Alcazar-ed Out

In Ireland and the United Kingdom, I was castle-d out. In Bali, I was temple-d out. In Peru, I was ruin-ed out. In southern Spain, I'm officially Alcazar-ed out. The agenda for today was to see the third and last Alcazar of my trip, having seen one in each of the Andalusian cities: Córdoba, Granada, and now Sevilla.

After a long breakfast and sitting on my balcony at my hotel, I ventured out to the nearby Plaza de España which is adjacent to the Parque de María Luisa. This massive building was the place of the Ibero-American Exposition in 1929 and also the setting of several scenes from the recent Star Wars movies.

There was a lovely fountain, bridges, and tiles that incorporated the mudéjar style. True to Spain, as in the name, there were tiles representing each of the different provinces / regions of Spain. I took a photo for an Italian couple and they returned the favor here and also an homage to Madrid:



After leaving the park, I walked by the University which is housed in an old tobacco factory and made my way to the Real Alcazar. This royal palace converted from an Islamic fortress and has similar qualities as the Alhambra. Supposedly pieces that were made at the Alhambra were brought here. Here's a photo of the front part of the Palacio de Don Pedro:



The ceilings, tiles, and details were incredible. Similar to the Alhambra, the arches, patterns, and detail was incredible. Here's a photo of various ceilings:


I overheard a tour guide mention the Medina Azahara, and here's a photo of various arches, including the horseshoe arch when in 3's represents power of the Caliph:



Also, the gardens were quite lovely with its fountains and hedges. Here's the Mercury Pool that's next to the Garden of the Dances:



Underneath, there was the Baños de Doña Marí de Padilla, where supposedly they swam and tried to escape the heat:

 

I left the Alcazar and wandered over to Barrio de Santa Cruz, the old Jewish neighborhood. I wandered in and out of shops and through the narrow streets. I secretly really want an apron that looks like a flamenco dress and was tempted to buy one. But I'm sure it won't come in handy as I hardly wear aprons even when I get a rare chance to cook! I also hope that my godchildren's parents appreciate I didn't buy the flamenco clappers called castanets.

In the Barrio de Santa Cruz, I stumbled upon the Murillo Gardens. Supposedly it was originally a part of the Royal Alcazar gardens, but they gave this section to the city people. I sat here and enjoyed the people watching and the fountain.

I chatted with fellow tourists. My Spanish has been getting me into trouble. I haven't practiced in awhile and stopped classes about two years ago. When I went to Argentina, it was great because I was still taking classes and I had to really use it in Patagonia. By the end of the trip I was thinking in Spanish! Here, I think people have such low expectations about my ability to speak any Spanish, they are really surprised. But I can only say a few things really well and the other parts are improvised and riddled with mistakes (even though Jamie says I'm understandable). However, people get initially impressed and excited, they start launching into what feels like a mile a minute and then I'm lost. Managing low expectations is hard, but I'm trying!

I then made my way back through Barrio de Santa Cruz to Bodega Santa Cruz which the Peruvian American family from Granada had also recommended. I walked by it earlier, so I knew exactly where it was. I had a tinto verano and my first dish was the Lomo Al Pedro Ximenez. I didn't know what to expect as I just usually ask for the house speciality and the bartender said it was this. But it ended up being beef with potatoes and carrots in a brown sauce. I think mine was the last one as they wiped it from the menu board after I ordered. I then had tuna in tomato sauce and a meatball montadito. Like Bar Casa Eme, they use chalk to remember everyone's tab, but here they throw tip into a basketball net over the bar.

After eating, I walked and window-shopped some more. I passed by the Cathedral and the Iglesia Sagrario and the line to see La Macarena was twice as long as yesterday!I guess word got out. I literally tried to just walk around without my map and get lost with a brownie ice cream cone. The warm weather and sunshine of Sevilla will be hard to leave.

I made my way to Casa de la Memoria where I had bought a ticket for a flamenco show yesterday. Tickets were sold out for last night so I bought one for tonight. One of the interesting things I've read about flamenco is how soulful it is that they don't typically teach young kids. Unlike other forms of dance and sport, people try to start young to take advantage of the strength and agility of the youth. But in the flamenco tradition, you have to have duende or soul and a young person wouldn't have seen or experienced enough in life to know the feeling. So they said most don't really hit their prime until they're in their 30s and practice well into their 50s. I guess that's true about being in your prime!

The performance was considered very pure. There are three expressions of flamenco: song, guitar, and dance. It was fantastic, but they wouldn't let us take photos until the very end. The expressions were intense and soulful which you can't really tell here:



Afterwards, I walked back to my hotel, grabbed my stuff, and headed to the #28 bus. I had a reservation at an Ibis near the airport as my flight to Barcelona is so early!

In Barcelona, Nakia will join me for six nights. I don't think I've ever stayed in one place so long on vacation, but I'm psyched! I suspect my posts may be less detailed as I'll have company, but hopefully they'll have more adventures? Who knows, I mean you can all imagine what doesn't go into the blog... ;-)