Travels in Spain: Seville and Its Cathedral

After three days in Madrid, Carol and I took a fast train to Seville, a 2-1/2 hour ride.  Seville is in Andalusia, a region of Spain cut off by mountains to the north, and therefore influenced greatly by the Moors of Africa.

“To the Moors, Andalusia was an earthly paradise.”
— Jan Morris, Spain

View of the Spanish landscape between Madrid and Seville from the train window

View from the train window

“Seville is the most seductive, sensuous city in Spain. . . . Everything here — from the perfume of the orange blossom to the lisping, lilting Andalusian accent — seems to insist that you acquiesce and give yourself up to its charms.”
—  Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain:  Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past

Typical narrow street in Barrio Santa Cruz, the old Jewish quarter

We took a taxi from the Seville train station to our hotel in the Santa Cruz district.  Our driver dropped us off on a one-way street, pointed to a narrow opening between buildings and said, “Your hotel is down there.”  We followed the narrow street, made a right, then a left, another right, and then we saw the small sign for our hotel.  We had arrived.

Dining room in our Seville hotel, El Rey Moro, where we ate breakfast

Seville street scene

“The streets of the old city are among the most picturesque in Spain, and in true eastern fashion the outside of a house is no indication of its interior.  Beautiful wrought-iron doors give glimpses into charming courtyards where you can see a fountain, some geraniums in pots, a palm tree, and a dado of Moorish tiles.”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

“Narrow, chaotic streets hide a multitude of secret places — squares, fountains, gardens, churches, palacetes, bars — allowing everybody to discover, and claim for their own, some favourite, hidden corner.”
— Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain:  Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past

“The civilization that Seville has inherited is a good deal Arab.  Almost all the older things in Seville were built by Arab craftsmen and, although modern blocks of flats have gone up, the main domestic part of the city is based on the Arab patio or courtyard.  There is a strong white wall, and the rooms open onto a central court.  The streets of Santa Cruz wind and tangle.  They are built to catch only glancing blows of the terrible Spanish sun, to be channels of cool air . . .”
— V. S. Pritchett, The Offensive Traveller

Provided we did not get lost, our hotel was a 10-minute walk from one of Seville’s major tourist sites, its cathedral.  So Carol and I decided to make that our sightseeing destination for the day.  When we planned our trip, Carol and I agreed that a good strategy for sustaining our energy would be to see or do one main thing each day, and then spend more relaxed time strolling around, stopping for refreshment, and just seeing what crossed our paths.  We did not realize that October is one of Spain’s “high season” months for tourists, so we encountered long lines quite frequently.  We had not heeded the tips for buying advance tickets to the Seville Cathedral online to avoid lines, so we were discouraged when we saw the line to get in.

Long line outside the Seville Cathedral

We decided to regroup over some tapas.  After our late lunch, when it had stopped raining, we strolled back to the cathedral and saw that the line was much shorter.  After a 30-minute wait, we were inside.

Interior, Seville Cathedral

Seville Cathedral

“The city sprawls over the plain and in the centre, like a mastodon, is the cathedral.”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

This is a huge cathedral, and inside is the tomb of Christopher Columbus (too dark for me to photograph).  Later, when we returned to the cathedral as part of the Al Andalus tour, we learned that just 200 grams of Columbus’s body are entombed here and have been verified by DNA analysis.  The rest of his body disintegrated and/or disappeared during his sojourns to this final resting place.

“Light is very fatal to devotion and the Spaniards have been so wise as to make their churches very dark.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin:  Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Seville Cathedral

Detail, exterior Seville Cathedral

Detail, exterior Seville Cathedral (I loved this rooster!)

Sacristy, Seville Cathedral

I find the blatant opulence of Catholic cathedrals a bit off-putting, and I soon grew restless before the gold-plated high altar and the multitudes of statues.  I knew I was not appreciating all the history and art competing for my attention.  So it was interesting to return another day with a tour guide, and I learned a couple of interesting facts.  For example, the huge main doors are opened only for the king or the pope.  More ordinary folk, including princes and princesses, have to enter by one of the various side doors.  Also, the high altar is used only for the king.  Masses for the rest of us take place in other parts of the cathedral.

