Paella and Sunshine in Seville!!!

My last post was a bit intense with all that carefully-planned travel being turned upside down, so I thought I'd share some of my more fun, pleasant travel experiences from the last couple weeks!!

So.... even though I'm a week late, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all your wonderful Birthday messages!! I definitely feel well-celebrated this year, especially with all the fun and extra-special adventures I've had with my sister, Sheryl!! We started out my birthday week visiting The Alhambra and Gibraltar (which I've already told you about)!! That could have been more than enough wonderful sights and places, but we decided to meander up to Seville for paella (followed by a horse & carriage ride around the city) to see all the sights ON my birthday; then we went to Morocco on Friday and had a wonderful tour which included sight-seeing in a van, as well as a walking tour of the medina, lunch - and a camel ride!!!

Seville is a busy, lovely city with orange trees lining the streets (strange to be able to just reach up and pick a fresh orange whenever I wanted!!), and tiny, TINY streets to drive through in the Old Town area!! It was a good thing we had a tiny car, but after GPS tried to take us along some pretty tight "streets" (more like alleyways!!), Sheryl wisely suggested we stop at the Parking garage not far from our destination and walk since there were other cars, pedestrians and horse & carriages to navigate (in a street barely able to fit our tiny car)!!

We hadn't really decided what we were going to see in Seville (we just woke up and wanted to do something fun and unique on my birthday), so we decided we'd just figure it out as we went along!! As luck would have it, there was a horse and carriage driver who was waiting for us just outside the parking garage! (We didn't even know that was a "thing" in Seville, but it makes sense with all those narrow, cobblestone streets!!) He directed us to a nearby restaurant that had "the best paella" and told us he would wait for us - and he did!! Lunch in the Spanish sunshine with fresh seafood paella and local artists serenading us with guitars and Spanish songs felt very much like the authentic Spain we had imagined!!

After filling our bellies with as much paella as possible (with at least 2 servings leftover with all sorts of fresh seafood) we were VERY glad to be looking at the sights riding in a horse & carriage rather than walking all over Seville to find what we didn't know we were looking for (which is where a bit of research would've helped, but that's the trade-off of just "winging it" and seeing what happens)!! Fortunately, we didn't need much research because the driver knew all the most famous places to visit. We couldn't always understand what he was saying, so we didn't always know what we were looking at.... but it was a feast for our eyes to just soak up the beautiful buildings and ambiance from the carriage!! It was a very "touristy" experience and loads of fun!! (Sheryl loved waving at people, especially the kids, and I was mostly focused on taking in the sights and trying to get good photos from a moving vehicle!!)

We saw the Plaza de España which was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, built in a huge half-circle with buildings running around the edge which are accessible over the moat by bridges representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain. In the center is the Vicente Traver fountain. By the walls of the Plaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain. Apparently, The Plaza has been used as a filming location, including scenes for the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia!

Next was the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, better known as the Seville Cathedral. (By the way, the "See" refers to the episcopal See, i.e., the bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction, not the "Sea" as we first thought... we wondered why a Cathedral so far from the Sea would be called that?!?!) It is the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia (in Istanbul) as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for nearly a thousand years.

I thought it was fascinating (and a bit sad) that the Seville Cathedral started out as a mosque, but shortly after the City's conquest in 1248, the mosque was converted into a cathedral. Its orientation was changed, and its spaces partitioned and adorned to suit Christian worship practices. The Cathedral was built to demonstrate the city's wealth, since Seville had become a major trading center in the years after the Reconquista. The builders preserved some elements from the ancient mosque like the sahn (the courtyard for ablutions for the faithful to conduct their ritual cleansing before entering the prayer hall) which is known today as the Patio de los Naranjos (lined with orange trees around a beautiful fountain).

The most well known preserved part of the Cathedral is the Giralda Bell Tower which was originally built as the minaret for the Great Mosque of Seville in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, but a Renaissance-style top subsequently was added by the Catholics after the expulsion of the Muslims from the area. The mosque was completed in 1198, with the placement of four gilt bronze balls in the top section of the tower. After a strong earthquake in 1365, however, the spheres went missing. In the 16th century the belfry was added and the statue on its top (called "El Giraldillo") was installed in 1568 to represent the triumph of the Christian faith.

The whole Moorish (Muslim) - Spanish (Catholic) "holy war" history is very disturbing to me. I understand that it's part of Spain's history, but it sometimes feels so palpable in many of the cities in certain parts of Spain, you wouldn't think it happened so long ago! It's like the history of the Conquistadors in Latin America.... I've always looked at it through the lenses of the poor Indigenous people in Central and South America who were enslaved and banished from their homes, so my brain is having a hard time with the celebration of all these "heroes" from the Spanish perspective!! (I realize this is a part of everyone's history due to exploration and colonialism, but it's just an unexpected awareness and another shift in perspective after years of seeing the Spanish Conquistadors as the "bad guys" for invading Latin America!! Then again, it's not like MY ancestors did anything different.... Again, an opportunity to have a different perspective!!)

So ANYWAY (sorry, I ran off on a tangent!!).... we had a lovely ride around the Old Town parts of the city, and with a bit of research when we got back to the hotel, we were able to figure out what we had seen (thanks Wikipedia)!! It was the perfect way to see the sights since we only had a couple of hours, but maybe next time I'll plan more time and see the inside of these beautiful buildings (or not?!?!.... I wasn't really drawn to return, but I never know where my Journey will take me)!!

We were just happy that our spur-of-the-moment trip had worked out so easily and gracefully!! But as sometimes happens, our wonderful ride ended in a bit of drama when we pulled out our credit card and the driver said "NO!!! - must pay with Euros!!!" I had asked him at the very beginning (before lunch) if we could pay with a card - and we had reconfirmed this twice before getting into the carriage. When Sheryl held out her card and he had said he would take her payment at the end, I assumed that was so we would add a nice tip if he gave us a good ride. BUT....nope!! He did NOT take cards and seemed quite offended that we didn't have any Euros!!

When we offered him US Dollars, he looked at us like we were ridiculous!! (Seriously though, it's not like he couldn't have exchanged them at the bank.... then again, we also could've exchanged them, but we just hadn't gotten it done yet.... oh well!!) We kinda wondered about using the card before we started and thought it was very progressive for what seemed to be a simple operation, but we thought with all the easy technology these days maybe he had a "square" or something since he deals with tourists all the time, but NOPE!!

Soooo.....off we went back in the carriage to find a cash machine! We went rushing through the same streets we had just been meandering through and got an extra 10-minute carriage ride to the cash machine, but then he wanted to dump us there and make us walk!! Instead, after a bit of bartering and stubbornness from me (Sheryl was, of course, very gracious), he took us back to where he had picked us up (per our original agreement) - for some extra Euros!! It was a bit of a stressful ending to a wonderfully relaxing and fun carriage ride, but I'm choosing to focus on the wonderful day we had - spending a FUN birthday with my sister (chatting all day - and laughing at our crazy adventures!!!), eating paella in the sunshine, and exploring the city in the most relaxing way possible on those tiny, cobblestone streets!!

We decided that with all the driving and adventuring that happened on Saturday (car rental drama then Granada), Sunday (delightful, relaxing visit to Gibraltar then switching hotels when we returned), and my birthday (long drive to Seville and back with lots of fun in-between), we would take a couple days to just rest, relax and enjoy the beautiful view and sunshine before attempting our next adventure.... by far the jewel in our crown thus far - Morocco!!!

As always, I have way too many words and pictures to cram into one post, so there will be a second part to this post!! And the adventure continues....