4-16-2016: Day 20, Seville

The hotel is very nice although the room Clyde and Krim get requires cooperation to move around and turn signals to avoid a crash.  Sort of like driving in the old city so narrow that when a car comes those walking must flatten themselves against the wall to avoid flat feet of a different kind. 

In this area, the Cathedral Santa Maria de la Sede dominates the old City and is a beautiful sight from the hotel terrace.  The Cathedral is the third largest cathedral inn Europe.  Think so that!  Only the Vatican in Rome and the Saint Paul in London is larger!  We will have to take a tour of that place but today we just go for a walk to see what the town has to offer. What we find is rain and lots of shoe stores.  Lots and lots of shoe stores.  But the shoes are high quality and with so much style it kills us.  If you want to get really good shoes you might pay a visit to Nordstroms and pay a fortune for an OK, boring shoe.  Here we see shoe after shoe for under $100 so unusual and with so much style and quality "The Girls" are going crazy and even the guys are impressed.  Needless to say, some shoes were added to the collection.  

We shop some more but the rain is getting serious so Jim and Tina head back with a stop at the Cathedral.  Clyde and Krim stay and bit longer and then take time to see the Cathedral.  It is a wonder but perhaps best known because this is the place Christopher Columbus has been laid to rest.  Columbus may have his detractors in the US but he is pretty popular here and his tomb is the most unusual we have seen.  

Near the center of the Catedral are four very large statues of men in various dress carrying a coffin holding the remains of Columbus. One of the chapels in the Cathedral was the place Magellan said a prayer of thanks following his successful at being the first to travel 'round the world by ship.  The Cathedral began as a Mosque in the 12th century and is 328 feet high. Krim and Clyde see a sign pointing to the bell tower and we think, "Why not?"  About 30 stories later of walking up the ramp we wonder, "What were we thinking?".  But the view of the Gargoyle and transept is amazing and of the city beyond compare.  No matter how many Cathedrals you see it is still a marvel how they built them.  Of course it was a wonder back then and the secret of how to build them was closely held and kept from others.  It was trial and error and many of the Cathedrals failed, roofs collapsd, spires fell but it was still a mighty show of power and strength and wealth.

Still raining when we exit the Cathedral but Krim and Clyde opt to visit the shopping district cause Krim has decided on the color of purse she "needs". Now the rain is really coming down so we duck into a passage to wait out the worse of it.  We wait and finally decide it is not getting better so we slouch through the rain and arrive at the hotel with only a small part of us dry.  It takes awhile for us to dry off but the rain has let up and we hit the street headed for the restaurant.  The restaurant has super nice people and staff so we enjoy being dry, full of good food and nice wine.

The rain is gone and as we leave the restaurant and enter the Cathedral square a party atmosphere is in the air.  Seville holds a well known festival each year and folks come from all around to attend.  The ladies dress in traditional dresses so pretty with flowers in their hair and they are in a great mood.  We spot the prettiest couple walking toward us and ask if we can take a photo and they say, "Sure".  We have a great time with them talking of the festival and city and find he is a Pharmacist from Toledo, Spain and has been with this Lady for only 3 months.  We bid them good-bye and pause to look at the Cathedral in flood lights in the square with people in a party mood and it is magical.  What is this?  Our new friends walk over to us and say, "We are headed to the festival and have extra tickets, would you like to join us at a private party?"  "Well, yes we would", we say,  Let's take a horse drawn carriage and this is getting to be beyond cool and we are like kids taking pictures and waving at folks.  

The festival is held at the edge of the city.  The opening of the festival is a big deal when thousands of lights are switched on and it looks like Disneyland.  We walk the grounds and find the private building for our party and are prepared to say we deal in drugs as our cover.  Good thing we were never asked.  The drink of choice is half and half white wine and Sprite.  In this mood it is all wonderful and we talk and laugh and have a grand 'ol time.  Up come the ladies in their dresses and a couple of guys to do the traditional dance and it is the cutest and most beautiful thing you can imagine. We hit the wall around midnight and bid farewell but these Spanish people are just warming up.  The Spanish begin to think about dinner at 9 and think about going to the club around midnight or 2AM and think about going home around 5AM.  It is a different clock here and God love 'um, it works.

Seville is old - really old.  The Phoenicians were here first with trading posts by the river.  They brought knowledge of iron work and gold processing.  Next came the Romans and all this came several hundred years BC.  The Moors Captured the city in the 11th century and it took the Christians 400 years to win it back.  But through out these times Seville was in the shadow of Córdoba to the East.  That all changed when Columbus gave all the trading rights to the city of Seville.  Now the city is in the money and it quickly grew into the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city in Europe and kept that position for several hundred years.  The glory days are gone but tourist fill the streets and the city goes on finding new ways in the old and new buildings.

Loving Seville and our new freinds who took us under their wings!