Microblog
After climbing the Giralda, we toured the inside of the cathedral. It’s enormous, but the gothic architecture makes it feel smaller than it is. The central area is dominated by the nave and choir, but those are cut off from the rest of the church with giant pillars and supporting walls. Surrounding the nave and choir are dozens of side chapels with their own altars, artworks, and graves. (Notably, the grave of Christopher Columbus can be found in the cathedral.) #travel #Spain #Sevilla
Fist stop on our tour of the Sevilla Cathedral was the top of the Giralda bell tower (340 feet high), which is the only part that remains of the Moorish mosque that was torn down after the Reconquista. The Catholic cathedral was built (from 1402 to 1519) on the foundations of the demolished mosque, with the Giralda retained as the new church’s bell tower. #travel #Spain #Sevilla
Yesterday we visited the inside of the Sevilla Cathedral. They claim to be the second largest church in Europe (behind St. Peter’s in the Vatican), although I’m pretty sure a few other churches claim the same title. No matter its official ranking, Sevilla Cathedral is enormous! It’s also pretty neat to see such a large church built in the gothic style. (Most of the others I’ve seen date from the Renaissance.) #travel #Spain #Sevilla
I have a little catching up to do. After our flamenco show and dinner two nights ago, we walked past the Sevilla cathedral on our way back to the hotel. The cathedral was lovely at night. The church was lit up so you could see the architecture, and the crowds had all gone home (although there were still lots of people out for dinner and drinks). #travel #Spain #Sevilla
After the flamenco show, we stopped at Casa Román for a dinner of tapas y vino. I get the impression that this place is a bit of an institution. And the amount of jamón Ibérico de Bellota (acorn-fed Iberico ham) they were slicing behind the bar was impressive—they had one staff member whose entire job seemed to be slicing jamón to keep up with orders. #travel #Spain #Sevilla
Last night we caught a flamenco show! 💃💃💃
Coming in (and knowing almost nothing about flamenco), my impression was that it was a Spanish folk dance with a lot of stomping. Now, after one whole hour of experience, I realize that it’s more of an aggressive tap dance (rather than stomping). It also seems much more of a “classical” art than a “folk” art, where the men sing and the women dance. Heather compared it to opera, which seems apt. It was a lot of fun. #travel #Spain #Sevilla
After our walk, we found a little cafe and grabbed an outdoor table for a little people watching, and an extended lunch of tuna salad, focaccia, and wine. #travel #Spain #Sevilla #wine
Then we walked around the streets of the Santa Cruz neighborhood, which used to be the Jewish ghetto before a little thing called The Inquisition. It’s a beautiful neighborhood with narrow winding streets, cafes, and hidden plazas.
Side note: It takes a special kind of chutzpah to force the local Jews to choose between converting to Christianity, forced relocation, or death, and then renaming their old neighborhood to “Holy Cross.” #travel #Spain #Sevilla
