Andalucia 6

Tags

Alameda de Hercules, Andalucia, Andalusia, Andalusian rococo, Flamenco museum, jasperware, Kay Woo, Metropol Parasol, Museo del Baile Flamenco, Naturetrek, Pedro Moreno, rococo, San Salvador Seville, Sevilla, Seville

Last day in Seville.  I only had the morning.  I walked to the flamenco museum, the Museo del Baile Flamenco (baile is ‘dance’), just a few minutes from my hotel, and as I bought my entrance ticket, I regretted that I would not be there that evening to go to a show by the national flamenco dance company, (while not regretting my inability to attend the classes they offered!)  It being early on a Monday morning, I had the place almost to myself.  The first room in the museum had giant screens showing videos of various aspects and meanings of flamenco – I had no idea that there was so much subtlety involved.  I had never previously fully appreciated the skill and athleticism required of flamenco dancers.  Further rooms went into greater detail which was lost on me, but nevertheless gave great pleasure to the eye.  On the top floor was a temporary exhibition of beautiful sculptures by Kay Woo.  I loved them, and the pieces were so reasonable that I could have been tempted, but for various practical considerations.  I particularly loved these two, about 15 inches high. Finally there was, in the basement, a room of drawings by Pedro Moreno, costume designer.   I now understood why there were so many shops in the immediate vicinity selling very beautiful and very expensive flamenco dresses.  (I had been near the window of one of them the previous evening as I ate my tapas.)

With my cathedral entry ticket had come a free entry to San Salvador, the church on my hotel doorstep as it were, so I took advantage of that (while paying for an audioguide).  This was the second largest church in Seville, but I have to say that rococo is just not my thing.  Entertaining, but to my eyes not aesthetically pleasing, far too fussy – many no doubt would disagree. 

I could find nothing to tell me what this was – a processional item? It appeared to be of gilded solid silver.

All round the church were altarpieces of various degrees of ornamentation

I did like this more restrained and classical pulpit, one of a matching pair,and the soundboard above it, which made me think of Wedgwood jasperware.

This main altarpiece was described as being the ultimate expression of rococo art as interpreted in lower Andalucia.

After these two visits I was gasping for a drink, and I wandered on northwards into the Macarena district.  Sadly it would not have been possible to go up to the top of the Metropol Parasol, as it does not open on Mondays, but I found a simple bar, serving tapas as well, and partook there, looking on at these Roman columns, in the Alameda de Hércules, a boulevard originally laid out in 1574 on drained marshland.  It fell on hard, even disreputable, times, but is now, after very recent redevelopment by the authorities, becoming a pleasant place once more.  The columns, with weathered statues  of Julius Caesar and Hercules on top, were originally elsewhere in Seville, and three others remain there.

It soon had to make my way back to the hotel to pick up my luggage, but I had time to stop at the Italian icecream shop, open this time, and to sit in the Plaza Nueva to consume my choice there, and then to check on how I could buy a ticket for the tram which I was to take shortly.  That all went very smoothly, including a ticket inspection, but, 5 minutes into the 15-minute journey, I had a call from Naturetrek in the UK.  “Sorry, the flight you are going to meet is delayed by two hours.”  But as I was by now on my way to the airport, and had luggage with me, I decided to continue to where I would pick up the airport bus, at San Barnardo. There I received kind and unsolicited guidance from locals who, seeing my suitcase, told me this was the airport bus coming just now.

At the airport I met up with Naturetrek guides/naturalists Niki and Simon, who live in southern Spain, right by the Straits of Gibraltar, and who are, in their own words, bird migration geeks. The time passed quickly until my companions for the next five days came though the arrivals gate, with quite a tale to tell about the travails of their flight.  Soon forgotten though as we made our way to El Rocio, on the edge of the Doñana National Park, a most extraordinary small town.

