| Glenn's Sevilla Journals 6-05-02 Wednesday morning and we only have 3 weeks left before we head home. This being our first full day in Sevilla we decided to take in the Cathedral and the Alcazar (the main attractions). We also wanted to check out some Flamenco dancing as this was the best part of the country to see the "real" thing. We had also kept in touch with Chris and Stephanie (our friends that we met in Barcelona) and they would be in Sevilla tomorrow and we would try and meet up. We started the morning off a little slow with showers and just plain dilly dallying around. We finally headed out around 11:00 am. Once out for the day we walked back through the Barrio De Santa Cruz area towards the internet cafe. We stopped at the Plaza Virgin de los Reyes which is surrounded by the Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, and the Convent of La Encarnation. Erin was taking pictures while I ran into the young ladies from last night's dinner. (They had already changed hotels by the time we saw them.) They were also interested in seeing some Flamenco dancing so we agreed to meet in front of our place around 10:30 pm to check out a local bar that had been known to have flamenco dancing on most occasions. From here we stopped into a different internet cafe (as the one last night was slow) (Aren't we spoiled to require a certain minimum speed on the computers we will use?), and found it to be much more to our liking. After checking out a few emails and replying to Chris and Stephanie on where we were staying we headed out to the Cathedral. The Cathedral in Sevilla is one of the largest in the world. (It even has a Guinness World Record plaque on display) The Cathedral, like most others, had been built and rebuilt over the years for reasons including new rulers, damage from battle, or damage from natural disasters. Either way it had a history that is amazing. The Patio de los Naranjos is a patio with over 60 planted orange trees in the center. The La Giralda stands over 90 meters high with 32 walking ramps to reach the top. The ramps were used so they could ride their horses to the top. (Pretty clever!!) The tomb of Christopher Columbus is on display (but they are't proof positive that his remains are actually in the tomb) and many art treasures over time from the Cathedral. Again, another spectacular Cathedral that is well worth seeing. By the time we had completed the Cathedral we didn't feel that we had enough time to see the Alcazar and truly enjoy it. We then proceeded to the Plaza de Espana and the Parque de Maria Luisa. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll around both, even taking time to sit and take in our surroundings. We headed back down Paseo De Las Delicias and on to Paseo De Cristobal Colon along the Rio Guadalquivir. We passed by the Queen's Sewing Room, the University, the Gold Tower, Maestranza Theatre, before turning right in near distance to the Maestranza Bullring. On our way back towards the hostal we ran across a municipal band playing, for free, at Town Hall. They started playing at 8:00 pm promptly and we stayed for the first part of the two part session. It was very enjoyable. We were both getting hungry and Erin had a craving for Japanese food tonight so we headed back towards home to find a Japanese restaurant. Well after much ado we did not locate a Japanese restaurant so we went back to a Chinese restaurant that we had seen a few times earlier. Erin lead us right to the Chinese restaurant where we had a selection off the menu. (Not the menu of the day.) We finshed dinner around 10:20 pm with just enough time to get back to our place to meet the young ladies. Sure enough we arrived around 10:30 om and the young ladies showed up only a few minutes later. We headed out to the La Carboneria, a local bar that has live music, and almost always flamenco, from 11:00 pm until 4:00 am. (Don't worry, some places don't even open until 1:00 am.) We arrived around 11:00 pm to live music in two different rooms and the flamenco dance floor in a third. We sat at a table near the dance floor hoping for some Flamenco dancing tonight. Of course we ordered pitchers of Sangria while we waited!!! Sure enough around midnight our first show of flamenco dancing took place. These dancers take their dancing very seriously, along with the singers and musicians. We stayed long enough to see another show at 1:00 am before departing around 1:30 am. The young ladies (Erin included) were getting tired. It didn't take us long to crash out tonight. |
| Along the upper floor of the Plaza de Espanya.. |
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