April 14, 2010 -- Sevilla & the Alcazar

The highlight of this day was our visit to the Alcazar, the 10th century Moorish palace that was extensively added to and renovated by Pedro I and successive Christain rulers. To illustrate the value that the latter owners placed on Arab architecture and art, they employed entirely Moorish design and craftsmanship to complete its various stages. The Alcazar lies in the heart of Sevilla and its cool gardens and grounds are free to all. The palace is a jewel of Mudejar (Moor- ish) patios, foun- tains, salons or halls, dazzling domes, ornate archways, rich mosaics and tapestries, and sculptured gardens. The palace is a place of both power and tranquillity.
The massive Gothic Seville cathe- dral with accom- panying Giralda Tower is also very impressive. It features a beautiful Moorish courtyard, massive vaulted Gothic columns, the tomb of Christopher Columbus, and an impressive Treasury Room boasting extreme opulence. This is a legacy of Sevilla being the entrepot for trade with the Americas and the port through which tons of gold and silver entered Europe. We climbed 37 flights to the top the Giralda Tower for photos of Sevilla. Instead of steps this ascent was made by way of a ramp so that the bell-ringer could ride his horse to the top of the tower. Good Thinking!

Back on the street Duane posed with one of the street "statues" who stands perfectly still until someone puts money in his "collection" jar. Once that is done, the performer strikes another pose and, once again, remains perfectly still until additional money is added.

We had many choices for tapas that evening. This photograph shows the Ste. Theresa Taberna and its huge collection of hams on display -- a frequent site in the cafes and bars of Spain.

We enjoyed our tapas in Santa Cruz (the old Jewish quarter) and then attended a great Flamenco show. We eschewed the popular tourist shows and attended a show by artists who were students of Flamenco song, music and dance. Rythms was maintained by the Flamenco guitar, hand clapping, castanets, intricate high heeled boot-tapping and stamping. It was an emotional performance, with the artists extemporaneously and alternately portraying their grief, anger, pain,and exuberance.

Heading home after midnight, we walked through streets featuring crowds of locals spilling out of numerous bars along the way.

April 13, 2010 -- Sevilla and the Bull Fight

The trip to Sevilla was exceptional from a scenic perspective. From Malaga we turned north on the Autovia, travelling up a steep river valley until we crested in an area of rolling hills and good farmland, the southern uplands of the broad Rio Guadalquiver valley that dominates Andalusia. The valley is roughly sixty kilometres wide and 300 kilometres long, originating in the interior mountains and flowing westward into the Atlantic near Cadiz. Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla, and most other large Andalusian cities lie along it. This broad valley is the agricultural heartland of Andalusia and we descended down its length towards Sevilla for two hours through olive groves and orange orchards.

We had a busy first day in Sevilla. We took a city tour, had dinner and then went to the corrida (bull fight), the Plaza de Torros de la Maestranza being only a block or two from our hotel.

The corrida was full of pomp, ritualism and symbol- ism, from the parading of participants, to the goading of the toro bravo by the matador's peones, the confrontation between the mounted piscadores who drive their spears into the shoulder muscles of the bulls, the peones and banderilleros who provoke the bulls, the stage where the resplendent matador challenges the bull with his red muleta, to the final ritualistic killing of the animal.

In suc- cession, six bulls were killed by three mata- dors. During this evening one of the matadors didn't have such a good night. Early on he was gored in the leg by one bull but later he returned to the ring and was gored and tossed in the air by another bull. From this he was extricated by his peones who carried him out of the bull ring to the waiting ambulance.


The entire evening was a bloody and gory experi- ence but a cultural spectacle to witness -- once.