Friday night was flamenco night. Time to be a tourist. I killed some time before the show (which didn’t start till 10.30!) by wandering through the city. It was tapas heaven, and people were taking advantage of the good weather & eating outdoors. The monuments of the city were lit up & it was great practice for my photography. I came upon Plaza Neuve where a band was playing – a big band like the Salvation army have. There must have been a couple of hundred people in the square listening to them. They were amazing to listen to.
Now, remember when I told you jamon (cured ham) was hanging from the roof of every tapas bar…
The flamenco show was great, if not a little long. 2 hours of flamenco is a lot for a beginer, especially if you don’t know what they are singing about! There were lots of frills, ruffles, tassels and…red. Red dresses, red lighting and red flowers in their hair. It certainly is an art form. How they don’t trip over their skirts to start with! Most of the dancers were accompanied by an acoustic guitar & 3 men doing lots of clapping. It involves lots of twisting & turning in the dances, and throwing skirts around. And foot stamping. Lots and lots of foot stamping.
After the show Mehdi again showed me the local Seville. Midnight, and we started out with tapas on the street, then headed to an area called Plaza de la Alfalfa for a drink. We walked through the Plaza (a square/courtyard area), turned a corner and bam! There would have been more than 100 people crammed into a little street, drinking & talking. The bars are so tiny that you buy your drink then drink it on the street. Despite feeling about 10 years to old for the place, it was great! This time I avoided the red wine & had gin – they free pour alcohol here. Dangerous! We went to another couple of local bars before making it home about 3.30am. A little different to getting home at 3.30am in Australia, because you don’t start till midnight!
Saturday, my last day in Spain! I met Mehdi for a late breakfast (bread & tomatoes – so much bread here!) then some shopping. For the first time I noticed the amount of orange trees lining the street – one of the things Seville is famous for. We parted ways and I became a tourist again, and visited the Cathedral. It is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the world. Inside was dark and impressive. There are crypts of Saints and others along the walls throughout the cathedral under the stone floor, including Christopher Columbus’s…or so they will argue. Other reports say it has moved several times and could be in any number of other places around the world.
Outside the cathedral (but inside the walls) there is an orange orchard, with 60 orange trees planted in rows. Yes, a cathedral has it’s own orchard… Would have been a nice place for all the priests of the day to escape to. Outside the wall (but still accessed from inside the cathedral) is a bell tower. 3/4 of the tower was originally from the mosque (the Giraldillo) that was there before it was knocked down to make way for the cathedral. On top of it they have built a level of bells, and then a 16th century weathervane sits on top. Looking at it, you can see the difference in the architecture of the two parts.
The view from the top of the bell tower (or Giraldillo) was amazing…
I could help notice people wandering around with flowers all day. Found out it was Domingo de todos Los santos day, a day when people take time to visit the cementary of loved ones. Guess that also explains why everyone carrying flowers looked like they were dressed for church! Nothing happens for the day though.
