Travel – Page 14 – The Bald Heretic – Short, bald dude with a goofy beard

Spanish Doppelganger

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I am experiencing an odd phenomenon. Anywhere from 2-6 times a day I am seeing someone on the street who looks just like someone I know back home.

And it runs the gamut from good friends to vaguely remembered acquaintances.

It’s very disconcerting. I’m not sure if there really is a resemblance or if it’s a result of being away from familiar faces for so long.

Hey Look, I Discovered Spain!

I just realized that today is Columbus day.

And here I am in Seville, the very city he set sail from on his third voyage to the new world in 1498…

…and I just saw his mausoleum/monument/tomb

Freaky….

Cathedral And Bell Tower

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The Cathedral in Seville is the third largest church in Europe (behind St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London) and the largest Gothic building in Europe.

Dimly lit and with flash photography not being allowed, it’s hard to shoot. Even then, it’s hard to capture the sheer immensity of this structure.

The cathedral houses one thing I was glad to be able to capture, the Tomb Of Christopher Columbus

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That thing is magnificent! Even if there’s no actual proof that the remains of Christopher Columbus actually reside in the monument…

Some parts of the cathedral are grim and gloomy

While others are a bit more bright and hopeful

There was one thing Cynthia kept going on and on about and that was climbing the The Giralda which is the bell tower of the cathedral. At 320 feet, it’s daunting to consider for old fogies like ourselves

Fortunately it a series of ramps leading to the top rather than many, many tiny little stone steps as I recall was the case in the York Minster when we climbed that years ago.

The climb is worth it, though. Just for the view

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We’re resting now. Tomorrow there is talk of taking the train to Cordoba

Toro!

Studebaker

Many advertising signs on the walls are done as paintings on tile. I have no idea if this is an original Studebaker ad or a reproduction. Based on the wear and tear it could easily be an original.

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Alcazar of Seville

If you find your way to Seville be sure and visit the Alcazar, you won’t be disappointed. When we first passed it, I was not so sure I wanted to go inside but Cynthia was ever so slightly insistent so I agreed.

We queued up in a relatively short line and we were inside in no time.

The place really gives you a sense of the Moorish history of this region of Spain.

In all honestly, it was difficult to shoot in a way that captures the size and the magnificence of this place. All I could do is try to highlight some things that caught my eye:

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The detail in much of the ornamentation was just gorgeous

The most surprising feature was the garden/park within the fortress walls. Fountains, giant palm trees, rose gardens and more on a scale as to boggle the mind. I bet we could have wandered for hours and not seen it all

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Interestingly enough, the garden was very cool temperature-wise. It also seems to be the home of some wild parrots. They fly way up in the canopy of the tallest trees so we haven’t had a good look, but they appear to be some type of green ring-neck. Hopefully one of us will grab a snapshot of one before we leave.

Seville – B&W

Seville – Day 1

Having arrived in Seville and doing a little exploring our attention turned to the matter of negotiating travel from Seville to Gibraltar. It would seem that the Spanish have no desire to provide easy access to the British territory that occupies the southern tip of Spain.

It would require over 5 hours on a bus each way to get in an out of Gibraltar and that’s only if everything came together perfectly.

We discussed our options and decided to eliminate the one day Gibraltar leg of this journey.

This left us with a need to decide if we wanted to go somewhere else, or just stay an extra day in Seville. Once we decided that we would just stay here we had to see about accommodations. We checked with our current hotel and they were booked. Fortunately we were able to book a room at the hotel down the street so we’re all set.

Tomorrow we’ll see if we can get into the cathedral and perhaps on Wednesday we’ll day trip to Cordoba. It all depends on how we feel. For now we’re just relieved to have all the details re-mapped so we can rest a little easier knowing we won’t have to hunker down for the night in some dark alley or at the train station.