I ended up arriving after dark and I’m not a fan of walking around after dark by myself. Plus the direction to the hostel were a little confusing. I had to take a bus from the airport to Plaza de España then cross a few streets take a few turns to catch the tram to the Cathedral and from there find my hostel. I did find it and it would have been a hell of a lot easier to just walk from Plaza de España but I made it there and that’s all that counts.
And I had really shitty dorm mates. It was a group of 6 American guys. The room smelled nasty and they were the typical American guys loud annoy and drunk. I swear that’s all they did was drink. I was glad I had caught up on sleep while in Santiago because I was most certainly loosing it here.
I got up early the next day and I’m glad I have my Blackberry cause it changes time automatically because the time changed on the 30th and my alarm still went off on time and I got up and ate a yummy breakfast of toast and jam. A lot of toast mind you. Then I was off to the lobby to catch the free walking tour.
I was there early and so were two German girls. We got chatting and ended up forming our own little group on the tour (we picked up a German dude and a Canadian dude). The tour was great craic our guide was from Holland and he was really tall so you couldn’t loose him and it was super cool to see all the sights and get history too.
Fun facts along with pictures. Again in list form. I feel bullet points are the easiest way to read things… I hope I haven’t bored you so far with my love of bullet points.
Cathedral
-Official name: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede
-it’s the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world
-Construction began in 1402; it continued until 1506
-Five years after construction ended, in 1511, the dome collapsed and work on the cathedral re-commenced
-The dome again collapsed in 1888, and work was still being performed on the dome until at least 1903
-The builders used some columns and elements from the mosque, and most famously the Giralda, a minaret converted into a bell tower
The Giralda
- a minaret is a feature of an Islamic Mosque
-is 104.5 m (343 ft) in height
-was begun under the architect Ahmad Ben Baso in 1184
-the upper third is Spanish Renaissance architecture
-inside there are no stairs. Instead, there is a series of 35 gently inclined ramps that are wide enough to allow two guards on horseback to pass
- Giraldillo is the popular name that receives the sculpture that crowns the Giralda whose real name is Triumph (or Colossus) of the Victorious Faith
- Cast in copper between 1566 and 1568
-over 3, 5 meters high, weighs 128 kilos
-the copy that is in the court yard was on top of the tower while the original was restored for € 600,000
-now a museum of shipping records
-while Seville held the trade monopoly all goods from the new world had to be logged here
-this was where the royal ships were made
-Spanish name Torre del Oro
-a watch tower built by the Almohad dynasty in order to control access to Seville via the Guadalquivir river
-Constructed in the first third of the 13th century
-served as a prison during the Middle Ages
-It is one of two anchor points for a large chain that would have been able to block the river
-The chain was used in the city's defense against the Castilian fleet under Ramón de Bonifaz in 1248 Reconquista
-It was used as a toll point during Seville’s trade monopoly
-this used to be where sailors went to learn to sail
-then they lost money and opened it as an orphanage for the kids who’s parents were sailors and died at sea
-there were houses/ exhibits built for each colony during the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929
-every exhibit used to house the embassy
-the Peru building is the only one with the embassy still in it
-built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929
-there are alcoves for each Providence
-These alcoves were used to educate people on the places in Spaion
-a mix of 1920s Art Deco and 'mock Mudejar', and Neo-Mudéjar styles
-today it houses government buildings like Town Hall
-it has a mote
We didn’t so much get history of this monument as story. You see Sevilleians have their own tale on why Columbus was granted ships and what not. You want to hear it?
So the people of Seville believe that Columbus was granted ships because when Ferdinand came back from fighting on the front lines he found a certain sailor in bed with his queen. Doing his research Ferdinand found out that Columbus wanted to sail in search for a new route to the Indies. Seeing this as a good opportunity to get Columbus out of his wife’s bed Ferdinand grants Columbus ships. One a very old rickety ship and the others? A ship building family owed the crown money and Ferdinand eliminated that debt in exchange for a few sort of good ships. And these ships were crewed with criminals, and easy way to clear out the jails. And Ferdinand sent Columbus off hoping he’d sail right off the flat earth. Sadly Columbus found the Americas and Ferdinand had to deal with Columbus when he came back.
That’s where the tour ended. I went out with my little group to have lunch. And it was an epic lunch of tapas. We all talked for a long time and it turns out the Canadian guy owned and managed the family hotel but he just sold it and decided to tour Europe for a bit. And I was the youngest out of the group… it’s always odd because when I meet people travailing I don’t know why but I automatically think they’re my age. Any how after lunch we parted ways with plans to meet up for sangria and Halloween fun.
Before going to meet up with the others at their hostel I went out early to take pictures of the Cathedral at night since my hostel was so close. And it was so pretty but it was hard to get a good picture since the street lights made the pictures bluryish.
Before hiking to the bus station I made a stop at the Real Alcazar aka the Muslim royal palace. It was so pretty.
Cheers,
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