Sevilla y de Cathedral

Today I got off work around 6 AM. I went home and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. It was pretty cool out but the high was supposed to reach the 70’s. I decided I wanted to take the day to go visit Sevilla since I didn’t have to work tonight. Keep in mind, I’d been up since approx 3 PM on Monday.

There is a shuttle that runs back and forth between the base and Sevilla multiple times a day. I caught the 8 AM shuttle into Sevilla and got there around 9 AM. A guy on the bus named Joaquin gave me some pointers on how to get to the Cathedral and other good sites during the day.

My first destination was the Cathedral. Walking down the streets to it, I was reminded, in a lot of ways, of American cities on the East Coast. The buildings are built up anywhere between 5-8 stories on the left and right, blocking out the sun and keeping it cool until midday. Most of the streets are paved but many of the side streets are some sort of cobblestone but well-maintained. The people walk quickly, especially since it was about the time they were starting work. But Sevilla is a large city so there are always many people walking around. And it was noisy with the sounds of car engines and horns constant.

I could tell I stood out like a sore thumb. The people in the city dress like people in large cities in the US, usually in dark clothes. Also, since 50 degrees is cold to them, no one else was wearing anything as light as I was. I would get looks from people as I walked past. My guess is they were thinking something along the lines of “Let’s see, I have to get to work, finish that proposal and HOLY COW! That guy is almost naked!” That would probably explain the disgusted looks on their faces.

On the way to the Cathedral I passed a few fountains. It seems about every block in this town has a traffic circle and a fountain. I imagine one of their first politicians ran on the fountain platform. “We need to separate Sevilla from the other cities in Europe. Forget museums, parks, art galleries or anything else. We’ll use fountains!” And who would vote against fountains? A vote against fountains would be like voting for the Freaky Burger King Dude.

After the fountains was the university. There was some noise, chanting and banging drums. I just stood and watched a little protest just inside the gate to the university. I took a picture of their signs and banners in the hopes of figuring out what they were demonstrating about. Of course, if Spanish college students are anything like American college students, I will translate the signs and still have no idea what they are protesting. But it was nice to see people can complain about something no matter where they are in the world! Freedom rocks.

It took me about 40 minutes to get to the Cathedral. You can see a handful of pictures here. I took my own pictures but it may take a while to get them developed. The Cathedral is the 3rd largest in the entire world behind one in Rome and one in England. Spain was once controlled by the Moors(Muslims, if I recall my history well enough) and they built a Mosque on this site. Well, after they drove the Moors out, the Catholics pretty much built the Cathedral on and around the Mosque leaving only the part with the dome.

The architecture is really impressive. Makes me wish I’d spent more time paying attention in my senior year Humanities class. I remembered the term Flying Buttresses and this cathedral has them. They make it look like it is under repair. The outside is pretty weathered, which I’d expect for a church over twice the age of our own country. Walking around the outside took about 20-25 minutes. Maybe less if I hadn’t been interrupted by a Spanish Gypsy.

There was a group evenly spread out among one of the side streets. They were crouched, ready to pounce on any unsuspecting fool who ventured down. I was walking down and she politely walked up, gave me a small 3” branch from some bush. She then grabbed my hand and proceeded to tell my fortune and wish nice things to me. She finished and I said thank you. My first impression was that they were just nice people. Yes, I still have many stupid moments. She then stuck out her hand and asked for dinero. I told her no. She insisted. I’m sure she said something to the effect of “but I gave you a twig! And then touched each of your hands and told you good things would happen to you!” But it was said so quickly in Spanish I stopped trying to understand and told her “No” again. She turned around and walked off. To be honest, if she’d told my fortune and said “You will live only 3 more months and you will spend that time with a constant migraine, rotten teeth and a terrible rash,” I might have given her some money. Would have shown some creativity and moxie.

I went inside the Cathedral next and it is enormous. Here are some good pictures of the inside.

I walked in from the southeast corner and set back in all of the walls on the north and south sides are, for lack of a better term, indentations, of anywhere between 10-20 feet, where the wall is painted or there is stain glass. I walked to the left, towards the north side. It seems the main worship area was in the middle. There were a bunch of priests getting ready for a procession that would later go around inside the entire Cathedral. The ceilings have to be almost 200-225 feet high. Since it’s a medieval cathedral it is poorly lit but it was lit well enough. I read that Christopher Columbus is rumored to be buried here. Apparently they are doing a DNA test on a body in one of the tombs to see if it is true.

The area around the Cathedral is mainly shops, including, of course, a Starbucks. The 3rd largest cathedral in the world, over 5 centuries old…a Holy site, once the home of a mosque and now home to one of the biggest places of worship in the world…and there’s a Starbucks not more than 20 feet from it. Nice touch.

I’m hoping to set up an online photo album for when I get the pictures developed. Let me know if you have any sites you recommend. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll get to talk about the Alcazar of Sevilla.