Sevilla

After Cordoba we headed to Sevilla, another couple hours in bus. I instantly knew that I liked Cordoba more. Sevilla was too...touristy. The people were not as warm and the feel of the city didn't gel with me as much as Cordoba did. We went to the Plaza de Toros (bull ring), but we couldn't enter because there was a bullfight that day. No, we did NOT go watch it. I'm not too interested in watching someone run around a ring stabbing animals. Not my cup of tea. Instead we went and ate ice cream.

So we headed to the center of the historical city, got lost, got found, and headed toward Plaza España, supposedly the most beautiful part. On the way we stopped at a tobaco factory, which didn't look like a tobacco factory but more like a palace, but, whatever. It was interesting. I think what bothered me about Sevilla was the intense combination of old and new, but it wasn't done as beautifully as Barcelona. Something was...missing for me. The metro was above ground so there were tracks and wires everywhere. Sevilla was the richest city in Spain during the 1400's because all the riches that came from the Americas went to the port in Sevilla. There is a museum of a lot of the 'riches.'

To get to Plaza España we had to wander through a little garden, which was a welcome change to the CITY of Sevilla. Plaza España, unfortunately, was under construction, but we could still see the potential. It was a beautiful sunny day and the blue stones in the plaza shone brillantly. A couple of the girls bought fans so we did some silly foto shoots, but it was getting late so we headed back to the hotel to go supermarket shopping for dinner. Tonight? Bread, cheese, ham, olives, beer, and oranges. Way less classy than the last night.

checking out the cathedral

The next day we went to the cathedral in Sevilla, which I believe is the 3 (or 4th) largest cathedral in the world. Radnor, mi pueblito, could fit inside of it. No joke. It's enormous. We climbed up the giralda, or the tower, to see Sevilla from high up. Now THAT was beautiful. After climbing up then down and massaging our knees a bit, Chris took us on a tour of the cathedral, which took about an hour. We saw (one) of the tombs of Christopher Columbus and a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't remember.

this thing is HUGE

looking out at Sevilla

Christopher Columbus

After the cathedral we went to the Juderia, or the jewish district. I always love this part of the cities, but in Sevilla it was even more interesting. Sevilla was were the worst massacre of jews during the Inquisition happened, so the were streets named "Calle de los muertes" (street of the dead) and "Calle de Sangre" (street of blood). The streets were a maze, small, winding, and after walking a few feet you were instantly lost. This was a strategy of protection because the jews knew their was around their neighborhood, but if someone else entered they would get lost and confused. Besides the dark history, this part of the city was the most beautiful to me. The small twisting streets, the houses, everything.

there were a lot of tour groups in the cathedral and the tour guides had umbrellas, flags, and bandanas to help their group follow them. Chris? she had a bocodillo (sandwhich). And of course we followed the food.

La Juderia