“The side chapels where masses were being said, glowed like little jewelers’ shops in some vast deserted square.”
—  H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

My favorite part of the Seville Cathedral was its bell tower, La Giralda.  It was worth the price of admission just to have the opportunity to climb the long steep ramp to the top.

La Giralda Tower

We could climb as high as the bells.

“It is impossible to give in words an idea of the slender grace of the Giralda, it does not look a thing of bricks and mortar, it is so straight and light that it reminds one vaguely of some beautiful human thing.  The great height is astonishing, there is no buttress or projection to break the very long straight line as it rises, with a kind of breathless speed, to the belfry platform.  And then the renaissance building begins, ascending still more, a sort of filigree work, representing Faith . . .”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

“But the older portion gains another charm from the Moorish windows that pierce it, one above the other, with horseshoe arches; and from the arabesque network with which the upper part is diapered, a brick trellis-work against the brick walls, of the most graceful and delicate intricacy.  The Giralda is almost toylike in the daintiness of its decoration.  Notwithstanding its great size it is a masterpiece of exquisite proportion.  At night it stands out with strong lines against the bespangled sky, and the lights of the watchers give it a magic appearance of some lacelike tower of imagination; but on high festivals it is lit with countless lamps, and then . . . it hangs from the dark vault of heaven like a brilliant chandelier.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Horseshoe arch, Seville Cathedral

View down on the cathedral from La Giralda Tower

“A Spanish town wears always its most picturesque appearance thus seen [from above], but it is different:  the patios glaring with whitewash, the roofs of brown and yellow tiles, and the narrow streets, winding in unexpected directions, narrower than ever from such a height and dark with shade, so that they seem black rivulets gliding stealthily through the whiteness.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin:  Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Seville’s bullring seen from La Giralda Tower

Bird’s eye view of Seville (It is no wonder we heard church bells.)

Seville Cathedral and La Giralda Tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NYC Vignettes: Hightailing It to the High Line

New York City’s High Line

On my first visit to NYC, one of the highlights was walking the High Line.  On this visit, I spent time on the High Line on three of my six days of exploring the city.  I love this park, reclaimed from a defunct elevated rail line in the Meatpacking District, for its interesting combination of nature, botany, people watching, and art.  I walked parts of the High Line in the early morning, on a rainy day, and on a warm fall day.  Sunny, warm weather brings people out in droves.

Human Statue, Jessie by Frank Benson

Seattle Street Mural

Temporary mural on Metropole Building, Seattle

Mural of underwater forms, 2nd and Yesler, Seattle

 A large mural by artist Jeff Jacobson (known as Weirdo) brightens a typical Seattle Street scene this dark winter season.  This is a temporary mural, painted on plywood, on display while the Metropole Building at 2nd and Yesler Streets is under construction.  The eye-catching colors and underwater forms are delightful.  I love the idea of art in the city, which brings such enjoyment to residents and visitors to Seattle.

Seeing Picasso at the Seattle Art Museum

Outside the Seattle Art Museum a few minutes before opening

We are very fortunate to have a rare opportunity to see over 100 of Picasso’s works of art without the cost of an expensive airplane ticket.  The Seattle Art Museum is currently exhibiting Picasso’s art from the collection of the Musee National Picasso in Paris, which is undergoing renovation right now.  I went to see it this week.  The ticket price includes an audio tour, which I found helpful in learning about Picasso’s career.

One of my favorite pieces was a painting called The Farm Woman, 1938.  I loved the simple, yet evocative, sketches of a rooster, hen, and chicks on the edges of the painting.  Picasso is a genius at making a few lines so very expressive.

Here is a reproduction of The Farm Woman in the exhibit catalog.

Detail of the rooster from The Farm Woman

Seattle street scene: Picasso mural near Pioneer Square