Spanish Holiday: Day 8

 Day 8: Reunite with Dave and Molly in Sevilla

Finally met up with Molly and Dave at breakfast in our hotel deep within the old city of Sevilla.

Our Hotel

Sevilla was founded by the Romans as the city of Hispalis and was later known as Ishbiliyah after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711. After the Christian reconquest, Seville became the gateway of the Spanish Empire's transatlantic trade.  IColumbus pleaded his case here for his 1492 expedition, and Magellan set sail from the Port of Sevilla for his circumnavigation of the globe. It became one of the largest cities in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries but by the 1700's Sevilla lost much of its importance due to silting of the Guadalquivir  river creating a hazard to navigation forcing the trade monopolies to move to the nearby port of Cadiz.

We met our guide for the morning, Noemi, and began our walk through the old city.  We began in what was the Jewish Quarter.  Thanks to the Inquisition  which began in 1492 and ended in 1830, Spain is now virtually devoid of Jews.  Official statistics put the total population at between 13,000 and 50,000 Jews in the entire country.  Just our visiting bumped that number up to new heights! Prior to the reconquest in 1248, Jews were an integral part of Islamic society throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Moslems, Jews and Christians all lived together.  

Plaques noting where Sephardic Jewry Lived

Remnant of the wall of the Jewish quarter

We took a short  break in our walk and stopped for a taste of Sevilla, churros. Basically it is fried dough dipped in thick hot chocolate.  Like donuts, tastes great going down, but then you feel awful the rest of the morning.

Stop for Churos (Fried Dough with Chocolate)

The Cathedral dominates the old city

Our walk continued around the old quarter, meandering through very narrow alley

The Jewish Quarter (Barrio de Santa Cruz) is adjacent to the outer walls of Alcazar, or the castle. The A;cazar has been the home of the royal families since the Caliph of Andalucia built it in the 9th century.  It has continued to be a royal residence  and is now the oldest active palace in Europe (the king of Spain was here 2 days ago, and just left for Queen Elizabeth's funeral).  It has been rebuilt over the centuries and exhibits a myriad cultural stylwes

Alcazar

Scene from Game of Thrones filmed here

Beautiful intricate mosaics

Leaf of the local bitter orange tree used for marmalade.  Note the double leaf.

Next stop this afternoon was the Cathedral. The cathedral was founded in 1403, built on the site of a former mosque.  It is comprised of 5 naves and is the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe (it may have its own weather system).

The Cathedral

The tower  of the Cathedral is a repurposed minaret

Inside the cathedral is the tomb of Cristopher Columbus.

Columbus's Tomb

The cathedral tower, or the Giralda, was built atop the minaret of the mosque built by the Almohadans.  We climbed the tower to get great views of the city.  The climb consisted of 35 ramps with switchbacks (as if Jeri and I hadn't had enough switchbacks last week).  It was much easier to climb the ramps than stairs. Not sure if we could have made it on the tandem, though.

Views from the Cathedral Tower

After leaving the tower, we were starved and stopped for a lunch of tapas and sangria.  The food was oustanding.  We had a Spanish omelette which is potatoes, onions, and egg, chick peas and spinach, and Salmorejo (similar to gazpacho without cucumbers-which Jeri hates).

Tapas Lunch

After lunch, back to the hotel for a siesta, then a tapas tour tonight.

Our guide tonight was Jose, a truly nice guy.  He was fun, knowledgeable,  and a good chef (promised us recipes).  On top of being a guide, he spent much of his free time taking care of his aging parents.  Also, not a bad photographer. We walked across a bridge over the Guadalquivir River (actually a man-made branch of the river)

and were immediately confronted with the remnants of the prison of the Inquisition in Seville in the 15th century.

After walking through the areas of imprisonment and torture of our brethren, we were ready to begin a fun night of eating and drinking.  The tapas bars don't open before 8 and don't really get going before 10.

The word “tapa” comes from the Spanish word tapar which means “to cover”. One popular story is that King Alfonso XIII traveled to Cádiz and stopped at a tavern on a windy day. In order to keep the dust and sand out of the King’s drink, the bartender put a slice of ham on top. The King loved this so much he ordered another drink. Some people will also say tapas were created to hide the bad smell of a cheap wine or to keep out pesky flies. In any case, bar hopping in the Triana section in Sevilla was fun , tasty, and filling.  

We found out that only tourists drink sangria.  The local refreshing wine cooler is Tinto de Verano, red wine, seltzer or lemon fanta, and a lemon slice.  They were great, and became our go to drink here in Spain.  We also had some interesting tapas, Cazon en adobo (fried marinated dogfish)Alino de patatas (potatoes, olive oil, onions)Tomato alinado (tomatoes in oil), and olives the size of Texas

Finished off the night with helado.