Seville - well worth the visit, and there is still lots more to see

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Seville was totally unexpected. We had thought it would be pretty good, after all the other lovely places we have been to in Spain, but it is really special. It is a fantastically interesting city and is yet another gap in our education; I guess. If you’d asked me I would have said it was famous for bitter oranges, which it is (exported to the UK for marmalade) and bull fights. It is a great deal more than that.

Seville was simply the most important city in the world for a long time after Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. It was the gateway to and from America, and this, of course, meant unbelievable wealth and commerce. It also meant huge power and influence – the Franciscans benefiting hugely (San Francisco).

The city was originally some 80 k upriver from the Med – safe from marauding pirates, and while a tough rowing job for the galley oarsmen, it made sense to take the gold, silver, tobacco and other riches to a safe haven. Cadiz on the coast looked like the logical spot, but bad experiences with seaborne attacks (e.g. a British attack by 180 warships at once) meant it was too exposed.

Of course the city had to reflect all this wealth. It was already an important place – the Romans, Visigoths and Arabs had already provided magnificent edifices – minarets, mosques, the alcazar and so on. And the town was, at that stage, pretty liberal, and the Jews, Arabs (that were left) and the Catholics lived in relative harmony.

The cathedral expanded to become the third largest in the world, and palaces, gardens etc all bloomed until three things spelled the end of its dominance as a great city – the plague; the gradual silting up of the river (yeah global warming is not new); and the fortification of Cadiz which meant those nasty pirates and poms could be kept away. Around the same time liberal tolerance gave way to the Inquisition and forced emigration of non Catholics. Seville became a backwater.

But Seville’s decline left a most beautiful city, and we found our three nights there were simply not long enough to explore and enjoy it. The day starts late here, but the night is where it all comes alive, just like in Morocco, and I guess it makes sense as it gets mighty hot in the middle of the day and the evenings are warm and mild.

Our first adventure was a walking tour. We had booked, but ended up waiting in the wrong place, and were approached by another guide. Well, one tour is just like another, and we were far too late to race over to catch the other one, so off we went. The first stop was only steps away from the cathedral, in an anonymous building which turned out to be a convent. A revolving shelf in the beautifully tiled wall and a buzzer were the links to the outside world. A single buzz, a disembodied voice, Pip ordered and placed a euro on the shelf, and lo – a bag of sweet pasty offcuts came around!

The walk was a magic experience – we looked and learned a great deal. There was a great deal we would have missed if we had simply done the walk ourselves. Hearing how the minaret which became the great cathedral tower survived the two year siege, how the Arabs recycled Roman blocks as foundations, why the tower has ramps instead of steps (the tower is so tall that the poor old imam could not make it up and down five times daily to call for prayers, so they installed ramps and he rode a horse) and the graffiti on the walls from 1630 that has been carefully preserved. Uni students recorded their graduation in paint made of bulls’ blood!

We walked through tiny alleys (narrow to keep the sun out), and peeked into courtyards that had been either prisons or homes, went round the back of a major church and were privileged to enter a private chapel with the most ornate and glorious silver and gold work, and a plaster Jesus that is normally carried through the streets during Easter, with a very worn heel. It is has been kissed by millions we imagined – a bit like the Blarney Stone. We resisted the offer.

It was onwards to an amazing library of the Americas. This was interesting as we didn't just see interesting maps and memorabilia, but we heard about the Yankee fortune hunters that have used the library in the past to identify sunken treasure in Spanish galleons. While one of the companies made a big song and dance about giving a canon as a gift recently to the Spanish King, the company was taken to court and all the treasure was found to belong to Spain. It will take 14 years to catalogue the two Hercules' plane loads of gold and silver goodies, and the fortune hunters have gone belly-up.

Another visit was to the Plaza Espana. Frank was disappointed to miss this, as it was glorious, the MOST amazing palace in a half circle, with more porcelain balustrades and tile work than you could imagine. This is in the middle of a gorgeous park. Sadly the lovely flowers we have been enjoying so far had finished, it is early summer now, no longer spring this far south. A feature of the plaza was a series of little bays in which a tiled map of each district in Spain was the floor, and a tiled picture featuring a key moment in that area’s history. Just lovely.

And, the food – of course – this is us, and did we find some good experiences here? Yes, time and time again – the food down here is simply delicious, and while we mainly stuck to tapas, we also had some great pasta. Goose tagliatelle was pretty interesting; but while it was full flavoured and very nice, neither Davie nor I could really register a different special taste.

The tapas are ubiquitous – everywhere and there are cafes and restaurants for Africa. We found it was a good idea to stop at one and have a glass of sangria, rose, pinot gris or a beer, and a tapas or two. Pickled anchovies, a wide variety of clever things on and off toast done with goat and sheep cheese, often with a sweet onion and fruit marmalade, peppers in a myriad of styles, slices of roast meat in gravy, whole deep fried sardines, chunks of fish, little pies – the list is endless, and the cost is usually around 2.5 euro each. Two are fine for me and Davie, until the next time.

We had a great time with the very much reduced team. And then we left Frank and Vicki and Rick and Pip late last night with almost a tear in the eye. Our last adventure was good too – a flamenco concert after a delicious dinner of pasta. The flamenco was not at all touristy; in fact it was pretty refined. It was simply a guitarist – exceptional, a singer (with lots of angst and clever hand clapping) and the most gorgeous and young woman dancer. She was just amazing and the music was a mix of tortured angst and wild happy passion.

Davie and I are now on the fast train to Barcelona (five and a half hours, 300 kph) – ready for our final Spanish adventures before heading home. As a quick note the train is infinitely better than the Marrakech Express experience, but even though we were first class, not even a bottle of water, let alone café or a sammie.

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Photos

Tapas
This cod was delicious, but did not help my friend who has an allergy to fish, especially when travelling. You can see how a wee dish can easily be divided into two, for a snack. Yummo.

Tiles, gorgeous, wherever we go
This depicts the oil gate into Seville. This was right beside the 'port' and the gate is clearly visible. There is now a food vendor in the actual wall of the gate.

This is the old Seville port
Obviously it is all silted up, but these are the original pillars and roof. Everything needed to be covered because of the heat.

Secret chapel
We were lucky to visit this, and the photo does not do it justice. It was simply glorious. There is a walkway around the back if you want to kiss the foot of Jesus. (Wipe with tissue first please).

Uni graffiti in 1608
What a find for the conservators, huh? The paint is bulls' blood mixed with chalk, apparently.

Purchasing sweets from Convent
Pip buys sweet pastry offcuts from revolving shelf from silent order of nuns.