Seville

Early Monday morning Claire and I hopped on a train to Seville.  As we traveled we got to watch the sun rise over the Spanish countryside.  There were the most interesting trees spread across the grassy plateaus.  When we finally arrived in Seville we picked up a map at the train station and made our way to the hostel.  It was a bit confusing finding it amid the tangle of streets but we succeeded!  The hostel is run by a woman named Silvia who was incredibly welcoming and friendly.  She gave us a tour of the hostel and kept calling it our home.  Our "home" was about 500 years old and was a beautiful four floor building with three rooftop patios.  Claire
and I hung out in the hammock on one of them
while we planned our day.

Before I go any further I have to take a moment to talk about my favorite part of Seville: the orange trees.  They are everywhere!  Every street and garden is filled with row after row of orange trees.  The branches are heavy with large oranges too!  Claire and I took a moment to try one and it was super sour!  It tasted more like a lemon than an orange!  Later on we also heard the story of why there are so many orange trees in Seville.  Once upon a time the king of Seville married a woman who was from a city near the mountains and brought her to live in his palace.  The woman thought Seville was beautiful but she missed her home and told the king that Seville could never be as great because it never had any snow.  The king thought about this for a while before he started to plant orange trees all around the city.  People thought he was crazy since the oranges were bitter and couldn't be eaten.  However, when spring came the trees filled with blossoms and the white petals fell over the whole city.  The king had brought a bit of snow to
                                                                                    Seville!

Claire had brought a travel book with her, so we decided to do the suggested walking tour in it.  We started off with the Church of El Salvador.  The outside had dark pink walls and white trim but the inside was even more surprising.  The walls were plain stone but the altars lining the walls were elaborate with gold and statues covering them.  The stained glass windows weren't typical either.  Instead of depicting images from the Bible, they had simple, large geometric patterns.  This was actually ingenious because the simple patterns allowed a more intense color in the stained glass so the light coming through created the prettiest rainbows across the floor and columns.  There were also two baptisms going on when we walked into the church.  The babies were so cute in their white gowns!

We headed back out into the sunshine and walked to the Plaza Mayor.  On maps the Plaza Mayor won't be marked because residents of Seville are very proud of their city and believe it is beautiful and unique.  Every other city in Spain has a Plaza Mayor so people in Seville don't recognize their Plaza Mayor.  They would have fooled me if it hadn't been for a sign proclaiming it to be the Plaza Mayor haha!  Anyways, in the plaza there is a giant structure that is called Metropol Parasol but residents have nicknamed it Las Setas because of it's mushroom shape.  Las Setas is home to a market as well as a Roman and
                                                                                                               Moorish archeological site.  You can even
                                                                                                               go up to the roof to see the city!

Continuing on our self-guided tour, Claire and I passed by several more churches before we found Pilate's House.  Apparently an rich resident of Seville was inspired by Pilate's home when on a visit to Jerusalem and decided to replicate it in Seville.  Claire and I wandered a little more before heading over to St. Mary's Cathedral to receive a guided walking tour of Seville.

Our tour was fabulous!  I'll share a few of my favorite things I learned.  Our guide explained how to help keep Seville cool during the excruciatingly hot summers the Romans started to pave the streets with small rocks so that air could flow between the rocks.  The streets are also very narrow and the homes are built tall so that the sun can't reach the street and heat it.  Our guide also talked to us about Mudejar architecture which is a mixture of Moorish and other styles.  Instead of destroying something and starting over, Mudejar architects focused on taking the old and adapting it into something new.


Our guide also took us through the Jewish Quarter.  We learned that the streets weren't just made narrow and twisting to keep the sun out, but also to make it difficult for authorities to capture the Jews during times of persecution.  They would get lost in the maze of streets or they would be unable to turn around on their horses.  There is a street called Calle de Muerte or Street of Death because it was the site of a large number of executions.  In fact, a young Jewish girl named Susana who was in love with a Spanish soldier lived on this street.  She overheard her father and other men planning their revenge against the Catholics and she ran to warn her boyfriend.  He used the information to kill all her family and friends, so she hung herself.  I know it's a depressing story but the interesting part is that she requested that her skull be placed in the wall beneath the window as a warning to other girls who chose their lovers over their families.  Creepy!





The next day, Claire and I had breakfast in our "home" before heading over to la catedral.  While the cathedral was beautiful, my favorite part was the bell tower called la Giralda.  La Giralda was originally a minaret, so a man would go up to the top five times a day to call all Muslims to prayer.  Climbing hundreds of steps five times a day would get pretty tiring so instead of steps, la Giralda has one coiling ramp that a donkey would walk up while carrying the man.  The view from the top is quite beautiful too!

After climbing back down la Giralda, we headed across the street to Alcázar Palace.  I felt a bit like Aladdin as I passed through the large arches into rooms covered in bright tiles that reflect off the water in the pool etched into the middle of the floor.  Even better than the palace were the gardens just behind it.  They were filled with beautiful plants, fountains, and a hedge maze.  There was also a whole family of peacocks living there!  Claire and I spent hours walking down the different paths.

Feeling a bit hungry, we grabbed baguettes and sat down by the river to enjoy our lunch in the sunshine.  We watched a few couples go by in paddle boats and kayaks before we finally got up and walked over to the Torre del Oro, a watchtower that overlooks the Guadalquivir River.  After stopping to check it out, we continued on towards the Plaza de España.  The plaza reminds me a bit of Venice with all its bridges and canal.  I absolutely loved it!  The building is lined with small benches each with its own tile design.  It's absolutely spectacular! 




As the sun set, Claire and I hurried back to the hostel where we ate our dinner on the highest of the rooftop patios.  Afterwards we went and saw a flamenco show!  I loved watching the flamenco dancer kick up the long ruffled red train of her dress as she stomped her foot faster than I knew was possible!  There was also a male dancer and his style was completely different from the woman's.  He would stamp his foot fast as well but he would also do these crazy leaps.  It was amazing!  There were also two men playing the guitar and singing.  They kept shouting out "Olé!"  After the show, Claire and I went back to bed to rest up for our flight to Barcelona!