Spain 19 - there are an awful lot of oranges in Seville, An alcazar and a Giralda

---

After our problems with the stone and Suzy's windscreen we moved off camping La Aldea and headed for sunny Seville. We had a date with the alcazar and the cathedral. We wondered how it would compare with Toledo.



We arrived late in the afternoon of Sunday. It seemed as if all of Spain were heading back from the coast after the weekend and the roads were yet again very busy. Our overnight stop would be Camping Vilsom in the suburb of Dos Hermanos about 10 miles outside the city. A busy campsite and not an ACSI one so we had little idea how much staying overnight would cost. In the end it turned out at 23 euros 10 cents including electricity. which wasnt actually bad at all. Our plot was sandy and under the orange trees which were dropping their fruits. I picked a few up but they felt spongy and could not be eaten. We were disturbed by large flying fat black insects - ugly things that looked as if they packed a punch. Chickens made chicken noises next to our pitch and our neighbours were mostly English. We fell into conversation with an elderly guy with a brown labrador. As the labrador lazed waiting to be taken for a walk we discussed going over to Africa and he told us tales of his honeymoon 50 years ago when he went to Morocco in a old ricketty landrover. He had been to Gibraltar too so we exchanged memories . What a shame we probably wont make either this trip.

We planned to catch the bus into Seville and picked up a timetable. The first bus was at 6.30 with others running every half hour. After a mixed night - it was a noisy site next to the main road we woke early and set off to Dos Hermanos to catch the 8 am bus. The bus stop was a quarter of an hour walk away -the usual description - walk up the road - no time given - cross the roundabout - cross to the next one and the bus stop will be there as if by magic . When we arrived there was one young girl sitting waiting. We checked it was the right bus stop and gradually it filled with the elderly going into town shopping, workers getting ready to start their daily jobs and us. We made a mental note of all our fellow travellers . Might be useful for the trip back . The fare was 1 euro 65 each - again heavily subsidised and the journey took us past the Carrefour supermarket - mental note call there on the way back - past the hospital and along the main road to Seville. A long journey 45 mins of stop and start due to the bus dropping folks off and endless sets of traffic lights. Not a lot of grafitti, in fact the city looked very clean and modern with many substantial villas on the way in. We were dropped off on the main square . Well it wasnt a square as we know it but more like two very busy roads with a path down the middle. Located in the Parque de María Luisa it was built in 1928 for the Ibero American Exposition of 1929. A landmark example of the Renaissance revivalstyle in Spanish architecture .



In 1929, Seville hosted the Ibero-American Exposition World' s Fair located in the celebrated Parque de Maria Luisa and designed by Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier . The entire southern end of the city was redeveloped into an expanse of gardens and grand boulevards. The centre of it is , 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. Numerous buildings were constructed in it for the exhibition.

.All of which we missed due to the drop off point of the bus . We asked the driver if this was our stop and he shrugged his shoulders which we think meant yes. A shrug seems universal in most languages . As everyone else had got off we assumed it was time to hit town. "Which way the centro?" He shrugged again and pointed indiscriminately. He could have pointed anywhere for all we could tell so we got off and headed backwards the way we had come. Well it looked as if it were heading somewhere. And everyone else seemed to be going that way . Across the road we trundled again having to wait an age for the traffic lights to change.

We found the centre and a few shops and stopped for coffee at a Starbucks. Bonjour Mademoiselle the waitress said. Did I look chic enough to be French? Not really. I asked for a capuccino and espresso and in a Spanish American accent she greeted me in American English and offered me chocolate, caramel or coffee to top it, her espresso came from Africa - was that allright? I picked an apple cake and then she asked if I wanted cream and did I want Wifi? Have a nice day ended the conversation.

We walked down to the Torre del Oro the golden tower which was a symbol of the city. It is a dodecagonal military watchtower built by the Almohad dynasty to control access to Seville via the river. It was constructed during the first third of the 13th century and served as both a prison and a storehouse for the wealth brought in from the new world . We chose not to go in but it might prove interesting on another day as there is a museum inside. Instead we walked to the city centre. All of the main interesting buildings the Real Alcazar and the cathedral are in this area. To see the rest of the city required a city hop on hop off bus which were available all over the city or use the horses and carriages for a more sedate ride into and around town .

