a bull.
A statue near the bullring of the mother of former King Juan Carlos I.
From the bullring, we went on to explore the Barrio Santa Cruz, the former Jewish quarter.
Busker with dancing dolls.
Puerta del Perdón at the Seville Cathedral, which is a remnant of the mosque that was present before the Cathedral was built.
The big dark stones at the base of the Giralda date from Roman times. The Muslims built a minaret using the Roman stones as a base. And the Christians added the bell tower at the top in 1356.
On our way to the old Jewish quarter, we passed through this pretty square with orange trees. We were warned not to eat the bitter oranges because they are shipped to England for processing into inedible marmalade.
Islamic city wall which contained pipelines supplying water.
In 1391 the synagogue was demolished and a Church of Santa Cruz was built on the spot. By 1492 the Jewish quarter was completely vacated as a result of the Inquisition and mothballed in its medieval state. In the 1880’s when Napoleon took over Spain, the Church of Santa Cruz was destroyed by the French. After the French left, this iron cross was brought out to mark the spot.
Several residences have old mill stones embedded in their exterior walls for reinforcement and to prevent damage from carriages going by in the narrow streets.
This gate was locked at night to “protect” the Jews
In the evening we returned to the Barrio Santa Cruz for a Flamenco performance. It was much more formal than the performance we saw in Granada.
