Seville!

Feria de Abril in Seville

The weather in Seville predicted highs in the 90's for a solid week and not seeing a convenient work around, we decided to brave it. Unfortunately, our usually trusty Garmin stopped working and the remedy required the specific charger that we had left in Orlando.  Sigh. So Google maps it is until we can find a new one.

The upside was we arrived at Villsom Camping in Seville during the last few days of "Feria de Abril." It's a week long party each night for which locals dress up in costumes and have mini-parades, often on horseback or in a horse-drawn carriage, to the fairgrounds. There, they join a private party in a tent. We saw many such small groups heading there and if they minded that we took their picture, they didn't show it. Not having an invitation, flamenco outfit, or horse; we decided not to attempt crashing the party.

Our photos are here.

Alcazar

On our first day in, we toured the incredible Alcazar which is very large and ornate. The audioguide explained the history and pointed out blending various styles in the carved ceilings and many other decorations.  We had a pretty terrible lunch at the cafeteria but at least the patio where we ate was lovely and shady in the alcazar gardens. 

The temperature was soaring but we decided it would be relatively cool in the Seville Catedral. Fun facts: en.wikipedia.org

Seville Cathedral is the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. It is also the largest cathedral in the world because two largest churches, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida and St. Peter's Basilica, are not the seats of bishops.

Maybe it was the heat, or trying to fit in two major sights back-to-back, but as big and impressive as it was, I found it less inspiring than the Toledo Catedral. We did take the time to walk up the Giralda Tower (check out those bells) and the views were lovely.

Giralda Tower

I found the history very interesting - the present day garden was once the site where Muslims would wash before entering the mosque (upon which the cathedral was built) to pray.  You can find much more, and better information here:

Wikipedia on Seville_Cathedral

After soaking in all that history, Dermot wanted to catch a very important rugby game (Leinster v Saracens) so he found an Irish pub and we settled in to watch. It turned out there were two young women from Ireland at the table next to us.  We chatted with them and, when five young local men moved in on them we watched the marking game - Spanish edition. Dermot gallantly offered that they could tell the men he was their dad if they needed an out.   

We got back to the campsite by bus and we were amazed at how little the temperature dropped - it was in the 80’s well after sunset. It was very poor weather for sleeping in a camper.

Of course, Seville is known as the birthplace of flamenco dancing so we booked an early afternoon flamingo concert and tickets to the flamenco museum for the following morning and set out for another day of sightseeing.  

Plaza de Santa Cruz-pretty place with an ugly history

On Sunday we went into town and did a self-guided walk of the Barrio Santa Cruz - what was the Jewish quarter before Jews and Muslims were required to either convert or leave. Many who converted and stayed were still persecuted or killed. Such layers of history and so often tragic.

It was another scorcher of a day and we found a shady park where we joined a lot of other wilted tourists for a rest. Then we headed for the flamenco museum which proved to be too hot for comfort as well. 

One of the downsides of spending months traveling is that you sometimes aren’t present for special days with loved ones such as birthdays or, in this case, Mother’s Day. Both Julianna and Tyler called me and wished me a happy mother’s day and I apologized for abandoning them on a day we’d normally share. 

I have to say that being able to see authentic flamenco was an appropriate way to spend mother’s day. There was wonderful singing, guitar playing and very passionate dancing. Dermot got video which he's going to put on Facebook. We really enjoyed it!!

There was so much more to see but we just couldn't face another day and night of excessive sweating.

Next stop: The Algarve, Portugal