Seville's Alcazar

The Alcazar in Seville is a royal palace, first built by the Moors in 10th-12th centuries, then updated when the Christians moved in. The Christians left much of it intact, happily, and it is a visual feast, only a few morsels of which can be conveyed in photography.

Tile ceiling dome in one of the rooms

Columns, arch, tiles...

Courtyard and water feature

St. Mary of the Benevolent Winds; in the

Admiralty Rooms, from which the Spanish

planned to rule the New World; St. Mary's

cloak protects all, you see; Rickie Stevie

says it's called St. Mary of the Good Farts

The painting is significant in that it contains

the oldest representation of Columbus, 1535,

just 30 years after his death, and thus is

thought be at least possibly accurate...yes,

he was said to be a blond, at least in his earlier

(fun) years

Gardens

Another water feature, this one the baths of the female royalty 

(and friends)

Seville Cathedral, 2010

Seville's cathedral is 14th-15th century built over the mosque, which was built over the Visigothic church, which was probably built over a Roman temple, which was probably built over a Celtic temple, etc.  Recycling is not such a new idea. Anyhow, the cathedral is said to be the 3rd largest religious building in Christendom, after St. Peter's and St. Paul's. (Check this out in the Guinness Book). It did not strike us as so large...neither particularly high nor long. I don't know how they calculate these things...maybe it's all the side chapels and other buildings that add up. (Are they really integral, structurally, to the main building? my inner architect asks...). There was plenty of other stuff of interest, however.

Seville Cathedral

Ceiling at the crossing

Largest altar in Christendom; I wonder if the

people of Peru or Mexico would like to have

some of their gold back

Silver (spare) altar piece; 3,500 lbs.

Moorish depiction of the Giralda, as it was

before the reconquista

The huge choir blocks any possible view

from one end to the other; can't let the

common people see what's going on on the

other side....

The poorly-lit Big Attraction...the tomb of Cristobal Colon,

who sailed the ocean blue, in 1492; now what do you think

of that?

Ceiling of one of the side chapels

Column in side chapel depicting agonies of hell...

something we always look for

The cloisters, now sort of an orangerie, but was originally

the ablution court for the mosque; Moorish irrigation bricks

still in place

Seville

On the Avenue El Cid; sure enough, looks just like Charleton Heston

On the Avenue Constitucion (or close) is a humongous,

stately building that used to be a cigar factory, employing

some 10,000 persons...where Carmen worked...

(Nietzsche's favorite opera)

The convent bakery outlet, where we purchased some fine

muffins

The Barrio Santa Cruz features very narrow

alleys, called "kissing lanes"--I stretched

out my arms and could easily touch both

sides; anyhow, they contribute to keeping

the neighborhood cool during the hot season,

as much as 3 degrees cooler; anyhow, further,

this one leads to the square with the statue

of Seville's other most famous character...

Don Juan; interesting that the city's two

most famous personages are fictional...and

the subjects of opera...

The old town is a city of plazas and patios,

this one beautiful and relatively typical

Where Murillo lived

The Bodega de San Something or Otre; very popular 

despite smallish drinks

The bar where, for 2 euros, I had a beer and

a plate of very decent paella marisco; the

bartender was a big Obama fan (as are nearly

all foreigners)

The main landmark, the Giralda, the now

Christianized Moorish minaret, outside the

cathedral

River front

In 1929, Seville hosted a world fair; many of the national

pavillions remain, now restaurants, museums, galleries;

this one Peru

Of course, once you get out of the old city, it's apartment-

world, and supporting infrastructure, mile after mile, sort of

a mini-China

We spent a beautiful long day in Seville, seeing mostly the cathedral, the Alacazar, and the Barrio Santa Cruz. Above are some shots along the way. Someone once wrote that other cities have ambience, but Seville is ambiance. On a Saturday afternoon, you could sense the ease, the ambience, the grace, all around. But then you can sense it all over Spain.