Andalucia 5

Tags

Andalucia, Andalusia, Archivo de Indias, Bar Europa Seville, Christopher Columbus, La Giralda, Pierre Dancart, Sevilla, Seville, Seville Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral

Seville Cathedral. Having indeed added to my stock of nougat, I made my way mid Sunday afternoon to the Cathedral, to be confronted with a long queue.  As I sat on the steps of the Archivo de Indias wondering what to do, feet sorely in need of a rest, I firmly resisted the temptation to take a pony trap ride – I felt so sorry for all those many creatures, trotting around the hot streets of Seville all day. When I eventually looked up from my guidebook, I saw that the queue had reduced in length quite considerably, so I joined it.

I had already taken these exterior pictures of parts of cathedral the previous day. This is of a replica, placed near the entrance to the cathedral, of the bronze weathervane depicting Faith on the top of La Giralda.   With almost no commentary, here is a selection of the photos I took inside. (Audioguides are wonderful, but you have no record of what they tell you.  I do recall however that listeners, English-speaking ones anyway, are informed that this cathedral is the third largest Christian church in the world, after the Vatican and St Paul’s Cathedral, London.  However, size depends on how you measure it – St Paul’s comes well down according to this list!) 

I loved the variety of marbles at the entrance to the retro choir

Tomb of Christopher Columbus

Above it, noticed by scarcely anyone, this magnificent clock

The Main Sacristy

Impossible to do justice to the oval Chapter House (above) in a photo, so here’s a video.

 

 

This grill was forged 1518-32, and protects…

The great altarpiece, the work of just one man, Pierre Dancart, who worked on it between 1482 and 1526

La Giralda, was the Moorish minaret, finished in 1198. In the 14th century, original Muslim spheres were replaced by Christian symbols, and in 1568 the renaissance belfry was added.  At the end of a tiring day, I had decided not to go up it unless there was a lift, which was unlikely.  However, when I found that in fact to go up meant walking up 34 slopes, not hundreds of steps, I decided to embark on them and see how I did.   At each quarter turn there is a little notice telling you how many slopes you have done, so, distracting myself with mental arithmetic to tell me what proportion I had done, I did find myself at the top of the 34 – only to find there were another 17 steps.  (I suppose that was the renaissance bit.)  There were slopes, not steps, originally, so that horses could be ridden up.  Splendid views of central and greater Seville from the top.  Somewhere near the middle of this one is my hotel. For the evening, after a long rest, I went out seeking another tapas restaurant, one which had a reasonable number of patrons, but which was not too noisy.  In fact being Sunday evening there were many fewer people around, and less choice of eating places. But I found the modest Bar Europa met all the criteria, and I had a really excellent meal.  Sadly the (Italian) ice-cream bar I had identified previously was shut, so I had to forgo a dessert!

 

Andalucia 4

Tags

Andalucia, Andalusia, Archivo de Indias, Carlos V, Charles V, Mudéjar, Murillo Gardens, parakeet, Pedro I, Real Alcazar, Sevilla, Seville, Seville Cathedral

Real Alcazar, Seville, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sunday 22nd October. The Moorish rulers, who had conquered Andalucia in 711, had constructed the great fortress, the walls of which you can’t help but see if you are in central Seville.  At the re-conquest of Southern Spain by Christian rulers in the 13th and 14th centuries, not all the Moors were expelled.  Some craftsmen were allowed to remain, and we learned a lot about the Mudéjar (‘those permitted to stay’) influences on architecture as many subsequent rulers redesigned the former palace.  Pedro I ordered a complete redesign of the interior in 1364, and Carlos V (1516-56) was another significant contributor to its current appearance. Further developments continued up to the 19th century, notably to the gardens within the walls, which I had skirted the day previously as I walked through the Murillo Gardens and to the Archivo de Indias.  The palace is still used by Spanish monarchs when they visit Seville.

Public entry was by a fortress gate.  Here is a splendid Mudéhar interior entry.

It was not only to avoid visitors that eyes drifted upwards much of the time:

A rare chance to look at a floor, unencumbered by visitors.

So many thousands of details to be admired.

An organ in the renaissance part of the palace, developed by (Holy Roman Emperor) Carlos V.

