Seville

Trip Start May 05, 2008
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Trip End May 09, 2009


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Flag of Spain and Canary Islands  ,
Tuesday, June 3, 2008

We found Seville to be one of the prettiest cities in Spain and possibly in Europe that we have seen so far. The wealth of the Americas flowed through this city (and Cadiz) for 3 centuries, and traces of this wealth are visible everywhere. The city was somewhat impoverished after the loss of Spain's colonies in the Americas but underwent a revival after Spain joined the EU, and the city held a world fair in 1992. That date is not a coincidence, since it marks the 500th anniversary of Columbus' departure from this city, setting out for what he believed to be India and turned out to be  the Americas. We visited the overwhelming cathedral in Seville, which houses amongst other things, Columbus' tomb. We have found it quite interesting, since it is built on top of a mosque, whose main remains these days is the 12th century Giralda tower, once a minaret, now a bell tower which we climbed. Otherwise, the cathedral houses a dizzying and frankly ostentatious mish-mash of art collected over 800 years The backpacker express from Cordoba
The backpacker express from Cordoba
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The city also has stately avenues, gorgeous gardens filled with amazing flowers and trees from the Amazon, bullfight rings and beautifully decorated buildings, some of which are the old national pavillions from the 92 expo. We are writing this from Morocco and it is not hard to see why the Arabs considered Al-Andalus (of which Seville was one of the main centers), to be the jewel of the Islamic world. Seville felt quite traditional; despite its very modern amenities; one could also see the typical Andalusian architectural style on display everywhere in the city, and especially in the Plaza de Espana. All in all, the city has a lot of character and is a pleasure to visit.
We also spent a fair bit of time chilling on the rooftop terrace of our pension, drinking wine; rocking in hammocks and conversing with other travellers from the Anglosphere (Yanks, Brits, Canucks, Aussies and Kiwis). This was certainly better than the alternative of watching TV, which mostly consisted of ads for tarot-card reading or for hard-core pornography, bullfights (we did watch that a bit, though Ginny cheered for the bulls), mediocre soccer teams and cheesy variety shows. We have found it quite nice to talk to other people, after staying mostly in hotels which don't offer this type of social opportunities. Since these types of youth hostels have double-rooms which cost less than hotels, we might stay in this type of place more often; saving money in the process. Yay bonus!
Hasta luego! Hope you will follow our adventures in Morocco...
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