From here we walked back into the main square and queued to go into the Real Alcazar. There were two queues. The first for tourists with pre-booked tickets and seemed full of Americans. It moved slowly. The second non pre- booked full of English. The Real Alcazar opened at 9.30 and it looked like a little wait to get in . EVentually we got to the ticket office and were directed to a desk by a large security guard. Two jubilados - passports please - grunt, grimace . One jubilado and one adult . The difference 7 euros 50 in price. A pensioner 2 euros and me 9 euros 50. Quite a big difference. We headed for the gardens first assuming most visitors would do the inside .



The palace one of the oldest in Europe is still being used by the Spanish royal family. The gardens were larger and more spread out than Cordobas alcazar and set more into small rooms. There were non of the long canals. Instead more single fountains. Bears Breechers a large plant grew everywhere and Bourganvillia climbed up the walls. It wasnt an intimate garden more a series of spaces filled with endless green. We stopped at the cafe and had a welcome coke and tortilla patata and fell into conversation with an English guy who was waiting to be served .

Inside we visited the Courtyard of the Maidens a beautiful room with the walls decorated with islamic blue and white tiles. Windows heavily fretted let light and cooling breezes in. I have fallen in love with this style of decoration. It is subtle and very beautiful. The lower level of the patio was built for King Peter I and includes inscriptions describing Peter as a "sultan". Various lavish reception rooms are located on the sides of the Patio. In the center is a large, rectangular reflecting pool with sunken gardens on either side. For many years, the courtyard was entirely paved in marble with a fountain in the center. However, historical evidence showed the gardens and the reflecting pool were the original design and this arrangement was restored. It seemed as if much restoration at a great cost was going on both inside and out.

The upper story of the Patio was an addition made by Charles V The addition was the style of the Italian Renaissance. Inside many of the rooms were paintings, ceramics and a collection of very intricate clay tiles which showed the skill of the artisans who made them.



Inside were the baths of Lady Maria of Padilla huge rainwater tanks. She was the mistress of Peter the Cruel . All in all a very beautiful building. We discussed which was better Cordoba or Seville . Sevilles Alcazar itself won hands done with much more to see inside however Cordoba came out winner in the garden stakes. So in a way they both won.



Our next port of call should have been the Giralda and the cathedral . We had walked around the cathedral earlier in the morning taking in the statuary and the building itself. We planned to come back after our tour of the Alcazar, pay our entrance fee , find Columbus's tomb and climb the tower for an unparalleled view of the city. However all goods plans ..................the queues were around the cathedral and back again. It did not open until 11 so we had quarter of an hour to wait before the queue would even begin to move . Somehow it didnt seem that appealing. It is a stunning building from the outside, mellow stone with gothic stonework decorations . A stunning building and of course everyone queuing must have had the same thoughts.

The Giralda is a former minaret that was converted to a bell tower for the cathedral . The tower is 104.1 m in height and it was one of the most important symbols in the medieval city. The tower was begun under the architect Ahmad Ben Baso in 1184. After Ben Baso's death, other architects continued work on the tower. The tower was completed March 10, 1198 with the installation of copper spheres on the tower's top. The Almohads built similar towers in what are now Spain and Morroco during this period. The tower of the Koutoubia mosque in Marrakesh served as a model for the Giralda. It is a stunning piece of architecture and we spent a long time just looking up at it admiring the brickwork and the intricate patterns. Again though thoughts went to why on earth it had to be altered and religion has a lot to answer for. it looked lovely as a minaret but a little strange christianised .



Our return journey home on the bus was interesting to say the least . Bus turned up ten minutes late and bus driver went off for a comfort break. We worked out we were waiting for the right bus as the elderly gent we had seen in the morning was waiting too . Eventually the driver returned and set off hell for leather down the streets, shooting red lights, ignoring amber and grumbling when folks wanted to get off, We got to Dos Hermanos only to find he shot off into the industrial estate and then into the countryside. We were now well and truly lost. The only good thing the old man was still on the bus so it must be right mustnt it. Eventually he rolled back into the large sprawling town and dropped us off where we got on earlier in the morning. An odd experience but one we will treasure .



Walked back to the campsite paid up and headed for Tarifa . One of the closest ports to Africa along this part of the Med. Only 22 miles or so separate Spain from another world and we were heading there. Tarifa that is not Africa although it did sound tempting.

---