Did I mention the oranges? There will be pix, I am sure, but we are here in high ripe orange season. Imagine a fairly green city, the old town, where every tree--thousands of them, in squares, tree-lined avenues, boulevards--is an orange tree and every one of them is straining to hold on to hundreds of plump ripe oranges. It is an incredible sight. Alas, the oranges are not for eating...very bitter, used mostly for vitamins and perfumes. But it is something to behold. Our campsite, out in the burb of Dos Hermanos, is in what was an orange grove.

Obrigado, Portugal

We left Portugal finally on Friday the 15th, driving from Lagos on to Spain and Seville, stopping for lunch in Amarcao de Pera, on Portugal's south coast. Our stay in Portugal was most pleasant, and we enjoyed its history, culture, food and drink, scenery, and all, very much. The camprounds and tourism offices are superb, most everything is in (enough) English, and the Portugese themselves are very welcoming.

In every country we visit, we try to learn a few basic expressions--hello, thank you, please, no, pardon, good-bye--but in Portugal we never got much further than obrigado/obrigada, the masculine/feminine forms of "I thank you."  We settled for the neutral obriga-duh, which seemed to work well enough. The Portugese are very forgiving, too.

The coast at Amarcao de Pera

The land forms here are sandstone, with 
golden sandy beaches, much gentler surf 
than the west coast we saw

But then, behind the beaches and the RV encampments, 
you have the condos; mile after mile of condos

And condo construction

Some of the architecture is, um, interesting

But, then, some of the RVs are, um, interesting, too

Back On The Move, Heading East

Our pitch at TurisCampo in Lagos; we have found Portguese

campgrounds, whether private or municipal, to be excellent

in every way

Plus the tile work everywhere is attractive

After a few days at Lagos, we moved back to Sagres, first atop

the windy Capo Sagres and the Promontorium Sacrum

And revisited Sagres harbor, where a well-fed kitty surveys her

domain

Well-fed seagulls guard the Doca Pesca

And the business of the harbor carries on

And then we moved back to the aire overlooking the cove and

stayed three nights at Surf City, the lower (paved) tier where

the surfers hang out

When not surfing

Our restful days at Lagos and Sagres are over, and we are back on the road, heading east along the southern coast of Portugal, a beautiful place. As intended, I can't claim we did more at Lagos and Sagres than a lot of reading, some internet, and some intensive movie-watching. (Vicki brought a couple hundred of our favorite DVDs on the trip). Well, a few minor repairs, some airing out as the weather dried, some explorations on foot, and some sampling of port, a fortified red wine/liquid candy I have come to like very much.

A Few Days Off

So we are taking a few days off our hectic touring schedule now, enjoying some improved weather, first at the TurisCampo campground near Lagos (http://www.turiscampo.com/ing/turiscampo_uk.htm), which is being inundated presently with snowbird Brits (the Camping and Caravaning Club is holding a rally here), and then back to the quiet aire on the bluff in Sagres.

Sagres Beaches

We visited a couple of beaches north of Sagres, wild, windy, but

beautiful places, cliffs, breakers, broad beaches...

At one of the beaches, this interesting vehicle turned in, then

headed back up the hill; looks like the ultimate land cruiser...

I want one for our African/South American travels!

Incredible coastal scenery

Really wild surf

Fishing the big waters

Of course, one of the things they do have in Portugal is Portugese-

Man-O-War...it's so impressive that they can swim all the way to

Miami Beach!

Prince Henry's School of Navigation

Not much of it remains anymore...a much newer castle, chapels, battlements, but it is still an interesting place to visit.

Driving up to the fortress/visitor center

Cape San Vicente (Promontorium Sacrum, the Romans called it)

in the distance...even wilder wind and wave

I don't think they bought this one at Pier 1

This item does remain from the school, although no one knows

what it was for: wind compass? sun dial?

An interesting and apparently aged device up on the battlements