Frustratingly I managed to delete a detailed video I made of this great tapestry of Spain and surrounding countries, seen, in effect from high over the eastern Pyrenees, looking south. To me it was amazing that those who could climb no higher than the highest mountain could imagine this satellite view of their country, and of north Africa, Italy and the south of France.

The Ambassadors’ hall, where kings did most of their governing, was a wonder, only partly captured even on a video.

 

There were peaceful – and not so peaceful – courtyards. 

Mudéhar architecture on the ground floor, renaissance on the first, and a glimpse of an original fortress tower top left

Known as the baths of Maria de Padilla

There were several acres of gardens, including those designated as French, and English.

The Fountain of Mercury

Today’s feline

As I sat in the gardens eating my apple, I was entertained by the squawking of these parakeets,

and was surprised to find, on zooming the camera, that they had not only been provided with perches in the palm trees but that some had identity tags.

 

Oranges

and lemons

 

One of several rose gardens

 

I was in trouble for stepping onto the grass to photograph this nearly moulted peacock…

and his hens.

Water and fountains are very important in Mudéhar style

I left the Real Alcazar mid-afternoon, with still the Cathedral to visit before returning to my hotel.  Not omitting another visit to the nougat shop.

 

Andalucia 2

Tags

Andalucia, Andalusia, Archivo de Indias, Bizet, Carmen, Fabrica Real de Tabacos, Guadalquivir, Hotel San Alonso XIII, Iglesia de la Magdalena, Iglesia Santa Ana, La Giralda, Mérimée, Murillo, Puente de Isabel II, Puente de San Telmo, Real Alcazar, Royal Tobacco Factory, Sevilla, Seville, Seville Cathedral, Torre d'Oro, Triana, University of Seville

Continuing my ’90-minute’ walk in Seville. After those shops (previous post) the guidebook said that I would come across the Iglesia de la Magdalena, built in 1709 on the site of an earlier Moorish mosque. So I just walked straight past this of course.But it turned out to be the side entrance. Despite the fact that a mass was in progress, I was encouraged to walk around at the back and sides of the church by a member of the congregation standing by to greet visitors. The building proved to be anything but plain on the inside.

A reminder of Seville’s naval triumphs

And when, continuing on my route, I went round to the front of the church, it was more recognisable as such.I went on to the Triana district, the other side of the Guadalquivir river, over the Puente (bridge) de Isabel II, looking north
and looking south.Can’t resist an indoor market.
My route then took me by many ceramic shops.I was beginning to want a drink and a sit, and I was delighted to find a quiet square, that of the 13th century Iglesia Santa Ana, Seville’s oldest church.

Still on the Triana side of the river, I continued along it for a short while, with a view of the Torre d’Oro.

Then back over the Guadalquivir River by the Puente de San Telmo, and into the Calle San Fernando, with a sighting of the Hotel Alfonso XIII, built between 1916 and 1928 for visitors to the Ibero-American Exposition, meant to boost the Andalucian economy, but sadly co-inciding with the Wall Street crash.

What’s this then? Ooh, it’s the University of Seville. Open to the public, so there’s another deviation from the walk.

First floor – and here, it would appear, there are actually some students

Pretty impressive for a university.  But even more impressive when you know it was a tobacco factory before that. Not just any old tobacco factory, but the Royal Tobacco Factory, employing 3000 women. You know, the one employing Mérimée and Bizet’s ‘Carmen’.  There were signs over doorways of former occupation, amongst them foremen, loos (still in use as such, though out of order this day) and stores.

 

Once more outside, I was still walking alongside the huge ex-tobacco factory, and was level with its chapel, when I noticed a wedding party arriving, and managed to get a photo through the grill as the bride emerged from the car.

Note the head-dress!

Into the Jardines de Murillo, named for the painter,where I sat to eat an apple, all the lunch I needed after the very full breakfast and in the great heat. Looking at my map, I realised that I was not far from the Archivo de Indias. I had seen advertised a temporary exhibition there which had really caught my eye. Put the words ‘maps’ and ‘river’ together, and they are a magnet to me. So I diverted,

On my way I noticed a tour guide pointing out this garden.  No idea what it was.

