March 5 – 13, 2023
I got to Seville and my guesthouse. The owner was going to visit her son in another city and was happy to have me look after her place while she was gone. She didn’t know that I was also going to be gone for 3 days. OOPS. I went back to London before I had to return to Canada. However, I did spend a few days looking around Seville.
I flew to London March 8-11, 2023 and was sick the entire time I was there. So I have nothing to report on that short trip other than Len’s couch and Julian’s bed were lovely.
The first place I went was to the Plaza de Espana. It was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Expo. It is a semicircular square with a large semicircular building that houses a headquarters of the Army. It has huge staircases and a tower at each end. The plaza has a huge central fountain and a little river that goes around the outside. The river has four bridges that cross it. Horse drawn carriages carry people around.
I had been here before and this time I wanted to check out the Military Historical Museum housed inside. I find it fascinating looking at the old cannons and helmets that were so wonderfully engraved and decorated. I like the decorative side, not the military stuff.
I also returned to Seville Cathedral. I could visit Seville 20 times and still be in awe of this old church. It is massive! The church said “Let us build a church so beautiful and so grand that those who see it finished will take us for mad”.
They succeeded, but not without problems. The vault collapsed twice, resulting in it having to be rebuilt. What we see today are tall columns that give the impression that they are reaching for heaven.
Every little side chapel competes with each other for lavishness. The huge organs are beautifully carved wood. Christopher Columbus has his tomb here (south arm of the transept).
There is an estimated 40,000 kg (88,000 lb) of gold decorating the 20 metre (66 ft) high and 18 metre (59 ft) wide high altar.
On the northern part of the transept has a huge silver altar – 19,000 kg (41,800 lbs)
The cathedral was built between 1402-1519. It was built to replace the mosque that was built in the 12th century and was temporarily used as a church after Ferdinand III conquered Seville. The builders preserved some element of the mosque. The courtyard where the cleansing ritual took place still has the fountain and orange trees. Just outside these gates is the seashell emblem on the ground marking the start of the Camino de Santiago. It made me sigh with the desire to walk it again.
The biggest thing from the mosque is the minaret, which has been converted to a bell tower. Giralda Tower is the city’s most well known symbol. The tower is 105 m (343 ft) high. The base is 13 m (44 ft) long per side.
The thing I find most interesting is the Sultan did not have stairs to reach the top. Oh, no! He had a wide ramp built so he could ride his horse to the top to watch the sunset. (Another story is the ramp is for the elderly muezzin to ride his donkey up. I doubt the Sultan was that generous.)
Today, the perimeter of the tower has a total of 24 bells, the largest one weighs 1361 kg (1.5 tons). It was VERY loud when they rang.
Down below, outside the tower, horse drawn carriages waited to take tourists around town.
The view from the top was incredible. I could see for miles. The little side platforms on the ramp allowed me to have a good view of the cathedral’s spires and buttresses.
I walked under Setas de Seville. It is a huge structure made of wood and cement located in the Plaza de la Emcarnacion. It is 150 metres (492 ft) long, 70 metres (230 ft) high and about 26 metres (85 fty) high. It is supported by six massive pillars of the same construction. There is a market and restaurants on the ground floor. There is a viewing platform on the top. It reminds me of those videos of millions of birds flying in a dance-like fashion.
I carried on to the Plaza de Toros. A bull fighting arena that began construction in 1749. The tour did not take me to the area where the horses and bulls are kept, like it did when I was here years ago. It was still an interesting tour of the fancy costumes worn by the famous bull fighters.
It was also pretty cool to sit in the stands and imagine all 12,000 fans yelling OLAY!
Parque de Maria Luisa sits across from Plaza de Espana and is the first urban park in Seville. It is a beautiful old park covering 34 hectares (84 acres). The park is configured with small autonomous gardens,
little bridges,
ponds, fountains,
monuments and pavilions.
It was a beautiful way to spend an entire afternoon wandering along the paths surrounded by nature in the middle of a bustling city.
A walk along the Guadalquivir River was refreshing as well. I passed the Torre del Oro
and saw the Puenta de Triana
while under the shade of beautiful big trees.
Cute story: I stopped for a burger at an outdoor cafe. When the burger came, it was a bit more rare than I liked. I called the waitress back and told her I wanted it cooked more. OK, no problem. She came back a few minutes later with the bun with the lettuce and tomato, but no meat. I looked at it, I looked at her. She was perplexed why I was confused. I said, “Where’s the meat?” She bent down and lifted the edge of the bun like she was expecting a mouse to jump out. Ever so slowly…. She turned every shade of red in embarrassment, then we both laughed our faces off. She promptly returned to the kitchen to get the burger meat.
Here is the link to my previous blog on Seville:
I love Seville, and considering it is such a short and inexpensive trip from London, I can see myself returning here more often. But for now I was headed to Granada….
An Old Lady with a Backpack 
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