Adiós Sevilla

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Today was my last full day in Seville and I am left with one thought: I must come back. On Tuesday I saw many of the major attractions, or so I thought. Having risen at 6:00 yesterday morning to catch the train to Cordoba, getting up this morning at 9:30 felt like a sleep-in. After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, I set off on foot for Casa Pilatos and Iglesia San Ildefonso.



Iglesia San Ildefonso sneaks up on you in the winding streets, seemingly out of nowhere. Because the streets are so narrow, with four-story buildings lining each side, you can't really see even the big monuments until you are almost in front of them. The Iglesia San Ildefonso is a bright yellow chuch that blends into the surrounding buildings.



Casa Pilatos is not one of the places I had on my orignal list to visit, but I am glad that I added it to my itinerary last night when I was planning the day. In English the name translates as "Pilate's House". The construction started in the early 1500s and was the home (and still is) of the Duke of Medinaceli. The name has in interesting history. The son of the Duke who started construction, Don Fadrique Enriquez, went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and upon his return he initiated observance of the Holy Via Crucis (Holy Way of the Cross) through the streets of Seville. The length of the route is the same number of paces that is said to have separated Pontius Pilate's palace from Calvary. The palace eventually became known as Casa Pilatos because of the association between Don Fadrique and the Holy Via Crucis. The architecture of the house is once again stunning, with the now familiar courtyard ringed by pillars and arches and breathtaking tile mosaics on the lower floor. In some of the rooms the entire wall is tile mosaic in geometric designs desinged in part to mirror the cloth tapestries on the upper floors. The upper floors were used during the cooler winter months and the lower floors were used during the hot summer months (of course "cooler" is not what we are used to in Canada).



Now by this point I was feeling pretty confident that I could find my way around using a combination of maps and a quick check on my phone's GPS for confirmation (if only the data charges were lower the GPS would be the only tool you need, but for now it comes in handy to make sure you don't get completely off track). The next stop was three Roman columns which on the map were just down the road. Twenty minutes later and after stopping for directions several times, I felt like I had won the Amazing Race and never thought I'd be so pleased to see three stone columns. But the fun was just beginning. The plan was to keep going in the same general direction away from the hotel to the Barrio Santra Cruz, one of the most vibrant and classicly Sevillian districts. You can imagine my surprise when I emerged from the winding streets onto one of the larger streets to discover that not only was I not going in the right direction, but I had doubled back and gone right past the hotel in the opposite direction (not on the same road as the hotel, I am able to read the sign on the door thankfully). But as I've said before, not a problem here. I used that as an opportunity to drop off some things I picked up at the Casa Pilatos and take a short break from the heat.



On the way down from the hotel to the Barrio Santa Cruz I decided not to tempt fate once again and stuck to the main roads. When you think of Seville one of the things you think about is stumbling upon a nice restaurant in a charming plaza (square), enjoying nice food and sangria and people-watching. That is exactly how the afternoon unfolded, and both the food and sangria were superb -- gazpacho is becoming my new favourite starter on these hot afternoons (and may be something I could actually learn to make -- no comments please).



After lunch I wandered through the Barrio Santa Cruz, which borders on the area I had toued on Monday around the Cathedral and the Reales Alcazares. Like Cordoba, you could spend a day just walking around here, taking in the sounds, the sights, and the smells, from the fountains to the kids playing football in the streets to the orange trees. Although I had seen the Cathedral and the Alcazares already, new views and new squares are around every corner and you find yourself stopping to take pictures every few steps.



There was one place in this area that I wanted to see but could not find on Monday, so I was able to see that today. It is called the Hospital de la Caridad (caridad means "charity") and it was a church that also functioned (and still does) as a place of respite for the poor and elderly. The interior of the churh is stunning, having the intimacy of a smaller church but also much of the splendor of the large cathedrals.



From the Hospital de la Caridad I walked alond the river to the last stop of the day, the Plaza de Espana, which, like the Casa Pilatos, was not originally on my itinerary. I'm not sure how I missed this in the travel books I read when planning the trip, as it's a very popular attraction and for good reason. From the river you walk through a large, lush park until you come upon the square. There is a massive, and I mean massive, building in a U-shape aroudn the half-moon shaped square, with a large fountain in the middle. Towers rise at each end of the "U" and a U-shaped pool ring the inside of the building on the square, with bridges crossing them in a way that brings pictures of Venice to mind. This was a pretty spectacular way to end my sightseeing, and I have to thank the hotel staff for recommending it to me.



Wtih that I opted for a taxi back to the hotel rather than pass out from dehydration while walking in the wrong direction. Thankfully my taxi driver was not nearly as picky with my pronunciation as the last time and he knew what I was saying the first time, rather than me having to type the name of the hotel into my phone and show it to him (the last taxi driver was apparently a stickler for accenting the right syllable and when I didn't do that, he just couldn't get what I was saying).



Tomorrow morning I bid adios to Seville and catch the train to Granada, a journey of just over three hours.



One quick note, the way this site works it does not always show all the pictures that are attached to the blog entry within the text -- you may have to scroll down below the advertising to see the rest.



On a different note, there was a little bit of home on the BBC news service here the other day....the theft of Canada's maple syrup reserves in Quebec made the cut! That made me laugh I have to say....not oil, or money, or wepaons, or art/artifacts, but strategic reserves of maple syrup!



More to follow...

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Photos

Plaza de Espana 1
The South Tower (at one end of the "U" shaped building)

Plaza de Espana 2
Looking along the "U" shaped pool toward the central section of the main building

Plaza de Espana 3
Lookng out toward the fountain from the centre of the main building

Plaza de Espana 4
The North Tower