Friday, June 4, 2010

Spire Envy vs Belly Button Envy


We were met by our guide who showed walked us through the Jewish Quarter where we were staying (and were probably the only Jews living there (at least for 3 nights) since the Jews were expelled in 1492 from Spain). We visited the Royal Palace, which is still used by the Spanish King and is the oldest continuously used palace in Europe. It is done in a Moorish fashion with lots of Tile, Arches and beautiful gardens.

We then walked to the adjacent Santa Maria Church which is the 3rd biggest in all of Christendom, after St. Peters in Rome and St. Pauls in London. Don’t you just love how they compare church sizes? My spire is bigger than your spire. Talking about spire envy, the square bell tower shown in the picture is identical to the one we saw in Marrakech, done by the same Muslim architect. Of course, he didn’t design it as a bell tower, by as a Minaret, when the Christians ripped down the mosque that was there, after they expelled the Muslims, they left the Minaret and added a one-floor extension for the bells.

The 4 men in the picture are carrying a casket with the remains of Christopher Columbus. I thought the casket should look like a ship.

After the tour Cathy and I split off from Michael and Tamara and decided to simply wonder through the city and stumble upon things. We saw lots of beautiful courtyards often protected by elaborate railings. We also found a Tapas restaurant that had been recommended to us, it was good.

We then decided to walk back to our hotel in the Jewish Quarter. The area is a complete maze, there are no straight roads, many narrow alleys and no way to really no where you are. We were the proverbial wondering Jews but found our way eventually to the Hotel.

I had a massage that was wonderful from a Japanese woman who has lived in Seville for 8 years as a ceramic artist supporting herself by giving massages. Cathy’s turn for a massage will be tomorrow.

In Los Angeles we had seen a live performance by The Yuval Ron Ensemble. We really enjoyed them and I placed my self on their email mailing list. I received an email that they were playing a concert in Seville tonight featuring Andalusia music and Flamenco. We got tickets and went, except for Tamara who was fighting a cold. At the door we gave away Tamara’s ticket to a woman from New York who is now living in Seville. It was interesting to talk to her about her life here. The show was great and the dancing which was a combination of Flamenco and belly dancing was a excellent. I am really glad we saw the concert!

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