LYNN’S SPAIN/MOROCCO
JOURNAL
Day 4, Sunday, May 12
Sevilla
Today was the day to stay in Sevilla. Our German friend had told us that it might be difficult to get into El Granada so we decided going there on a Monday was better than a Sunday. The café-bar was not open. So we walked to Santa Cruz without benefit of coffee. I got my coffee in the cafeteria of the royal palace later in the morning. Got to the cathedral area quite early—9:30ish—too early for there to be many tourists. It was grand to see the square in front of the cathedral so empty—Plaza Virgen de los Reyes. The horse cabbies were anxious to give us a ride—we declined. The Reales Alcazares (royal palace) was first on the list because it was open in the morning. It was a feast for the eyes—lacey plasterwork, arches, tiles, pools, carved wooden ceilings, marble floors, different colors, different textures. What we had seen at the Medina Azahara was only a hint. And such a mix of cultures—Christian, Muslim. Philip and I had a hard time trying to follow the guidebook. The gardens were also quite extensive: flowers, fountains, fish, grottos.
Inside the Reales Alcazares
The royal palace visit plus the walking tour we did afterwards did us in--we recovered over paella lunch in a vine-covered patio not far from the royal palace entrance. We had seen it on our walking tour. We sat next to a French/American couple who offered us free tickets to view a house—they were returning to Nice that night. The paella was pretty good, especially the crayfish (we had better later).
Street Scene near restaurant
After lunch we tackled the cathedral—the largest in Europe. It was very light-filled inside. We had quite a nice tour with the help of a brochure—free entry on Sunday. It was exquisitely ornate: stained glass windows, huge organ, altars, gold chalices, large paintings. But nothing like the French cathedrals.
Sevilla from the La Giralda, with Bull Ring
We also got to climb La Giralda, the tower or old minaret—another example of Muslim/Christian architecture—Muslim minaret (finished in 1198), Catholic church (started in 1401). The climb was a great one—ramps, not stairs, beautiful display cases to view if one got stuck in line (we did not). On the way down though we noticed that the people on the way up had to wait quite a bit—good thing we were early. My favorite view was the one over the square we had first come across, filled with horse-driven carriages and accented by flying buttresses.
Views from La Giralda
We hiked back to Macarena, rested a bit, and took the car out to Donana, the national park. Philip had read there were guided tours where you could possibly see lynxes. But we got there too late for the tours and only in time to do a quick 30 minutes walking tour. Looked through a couple of blinds but did not see much in the wetlands. On the way back to park headquarters, we did notice some large birds roosting on the roof of the headquarter building—one flew off in the direction of the wetlands. We later figured out these were storks—we were to see a lot more in Morocco. There wasn’t enough time to enjoy the park, but at least it was open. Drove back late again—past 10.
On the way out to the park, we passed through the normally quiet little town of El Rocio. The next day was going to start the Romeria del Rocio—when a million people converge on the town in hopes of miraculous cures attributed to a statue located in Ermita de Nuestra Senora del Rocio. People travel from all over Spain on foot, by ox cart, by bus, whatever. We were glad we weren’t caught up in all that—it was would have made going to the park impossible. Later on the trip we saw decorated ox carts obviously on their way to El Rocio.