March 8-9, 2022
“We dance to seduce ourselves. To fall in love with ourselves. When we dance with another, we manifest the very thing we love about ourselves so that they may see it and love us too.”
― Kamand Kojouri
Sevilla is very much a walking city. Things to see are very close to each other, at least here in the Old Quarter. The weather continues to be mild making the lure to get out and walk all the more powerful.
I thought i would share some of the images of these past two days that we found during our Paseo (stroll).
Across from the Cathedral lies the Alcazar. This palace, decorated in the Mudejar style (A Combination of Islamic and Christian themes), was built in the 1300’s by ‘Pedro the Cruel’ or ‘Pedro the Just’, depending on which side of the sword you were on. It dates from the 1300’s and even today it houses rooms for the Spanish Royal Family when they are here on a
Cost-Co run.
The Alcazar has been beautifully maintained. Touring it is kind of like touring “Alhambra-Lite”. It lacks the scale and grandeur of that palace. Still, it is beautiful none the less and had several interesting rooms.
This is the garden with the similar islamic themes of water, geometric patterns, and graceful slender columns. If you look closely at the decorations, you will see images of men and animals worked into the motif. You will not find that at the Alhambra.
The Dolls Courtyard was in the interior of the palace.
This perfect cube of a room was the throne room with the dome above representing heaven and the stars.
Here again, the ghost of Columbus lives.
This room contains a painting showing what is believed to be the earliest painting of Columbus in his late 20’s. He had noticeably blond hair. His son wrote that we was blonde as a young man but turned prematurely white at age 30.
Here is a scale model of the Santa Maria. The largest of Columbus’ three vessels it served as his flagship. He hated it because it was slow and awkward unlike the the sleek caravels , the Nina and the Pinta. It was the only one of his ships not to survive the 1492 expedition. It ran aground off what is now Haiti. It was dismantled and the wood used to build the colony. After Columbus left, the locals burned down the colony and killed the colonists.
It was also in this room that Queen Isabella received Magellan, who would be the first to circumnavigate the globe, and Amerigo Vespucci who was trying to come up with a catchy name for the New World.
These are some of the lovely gardens here following a typical Islamic lay out of geometric shapes and running water.
The above underground pool was featured in a Game of Thrones episode and was used to escape the heat of the day.
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We passed this store. It was filled with displays highlighting junk food. Oreo’s, Pop Tarts, Cocoa Krispies, and so on.
The store had no customers. Just one bored salesperson inside.
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Near one of the four Universities here we found this enormous art piece made entirely out of wood. It is called the Mushroom here. It really is unique and for a fee you can climb on top of it.
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The facades of the buildings here is classic Sevilla. it is its own unique style with rounded corners, wrought iron balconies , and warm pastel colors. It is one of the reasons the city drew classical romantic authors such as Washington Irving here.
James Michener would write, “Sevilla doesn’t have ambiance. Sevilla is ambiance.”
As these authors would write about the city it would become part of “The Grand Tour” in Europe. This was a tour taken by the rich and nobility to spend time in Europe and see for themselves what these authors described.
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Triana is a neighborhood across the river from where we are staying. It is filled with quirky shops and tapa bars.
This building housed the infamous headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition back during its macabre run. Today it is a open market.
The Virgin Mary is the patron saint of Sevilla. Her image is everywhere. This city remains deeply religious and during Holy Week there are daily parades where two churches in this neighborhood have competing statues that they haul through the narrow streets. The rivalry is as intense as competing soccer clubs where both factions want to use the same street as the same time.
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Flamenco dance clubs are everywhere here. There are so many competing with for the tourist dollar that initially I resisted going. Over the years I had seen parodies of the dance and I felt whatever these displays where, they would be similar and not worth the price.
I was wrong. Very wrong.
We went to a club near our hotel that had a lovely courtyard vibe. It was sold out.
Flamenco originated here in Andalucia and Sevilla is its capital. This music and dance art form has its roots in Roma (Gypsy) and Moorish cultures. A typical show will have a male and female dancer, an accomplished guitarist, and one or two singers.
The rhythmic movements and staccato steps of the dancers are mesmerizing to watch. They approach the dance with the intensity of a rock star and appear to suffer through the experience. This is why the dance is so often described as passionate,
The singers give voice to an internal agony that appears to come from their very souls. The pitch and modulation has echoes of a Muslim call to prayer.
And the guitarist! I have never seen a live performance of so talented a musician. His fret work and speed rolls would make Chet Atkins or Eddie Van Halen pause and step back. It was brilliant.
I learned later that Flamenco is similar to a good jazz concert. The performers have a vague idea of what they want to do, but the rest is all improvisation on the spot. Thus, every night the performance is different.
The theater we were at changes its artists overnight and there is a circuit in the city these professionals travel.
They perform twice nightly, every night for 6 days a week.
Ole!
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