My journey to south Spain, the Andalucian area began with a nice high speed train ride from Madrid to Sevilla. Southern Spain was ruled by the Moors for the longest period and you still find their influence lingering here. Sevilla is also known as the most Spanish of Spain, all the images that are evoked when you think of Spain, they all started here (or so they claim) flamenco guitar and dancing, bull fighting, tapas, etc. It doesn’t get dark until after 10 pm and is close to a 1,000 degrees up until then, so now I understand why the Spanish don’t start eating until about 10:30 at night! And oh those tapas…
The Old town of Sevilla is a charming space filled with Gothic churches, winding narrow streets and the Alcazar, a beautiful former Moor’s palace that became the palace of the Christian kings after they defeated the Moors.
Arches, tiles, carvings…
Amazing Mosiac and tiles…
Artsy shots
Doors and tiles
Wall coverings
One room
Another artsy shot, this would have been the view as visitors drove their carriage up
Side garden
The colors…
Another artsy shot
It’s huge, one view of the Alcazar, a side entrance
Arches
Last artsy shot
The Sevilla Cathedral is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the world, it was built on the site of a former mosque, with the minaret incorporated into the Giralda, the tower.
Entrance door
Large alter
Gorgeous at night
The Giralda, fantastic views from the top, was quite a hike to the top…
View from the Giralda tower, the orange grove, the only other thing left from the days of the mosque
From the Giralda, view of the Cathedral
View of Sevilla, from the Giralda
Christopher Columbus’ actual tomb (yeah the guy who sailed the ocean blue in 1492), inside the cathedral.
Some lovely tapas and red wine
Plaza España was another beautiful area, but this was built recently for the world expo. They did a nice job making it fit with the old world style, but it’s funny how the ancient buildings craftsmanship still reigns superior over the new structures, as the Plaza is less than 20 years old and already needs a restoration, but the 1,000 year old buildings seem to wear down less
Plaza España tribute to Spain’s cities
Hmm, all these horse riders
As I was heading out of Plaza Espana, there were several women dressed up in Flamenco type dresses, as well as the horse riders, interesting I thought. I had heard it was the Feria days, so I decided to go check it out.
These ladies were all too ready to accommodate my request for a picture and if I looked that great in those type of dresses I would jump at a photo too!
Every year they have a new lighted structure built for the Feria and each year is to be unique.
More beautiful Flamenco dresses at the Feria
There were private tents set up, where different organizations sponsored them, and members came and enjoyed and danced Flamenco