The Cosmopolitan Blog

Well, vast improvement today, we aimed to leave the house at 9.30, and, in actual fact, by the time we were on the road it was 10.45am, given our record the previous days, this was progress. So, as planned, it’s off to Seville we went. Lots of happy chatting on the way, some sleeping and iPod listening.

Seville is easy to spot quite a while away, thanks to its impressive huge modern drawbridge, unfortunately, it was hard to get a clean shot due to speed and the trucks on the road. Seville purposely does not have a parking lot close to the old town, i think it’s to avoid pollution and encourage tourists to walk. Which we did, we parked on the south side of the river, and, finally making good use of my SLR, we crossed a gorgeous bridge taking pictures of the very picturesque banks and old towers. As we were deciding what to see first (this was going to be an express visit as we aimed to be back early evening), we quickly realized it was passed lunchtime and we were all hungry.

As we’re deciding we to go, I’m taking shots of this impressive Spanish style big building, and specifically, a very interesting, shiny sparkling bar entrance, when we spot that they have a set menu and decide to give it a shot. Turns out, as we walk in, that it’s a Cuban restaurant, although the entrance made me think of something straight out of New Orleans for a second, with the figuring of a Jazz player, and the write rod iron door and lamps. As we walk in, we realize this is something of a find, the interior is impeccably decorated in a Cajun / Cuban mix, with huge ceiling2floor black and white photos of Cuban street salsa dancers and Cuban apartment buildings. There’s a bar, with all the Caribbean liqueurs you can think of. The owner (and only staff member) comes and greets us, chats to us, and tells us about the set menu, dishes we had never heard of before, with ingredients that we couldn’t, for the life of us, imagine eating together. The starter was a cold soup, à la gazpacho, but with added cream, a slice of bell pepper, olive oil drizzled over, and finished with finely chopped pieces of hard boiled egg. It was so smooth and delicious, it took the gazpacho to a whole new level, i had never tasted anything like that before. The portions were huge, so i had to leave 1/2, otherwise i would have never been able to eat the main course. The main course was an equally new experience, it was a fish i had never tasted before, somehow similar in consistency to calamari, sliced in pieces in the shape of large french fries, served together with potatoes, the whole in a very exotic sauce made of Caribbean spices, onions, and a slight tomatoey tangey-ness… that’s the only way i can describe it, it was so unusual, but soooo tasty. The dish seemed small, at first, but we were all finding it impossible to finish, it was so filling. The desert, which only one of us had enough space left to try, was papaya confit, extremely sweet, served with cream cheese that we all mistook for ice cream at first. Again, such a strange combination, it takes your pallet the first bite to decide if you like it or not…

Well, after all that, it was time for a good walk, which we happily did. We took a pedestrian street (well, entirely pedestrian except for the tram), it was a rather long street that led to the cathedral, and each of us were stopping at every single building to take pictures. Each building had it’s own look, but in the general Spanish / Sevillian style, with the beautifully decorated walls, the impressive balconies… The fountain added to the grandeur, and the Spanish fortune teller who wanted to read my palm and told me (from what i understood) how much luck i was going to have in my life, made the experience all the more authentic.

The Cathedral
We finally reached the Cathedral, and just from the entrance, i could tell this was going to be impressive. We’ve all seen cathedral entrances before, but this one takes Cathedral entrances to a whole new level. Every inch of the stone was richly decorated with carvings and statues. As we entered and paid the fee to visit, we picked up a booklet that gave us the history. As is the story with many religious buildings in Spain, it started off as a Mosque, and then, when the Catholics invaded Spain in the 13th century, they built their churches over the mosques, sometimes leaving reminisces, ranging from a few bricks, to foundations, to entire walls. In this case, all that was left was the minaret and the courtyard.

But first, we entered the Cathedral. I have NEVER seen anything so impressive. For one, the sizes: 23,500 square meters, length: 126 meters, width: 83 meters and the maximum height: 56m! The minaret bell tower is 98m high. This is officially the world’s most extensive gothic cathedral, and truly, it’s awe-inspiring, your first steps into the cathedral left me breathless. But it’s not only the size, it’s the richness and taste. It’s soooo ornate, and yet, nothing is in bad taste (trust me, I’ve seen baroque cathedrals, the age were excess was in fashion), nothing is excessive.

The cathedral is structured similarly as all cathedrals with little (little, HA! little by Seville cathedral standards) chapels on each side, each decorated at different periods. The main part of the cathedral is composed of the huge (well, everything is huge, but this is just…) choir and organ that reaches all the way to the trop. The area were the choir stands is so ornate with gold and wood carvings. Opposite the choir is High Altar, which is basically a 37 meter high 20 meter wide solid block of gold carved with statues of saints and religious scenes. the statues at the bottom are about 8cm high while the ones at the very top are about 2 meters high, thus giving the effect to the bystander that the statues at the top (since they are so far up) are the same size as the ones at the bottom, and therefore can all easily be seen.

I took so many photos in that cathedral, i couldn’t stop Thank goodness for my SLR (again, i realize, i am repeating myself), but seeing you can’t use flash and you’re in a cathedral, the SLR did real good. I became an expert at finding places to lean against so that i could take shots at 2-4 second shutter speeds (very slow shutter speed, you can’t afford to move even slightly or the picture will be blurred).

Finally, we walked around the other rooms located on the side sections, such as the Main Sacristy and the oval Chapter House. Both had impressive stone ceilings, with every inch carved so delicately.

Well, i left my personal favorite part of the cathedral for the end. The cathedral contains the tomb of Christopher Columbus. And it’s an impressive one. Over his tomb stand four beautiful statues carrying a coffin, the statues are probably 3-4 meters high and sculptured in the finest detail.

Finally, one of us decided to climb the minaret tower, which took him about 15 minutes to climb (about 40 “ramps”/circles up). Meanwhile, the rest of us visited the Mosque courtyard, entirely built in bricks of the time. It was still intact and is now filled with Orange trees. The doors and small carvings on the wall show us the somber style of Islamic decor, which contrasts so intensely with the heavy ornate Gothic style. One shot I’m especially proud of is one of the Catholic cathedral door and top on one side and the Islamic Minaret on the other, standing side by side in stark contrast. I realize an image is worth a 1000 words, so i really hope to post my shots here soon, probably when the Internet connection is faster.

Honestly, I’ve never been so reluctant to leave a cathedral in my life, maybe it’s with age that I’m appreciating culture, and that, coupled with wanting to take amazing pictures with my camera, made me so exhilarated, but this will definitely be something i remember for a long, long time.