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Published: June 17th 2017
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01 Souveniers
Souvenier shops selling lots of colourful flamenco dresses. Geo: 37.3833, -5.9965
Wow, the last day of work finally came, a date that has been hi-lighted on my calendar all year long. Been a very busy week, socially and emotionally, saying goodbye to colleagues, students and housemates (moved out this morning). Although, very excited about returning to Spain and warm weather. Have been looking on the Internet for the weather forecast and its sun, sun, sun! I love the cities that have very accessible airports.
A short bus ride from the airport and I was at a bus station in Seville. Wasn't too sure which bus station I was at and couldn't be bothered walking to my hostel, so I caught a taxi, a few euros later I arrived at the hostel. I wasn't staying in the actual hostel, but in an apartment nearby. The apartment was in the middle of the shopping district, so I took note of nearby shops.
After dumping my backpack, I headed out to discover Seville. I started to realise that the apartment was in the middle of a maze, will be fun to find again later on.
Came across the main attraction in Seville, the cathedral. It started as a mosque, until the
02 Cathedral
The exit of the cathedral. Christians ruled and it became a church. Construction started in 1184- so many years ago! This is the largest Christian cathedral in the world. Most of the cathedral is of Gothic style. There are many little chapels here. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is also here, although the authenticity of the bones being his are doubted by many. The cathedral was very impressive.
In the corner of the cathedral is the passage to climb up the Giralda. It was an easy walk up, no steps, but many ramps, designed so the guards could go up on horses. The Giralda was built between 1184 and 1198, hard to comprehend as it was so long ago and its still standing! It is one of Spain's better Islamic buildings. The part from the bell level up was added in the 16th century by the Christians. At the very top is El Giraldillo, a 16th century weather vane, it represents Faith and is a symbol of Seville. Had a great view up here. Being my first day in Seville, I didn't really know what any of the buildings that I was looking at were. Although I did recognise the bullring. When I left the
03 Cathedral
It consists of many architectural styles due to re-building and who was ruling the city. bell tower, I came to the Patio de los Naranjos. A courtyard of over 60 orange trees where Muslims cleaned their hands, feet and face before entering the mosque.
After I left the cathedral, I headed in the direction of the bullring. The bullring is one of the oldest in Spain and was built in 1758. The only was to see the bullring was to take a tour. We had a few minutes on the benches to see the ring. The bulls enter the ring from the red wooden door and we saw where royalty sit during the bullfight. The guide then walked us through the museum. We saw paintings of famous bullfighters and bull heads. There is also a chapel where the bullfighters would pray before each fight. It was very quiet at the bullring today, the next fight was on Thursday, could be an interesting experience, but I am not going to be in Seville. Maybe somewhere else.
I walked along the river and came to the Torre del Oro. An Islamic watchtower from the 13th century. It was once part of the city walls when the city was protected by a wall. Its dome is covered
04 Entrance
The entrance to the cathedral. in gold tiles and thats how it got its name. It is now a Maritime Museum- which sounds very boring, so I didn't go in. Wandered around town and decided to head back to the apartment. It only took me half an hour, when it should have taken me 5 minutes from the cathedral!! Got a bit lost because the shops were all closed for the afternoon siesta and everything looked different.
Tonight I went out for dinner with two girls from my apartment. Sangria is great!! It tastes so much better in Spain. Then we went for a walk and took some night time photos. The weather here is fantastic, high 30's, just what I needed.
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