Seville was another Spanish detour in our Portuguese travels. Chosen mainly for apparent simplicity of getting there – a tour bus picked us from our hotel. Again, as with Lisbon,if I would know how easy it is to drive around Portugal and Spain,we would spend more time in this amazing city, coming by car and staying for as long as we feel like staying. But alas, the knowledge came too late and we found ourselves on a three hours bus journey sentenced to spend it in a company of too familiar to us already our famous tour guide Antonio ...yep, he seemed to be everywhere you’d turn, just like that famous barber Figaro, originated, by the way, from Seville.
I have to admit I loved Seville from the first sight. It made me want to come back and stay for longer and wander around and explore more of it. Perhaps, one day… Spain will be my destination. With Antonio for a tour guide we already knew what to expect. As with Lisbon, on arrival we were supplied with the maps and time frames for exploring Seville.Being Antonio-experienced already, we did Seville slightly better then we did Lisbon, meaning that we also managed to get to places not marked on a map, and still be in time for our bus departure. It was not enough time for everything, that's for sure, but we caught the main highlights and were quite satisfied with how much we managed to see in such a short time. Seville is more than 2,000 years old and has a long history of a Moorish rule and the evidence of it can be found everywhere in the most famous monuments and places.
The Cathedral of Seville
It was built on the former site of the city’s mosque. They even re-used the minaret, converting it into the bell tower by having another walls built around the existing ones. A spiral ramp between two sets of walls rather then conventional stairs was used to ride the horses to the top. Were they lazy or what?! They call the tower – Giralda. Sure we climbed all 97.5 meters to get the breathtaking views of the city. Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. The interior is no less impressive as the external views – all decorated with gold.
Facing the Cathedral was the former Moorish Palace Alcazar. Frankly, I couldn’t associate it with the Spanish Style at all rather with ravishing arabian charm.
After visiting Cathedral and Alcazar, we took a walk along the old city. Got lost in the labyrinth of winding streets and narrow passages, but still managed to get out of the trap in time just enough to take a “side-adventure” before returning to the bus. When on top of the Giralda, we noticed huge arena, not so far from the centre. It attracted our attention by the bright yellow colour, unusual to expect from the sport venue. And since Spain and Corrida are those words that fit together naturally, we figured out it was a bullfighting arena and sure we couldn’t miss this one out, could we?!
When we finally reached Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza (that’s the name of Seville’s corrida venue), we found that it has a museum inside and we had just enough time to get a brief tour. The museum holds some posters, clothing and other items related to bullfighting and even a cape painted by Picasso. But the most interesting part was a story told by our tour guide. I must admit, I was completely oblivious to such events as bull fighting. Not that I didn’t know they exist, just it doesn’t influence my perception of the world in any way. But what we’ve learned in this museum was absolutely fascinating, even for such an unmindful person as I. What impressed me the most…each bull are taken to the arena only once in his lifetime. Even if he’ll survive, after the only fight he’d never to return into the fighting. They said this is because the bulls are so very smart, they learned from a single fight. And they become extremely dangerous then…if the bull survived Corrida, he’d be taken to the remote farms, kept in isolation all the time, because the beasts become so dangerous, the experience tainted them forever…they never ever trust a human again. What a sad story, eh? Imagine being a bull…I think from his point of view perhaps it would’ve been better to get killed then having to spend the rest of his life in total isolation…but then, perhaps, the bull ain’t that smart after all and perhaps they are enjoying trouble-free life of a king of a breed… The whole tour made few heavy impressions on me…the pictures, the stories of the famous matadors, their life, fame and their death...the beauty of the risk that is so high, they never know if they survive the season...yet their excitement, dedication to their art, many were outstanding performers and what they did on the arena was not a fight, but a dance...a dance with danger...tango for two...scented with passion...with fear...with lust for victory...there is something unnerving in the air where passions fly naked and displayed shamelessly and proudly too…by all means the accidental discovery of Plaza de Toros museum has found a firm place in my memories of Seville.
There were few more sights in Seville worth to mention, even if briefly. The Torre del Oro - Gold Tower.Used to be a watchtower in 13 century, then a prison, then a secure enclosure for a royal treasury and finally, a museum. But we didn’t have time to get inside, so I can’t really comment.
The Plaza de Espania. A relatively modern example of architecture was purposefully built in 1929 for the Spanish-American Exhibition. It gives an sense of somewhat bizarre mixture of few different styles but still nevertheless impresses with the bright ornaments of glazed tiles.
Well, that would be all I can tell about my adventures in Portugal and partly into Spain. I was late to write them down this time, but was hoping I’ll finish before I’ll get another travel opportunity. Well, I did finish. And there is still no travel opportunity in sight. Guess, I can say I fulfill my own expectations then.