Cultural Outing for the day: A trip to the Alcazar
Sometimes I have to laugh at the irony of life. I feel like I’m in one of the most romantic cities in the world, and not only am I single, but traveling solo. I’ve had more than a few meals in the plaza with the evening’s entertainment being couples taking their engagement photos, while I cry into my beer. I’m totally joking (about the crying), but it does heighten one’s sense of being alone in a sea of people. I’ve come to really enjoy traveling solo because I get to do whatever, whenever I want, but eating dinner alone isn’t my favorite.
Anyway, I’m not the first person to think Sevilla is the most romantic city ever, which is proven by the fact that more operas, which are notoriously romantic (and tragic), take place in Sevilla than any other city in the world. There are little plaques all over place that denote which scene of which opera happened in that specific place. I’m not the hugest opera buff, but I still find it charming. And romantic.
Not all of the history of Sevilla is romantic, though. When the Catholics conquered the city from the Arabs back in the 12th century, they graciously left the minaret of the mosque standing. As legend has it, King Ferdinand the whoever said, instead of knocking down the bricks of the minaret we will cut off the heads of as many infidels. Or something to that effect. Then a few hundred years later they built the bell tower on top in full gothic architecture. It’s all quite impressive.
But even the Moors weren’t the first people to inhabit Sevilla. As my tour guide on my super touristy but fun city scooter tour told me, the city tried to build an underground metro, but every time they dug down they found Roman ruins, so they couldn’t do an underground. The history here just blows my mind.
Speaking of layers upon layers of history, for my last hoorah of Sevilla, I toured the Alcazár. It’s kind of like the Alhambra in Granada, but more impressive. I didn’t read up too thoroughly on the site before I visited, and was equally impressed and intrigued by the Moorish, Gothic, Romanesque and Renaissance art and architecture of the palace. I pulled that right off my favorite source, which you can read up on your own here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcázar_of_Seville.
Basically, I was surprised that Catholic kings would have Moorish art and representation in their palace, but from what I gleaned by scanning the wiki article, they liked it? But then burned heretics at the stake? I’m not sure of the exact story, and I doubt anyone is, but it is certainly an impressive site. I took two hours to wander though the numerous halls and very extensive gardens (complete with a tootsie dip in one of many fountains - it was fkn hot). After I finished my tour, I walked through the palace again, equally in awe of the place all over.
Much to the chagrin of my late great uncle (may he Rest In Peace in spite of the fact that) I didn’t make it to the Catedral. There was just too much to see! I admired it from the outside, but did not visit the bowels of the third largest Catholic Church in the world.. ooops. I always get the heebie jeebies when I go in churches anyway. I must say that it is incredibly impressive from the outside, so that’s got to count for something.
I ended my stay in Sevilla with a home cooked dinner by my Polish friend, who I invited over for dinner and tricked into making a traditional dish for me. I’m now in Barcelona and it feels like a big hectic city compared to the serenity of Sevilla. We will see how it goes.
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