A first sighting of the Cathedral

A first sighting of the Real Alcazar, (‘Royal Fortress’)

and serendipitous further diversion took me past – or rather into – a nougat shop where I bought a large bar of the softer version, with tropical fruits, with the thought that I might well return.

 

(The next post will be exclusively concerned with the map and river exhibition and the building in which it was housed.)

Afterwards, it was time for another sit-down, and a drink, of fizzy water this time. And a photo of a sleeping cat which didn’t move the whole of the time I was there.

Back to my appointed route

A young woman had been idly stroking this cat in a quiet square, as she read a book.

Approaching the Giralda.And back to my hotel, via the Plaza de San Francisco and the Ayuntamiento once more. Too exhausted to explore more widely, I just took tapas in the hotel’s own restaurant later on that evening.

Andalucia 1

Tags

Andalucia, Andalusia, DK Eyewitness Travel, hookah, La Giralda, laalacenatienda, Las Casa de los Mercaderes, Maquedano, Metropol Parasol, Plaza Salvador, Robles Laredo, Sevilla, Seville

Seville, immediate surroundings.  I have not long been back from a trip to Andalucia, staying for three nights in central Seville, and then joining ten other people on an organised wildlife trip, hoping to see lynx in two different areas of the region.

Arriving in Seville in the late afternoon, I walked from the Plaza des Armas, where the airport bus had dropped me, for the kilometre or so to my hotel, Las Casas de los Mercaderes***. After unpacking and a suitable and much-needed rest, I went out for an exploratory wander. Right nearby was the Plaza Salvador and its Iglesia, which I learned later was the second largest church in the city, and a favourite for weddings. Lots of exotic shops, but I was surprised to see these hookahs.
In the Plaza de la Encarnacion, where this huge tree impressed me, I caught my first glimpse of the Metropol Parasol, the world’s largest wooden structure, and drew nearer.I added a trip to the top of it to my list of possible things to do, but at this point moved on. Shortly afterwards, on a main shopping street on a Friday evening, I was astonished to see this orderly queue. With even the British losing the habit, I thought the courtesy was extinct.  But I was back there on Monday morning, and saw that the bus stop queue was even more orderly, in single file.

My wander continued. I was getting hungry, and eventually settled at the Robles Laredo, in the Plaza de San Francisco, with the Ayuntamiento (town hall) to my right, and La Giralda, the Cathedral’s tower, in the left distance, which I was to climb on Sunday. I’m not usually one for taking photos of my food, but how could I not when it looked as good as this? Tosta gratinada de gambas con alioli. You’ll can almost smell the garlic. (I did resist taking a photo of the amazing sweet…)

A little continued wandering included some street singers, (it was now too dark to capture them on ‘film’), and the discovery, in the Plaza Nueva, of how I could avoid the lengthy walk back to catch the airport bus on Monday.

I had adored my hotel room from the moment I stepped inside it, not least because of its natural light to both bedroom and bathroom, but also because it had its own character. The next day, Saturday, I took photos on my way down to breakfast – which was copious.

A first floor sitting room

The breakfast room, seen from the first floor

The roof to that central patio

Downstairs to…

… Reception

This is the outside of the hotel, taken early evening the same day.and this the pedestrian road (calle) in which it was located.
To explore Seville, I used a guidebook which proved to be excellent, the DK Eyewitness Travel, ‘Seville and Andalusia’.  Earlier perusing had shown me there was no point in making detailed plans, but that after the general wander of Friday evening, their suggested 90-minute two-mile walk seemed to be a good way to continue. In fact I got back to my hotel seven hours later, very happy with my day.

The Ayuntamiento in the morning light.

The first few minutes of the walk took me past many more picturesque shops. Here are some of them.

I’m not sure I like the special spice for stewed bull.  I certainly had no inclination to go and visit the bullring.

The next post will cover the rest of my ’90-minute’ walk.