Sunday, February 12, 2012

Going Abroad While Being Abroad

Andalucia’s historic and cultured capital, sultry Seville, is the soul of southern Spain. Moorish legacy and Catholic ceremony rule the city: once you’ve explored the enormous cathedral, climbed the Giralda and admired the Alcazar, feel welcome to unwind in the sun at the Plaza de España, and wander leisurely amongst the re-imagined 17th-century casitas that stand over the winding labyrinthine streets of the old quarter. Post-siesta, dine on gazpacho with prawns and filo-dough wrapped cola del torro at one of the city’s tapas restaurants before catching a fiery, foot-stamping flamenco performance (and try to accomplish it all in just two days!).

Although I've recently passed the one-month mark since my arrival to Spain, I still consider myself a complete and utter novice when it comes to traveling abroad. However, we do have a few pro's here with us; my friend Nolan has previously been abroad with the León program, and Taylor has had some incredible adventures back-packing through Europe with her older sister. For our two-day stay in Sevilla, they both did an incredible job of taking the reigns and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have two private tour guides with you!

First, we explored the Real Alcázar de Sevilla.


The Royal Alcazar of Seville is the oldest active royal residence in Europe and I can vouch for my tourist-phamplet's claims that the structure's exceptional architecture is that of unmatched beauty. It was commissioned in the early 10th century by the Muslim kings that ruled the city, then rebuilt and enriched with new palaces since its recapture by the Christians. From the Alcazar's historical description alone, you can anticipate the kind of breath-taking beauty that we were privilege to enjoy. Both inside...









...and out. The gardens here have understandably been recognized as one of the largest and most beautiful in Europe, and feature nearly two hundred difference species. Imagine 50,000 exceptional square meters featuring an expansive mixture of architecture and nature under the permanent presence of the murmur of water. While we explored the palace and its gardens for nearly two hours, I still feel as though I could have spent the entire afternoon there and still not see everything. Although of everything we managed to get to in the time we were there, my favorite part wasn't, in truth, the incredible gardens. Although impressive in their size and beauty, there was a frigid Iberian wind blowing through all of Sevilla during our entire stay. The gardens, more or less unprotected, were insufferably cold and unfortunately diminished by random scaffolding left there by re-furbishers. Instead, my favorite part was wandering into a large, otherwise un-notable room off of one of the palace's many patios. There, incredible tapestries soared from the floor upwards to vaulted ceilings and were composed of staggering detail. Their historic, religious, and artistic value literally left my mouth agape. Although I considered trying to capture a few photos, in my heart I knew my little digital camera wouldn't do them justice. Here is an image I pulled from Google, just to give you an idea:


While I may have been able to remain there for a few hours more, when I witnessed a few members from a French tour group stretch their greasy hands across the velvet rope and start tugging at one of the incredible tapestries, I knew it was time to go. How do you say, "Didn't your mom ever teach you to keep your hands to yourself," in French?

The Plaza de España was a great stop before lunch! To one side is a fantastic park in what's apparently called a 'Moorish paradisical style' with a half mile of: tiled fountains, pavilions, walls, ponds, benches, and exhedras; lush plantings of palms, orange trees, Mediterranean pines, and stylized flower beds; and with vine hidden bowers. Unfortunately, like the gardens at the Alcazar, the park was rendered much less impressive by random construction tape, broken ground, and (inexplicably) several tons of melting ice (your guess is as good as mine!). The Plaza, however, did not disappoint. The complex of the Plaza itself is a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge, accessible over the moat (complete with hirable gondoliers) by numerous beautiful bridges. In the centre is a large fountain which is almost IMPOSSIBLE to photograph without random smatterings of people running through the frame. Such is life. By the walls of the Plaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain, where people laze about in the sun and people-watch.





To Be Continued... (excuse another interruption! In about twenty minutes a few of us are going to attend a free Flamenco show, accompanied by free cerveza and bocadillos! I'll be sure to write about the Cathedral, and Giralda later this afternoon.)

The Cathedral of Sevilla is not only breathtaking, but awe inspiring. You can't miss it. The cathedral dominates the old town center, sitting on the site of a mosque dating from the 12th century. Outside, the sunshine, oranges, fountains and fresh air mingle with the chatter of horses’ hooves on the stony streets. However, the closer you get to the threshold, the more ominously the structure towers over you; foreboding. Not only is the cathedral the largest in Spain, it is the third largest in the world.  Its 80 chapels reportedly held 500 daily masses at one time. 


Inside, shut away from the fresh air and sunshine, I had an unexpected emotional reaction. When it came to first impressions, the inside of Seville’s sprawling cathedral left me cold. I saw gloom and scaffolding, dust and darkness, while the dreams and shadows of the Spanish Inquisition lurked behind locked gates and doors. The eleven of us quickly split off into small groups, or else wandered freely by ourselves to take in the impressive architecture, astounding laborious statues, divine alter pieces, and other works of art.


One of the most famous sites inside the cathedral is the gold altar piece, Retablo Mayor. It took 44 years to complete the 36 gilded relief panels that depict scenes from the Old Testament and the lives of saints, a culmination that claims the title of largest alter piece in the world.


Another spectacular find in the cathedral is the Tomb of Christopher Columbus. It is believed that the bones of the famous explorer are in the raised casket. According to my handy-dandy informational brochure, DNA testing is currently underway to find out if they really are. The suspense is killing me!


It would be a photographer's dream come true to be able to capture some of the incredible sites encompassed under the soaring vaulted ceilings of the cathedral. Most of us had issues with low-quality resolution, ineffective flashes, or otherwise inconsiderate French/Canadian/French-Candian tourists who seemed determine to leap into the frame a millisecond before the shutter clicked (do you know the term "photo-bombing"?) as we tried to document everything. I swear, it would be easy to waste a lifetime there following these simple (and unavoidable) steps:

1. See something incredible
2. Take a moment to react and reflect
3. Decide to take a picture
4. Attempt to take said picture
5. Wait a moment until people move out of the way
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 about three times
7. Give up or get lucky
8. Move approximately two feet away from where you were
9. Repeat steps 1 through 8


Outside is the famous La Giralda, the cathedral's bell tower. Originally built at the end of the 12th century as the minaret of the mosque, it stands as one of three remaining minarets in the world (the others are in Marrakesh and Rabat, Morocco). During the building of the cathedral, the Giralda was preserved, although Christian symbols were added to the top. Inside the tower, a 34-story ramp (wide enough for a person to ride a horse to the top) will take visitors (like meee) to the top of the tower for SPECTACULAR views of Seville.


I took a few laps and promptly elected the best side.

Not only can you see some more of the cathedral's structure and Sevilla's compact layout, but that arena in the center is another historical landmark that we, unfortunately, didn't have time to see. While some of the other Dawgs are looking forward to the opportunity to see a live Corriente del Torro here, I would have been just as happy to visit one of the impressive arenas where the bull fights are held! Considering all the incredible things that we were privy to see, and those that we were unable to, I might just have to find some friends to accompany back to Sevilla for a day trip (they DO, after all, have a Starbucks there).

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