Friday 14th September 2018
Museo de Bellas Artes: Parque de Maria Luisa: Real Alcazar: Cathedral
We were stood outside the Museo de Bellas Artes a few minutes before it opened this morning.
We had come to see a magnificent domed baroque ceiling which had been restored to its previous glory.
The building was originally a convent and this work of art was created in the convent’s church in the 18th century.
The entrance area had a wonderful colourful display of azulejos tiles. These hardwearing and detailed tiles could also be seen throughout the museum.
We spent a few minutes glancing at the impressive collection of paintings but we were really there for the architecture. The member of staff at the entrance looked a little taken aback when she saw us departing so soon and enquired if we were aware that there was another floor. We were but we had other plans!
We walked through the historic centre and we were at the ‘Real Alcazar’ before the due opening time at 10am, the queues, however, were enormous. There was one for pre booked tickets and one for people waiting to purchase tickets.
We decided to visit the Parque Maria Luisa first; we hoped that there wouldn’t be a queue later in the day.
The park is the city’s main green space; it is huge. The ‘Plaza de España’, one of the outstanding architectural delights in Seville was built specifically for the 1929 Ibero American exhibition.
The imposing structure’s facade is decorated with colourful tiled scenes of different places within the country. Each scene has a tiled bench where one can sit and admire the small narrow canal with its ceramic tiled bridges.
The canal has small rowing boats which are available for hire. There is a large fountain in the centre of the half moon shaped plaza. We walked around the plaza admiring the tiled scenes and then we wandered further into the pretty park. The large trees offered much needed shade. Horses and carriages ferried tourists around, their drivers pointing out impressive sights including other buildings built specifically for the world fair in 1929.
We watched a man feeding a pair of swans, the man then showed Dave the leaves that the birds preferred and Dave fed them too.
One pathway through pretty gardens led us to a small pond. A few bright green ceramic frogs sat on its perimeter.
Unfortunately, the pond’s centrepiece which was a duck was broken and had its bill missing.
I spotted a green parrot high in one of the trees. A few seconds later some crows flew by cawing loudly and around a dozen startled green parrots flew out of the tree.
We walked past and admired the Mudejar Pavilion which now houses a museum.
The park is beautiful, an interesting and peaceful oasis in the middle of the city. While agreeing that we could spend much more time here, we have other things to see so we left the park
Close by we passed one of the buildings that make up Seville’s University, this stunning building was once a royal tobacco factory where many of Europe’s finest cigars were manufactured. The girls that worked at this royal factory were the inspiration for Bizet’s final opera ‘Carmen’ which was based on a novella written by Prosper Merimee.
A much needed stop for a coffee was next on our agenda; we spotted a Starbucks and headed inside. It wasn’t quite midday and according to our mobiles we had walked in excess of 13,000 steps.
While making our way back to the ‘Real Alcazar’, we saw some buskers performing flamenco. We stood and watched for a while.
Unfortunately, the queue was even longer than before to enter the Alcazar, perhaps we should have waited earlier… There wasn’t a queue for ticket holders but when any did arrive, they were obviously allowed immediate entry. However, it was just fifty minutes before we gained access. The fees were 11.50 for a general ticket and just 3 euro for seniors.
The place was huge and not at all overcrowded so we failed to understand the delay in allowing people in.
The Spanish Royals still have private apartments in the Real Alcazar where they reside when they are visiting the city.
There are numerous pretty gardens with tall palm trees and ponds amidst the amazing architecture.
There were many ‘wows’ and clicking of our cameras as we wandered around. We admired the Islamic and Mudejar architecture and decoration, the beautiful stone horseshoe arches and the spectacular carved wooden ceilings.
One could quite easily spend half a day or even a whole day in this beautiful place.
We absolutely loved it!
Looking for a quick lunch, we spotted a tapas bar and sat at the bar with the locals. We enjoyed watching the chef prepare the thinly sliced Iberico ham and other dishes.
A table outside became available and a couple of tourists rushed to grab it. The waiter asked if we would prefer a table outside too but we declined, we were more than happy sat at the bar with the Sevillians.
The cheerful waiter recommended a local sheep’s cheese that was recently voted the best in Spain. He also suggested a meat dish consisting of pork, beef and shredded black liver; sounds awful I know but when in Spain… Dave ordered smoked mackerel served on top of a bed of ratatouille on bread. We also ordered Iberico Ham. As usual, all were delicious.
Our next stop was Seville Cathedral which is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and also the largest cathedral in Europe.
A general ticket was priced at 9euro which I thought was a bit steep for entrance to a religious building. Senior tickets, however, are just 3 euro and entrance for Sevillians is free.
The chapels around the interior perimeter are all behind black wrought iron bars. The building is vast; it’s stonework impressive.
Areas of the cathedral are similar to a museum with notice boards offering information and precious artefacts protected behind glass.
The chancel is superb but again behind bronze grills, so much is hidden.
In the Mezquita, folk were sat gazing at the chancel, perhaps contemplating, here the pews are full but most have their heads in their guidebooks or are using their mobile phones. Many people are putting their mobiles through the grills in an attempt to capture a better photograph of the chancel.
The tomb of Christopher Columbus in the cathedral is a much visited sight.
Although there appears to be some controversy as to if it is his remains that are actually in the tomb.
Dave and I had wandered in different directions in the cathedral. After sometime he found me but said that he had been looking for my hat amongst the throngs of people. However, we had left both our hats hung up in the tapas bar!
After retrieving our hats from the bar we returned to our hotel. We have been enjoying some of the city’s wonderful sights for over seven hours and we have walked more than 21,000 steps.
A couple of hours later we set off to El Rinconcillo with the intention of having an array of tapas at the atmospheric bar for our evening meal.
Unfortunately within five minutes of leaving the hotel, the wind suddenly started to gust and large spots of rain started to fall. Due to the forecast stating an 80% chance of thunderstorms we were carrying our cagoules. However, we really didn’t fancy walking for another twenty minutes or so and arriving wet through. So, we made a quick decision and turned around and went in a tapas bar that we had just passed.
It was a large tapas place and self service. The seating area was large steep steps tiled with the traditional brightly coloured Andalusian tiles. A few people were sat on the steps with a drink and their tapas. On one or two steps there were tiny tables and we sat at one of them and perused the menu before Dave went to order. The bar quickly filled up with folk dodging the downpour.
I think the barman was impressed with Dave’s attempt at Spanish and he served him fairly quickly whenever he returned to the bar.
It was still pouring down with rain when we left to return to our hotel.
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