Spain, Day 6: Big and Old, Italian in a Bathtub, and Don Juan

The next morning, we took off for our Day 6 in Sevilla. This city tied with Toledo for me--it was magic! I loved the feel--it was busy, big, and beautiful.

First stop, Sevilla's cathedral: the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the 3rd largest church in Europe.

Before the reconquista, there was a mosque at this site. It was torn down and for 120 years, Christians worked to make this enormous, record-holding building. Seriously, it's in the Guinness Book of Records, and the certification is displayed in the church (tacky!).

Like most cathedrals, there is beautiful artwork displayed. In this case, it is by two artists from Sevilla--Bartolome Murillo (who died after falling from scaffolding while painting) and Francisco de Zurbaran. Throughout the church, we saw art depicting the patron saints of Sevilla--Justa and Rufina--who were martyred in Roman times, pictured with their pots (to represent them as pottery-makers) and palm branches (to represent their martyrdom).

Ah, in true Gothic-style, there were many stained glassed windows to admire. Almost every stained glass scene included the date, most of them dating from the 1600s.

The high altar is another record-holder. This is the biggest altarpiece ever--65 feet tall! It has 44 individual scenes from Christ's life, and took 83 years to create. The entire piece is carved from walnut and chesnut, and covered in gold. It is staggering!
A scene towards the top of the altarpiece:
The choir has a huge, spinnable book holder for extra large hymnals--not everyone had their own music back in the day. I think all churches should "go green" and introduce this idea.

4 kings representing the regions of Castile, Aragon, Leon, and Navarre are holding the tomb of Columbus. Although Columbus died in 1506, it took some time to get a final resting spot: he was buried in Spain, then in the Dominican Republic, then Cuba, and then back to Sevilla. DNA evidence gives confidence in the Sevillans claim that this really is Columbus.

We gazed through the treasury, at the 110 pound silver piece that is paraded through Sevilla during Corpus Christi, the "room of ornaments" that has hundreds of holy body parts (kind of strange to stare at bones through glass), and--as seen below--Spain's VIP crown. It is called the "Corona de la Virgen de los Reyes," and includes 11,000 precious stones and the world's largest pearl.

The 7,000 pipes on this baby gave me a craving to play again:

Not pictured: a gigantic candlestick dating from 1560, as well as a protest from local workers--fighting for better jobs/pay.

After walking through the church, we hopped up 330 feet to the Giralda Bell Tower--just in time for it to shock us with chimes. Along with crowds, we got views of Sevilla from four angles.

We walked out through the "Court of the Orange Trees." In the 12th century, Muslims would stop here to wash their hands, face, and feet before praying.

See all the lanes between the blocks of sidewalk? There's a sign warning you not to fall in the cracks (of course, in true Spanish signage, it showed someone actually snapping their ankle). One of us fell in the crack anyway...

Orange trees are everywhere in the city, but I read that they are inedible, so I restrained myself from picking them. They only use them for making vitamins, perfume, and cat food.

Our next stop was for lunch at a restaurant--formerly a MOORISH BATH! Yeah, we were really that excited. We ate yummy Italian while listening to the sounds of running water and enjoying the ambience with cheesy grins on our faces. (Where are the pictures of this event???)
With full pasta bellies, we took off for the oldest functioning palace in Europe. The Alcazar was originally built in the 10th century for the Moorish govenors, but was mostly rebuilt in the 14th century by Moorish workmen for the Christian king, Pedro I. There are Moorish elements throughout, but it is intented for a Christian leader.

Here we are in the courtyard:
Throughout the trip, we had good laughs at Will and Karen's expense, as they went into their pants to get money from their moneybelts. Karen kept getting busted with the belt hanging outside her pants.
The palace includes where Queen Isabel spoke with Columbus after his New World adventures. She created an entire wing for administering the New World finds in 1503. Also inside is a painting that shows the first Native Americans ever painted in Europe.

King Pedro I left his wife and came to live here with his mistress. He wanted the Muslim workers--called Mudejar--to recreate the Alhambra for him. The Mudejar style represents the work of Muslims who stayed within Christian territory but did not convert. It also refers to a style of architecture generally found between the 12th and 16th centuries. This palace is supposed to be the best example of Mudejar architecture.

Unlike the Alhambra, Rick told us that we could find "peacocks, castles, and kings" in this palace that you wouldn't normally see in Muslim architecture. We spent probably 10 minutes craning our necks until we found some examples. It was much easier to find the cursive W (see Alhambra post).

Beautiful, geometric gardens:

We spent the afternoon shopping in Sevilla for souveniers, and purchased a beautiful, decorative pitcher as well as Zac's stuffed bull. (He asks for his "buwl" every night, and somehow it makes me feel less guilty about our trip.) We enjoyed a last Gilato before heading over for a long-awaited adventure: experiencing a FLAMENCO show! After seeing a cheesy flamenco performance at our hotel, we were nervous about this venture. We didn't need to be: it was fabulous!

The couple that took this picture is from Australia. We asked them if they wanted a picture, the wife replied, "Oh no, we are fat and old. We don't want pictures. It's all up here," pointing to her head.
The setting was perfect--loud, live music, dark setting, and an Asian man that kept standing up in front of us.

This lady was flamenco: fierce, intimidating, and even at times graceful. I loved her the most of all the dancers.

There was an audible gasp from the female members of the audience when this fella came out on stage--we'll just call him Don Juan. Whew! He was outstanding--aggressive and powerful.  Did I just say the lady was my favorite???

It's a great feeling to walk out of a live performance and want more! It was an adrenaline rush. I would never pass up an opportunity to see a good flamenco show.

We walked back to our car, enjoying our opportunity to people watch, and say goodbye to yet another favorite city. Seriously, I feel so sad thinking about leaving this city even while sitting at my computer. I hope we come back: we'll take the horse-drawn carriage, stay inside the city, and get pictures on Sevilla's bridge.