Day 14: Seville

/ alliwanders

I ended up on the 8am train to Seville, a journey of 20 minutes that would have taken me literally all day to walk. And as it rained on & off all day I’m sure glad I wasn’t walking!

A restorative coffee in a peaceful park after the scrum of the commuter train at rush hour
I wandered the Alcazar district first; narrow passageways reminded me of Venice
But the jamón is pure Spain
Then I took in the 1000 year old Alcazar palace, home of royalty from before the Conquest
Moorish design, later rulers kept/changed/added as centuries went on. A pure labyrinth, impossible to follow a map, just wandered at will
Intricate fretwork
A minor, unmarked side stairway led to a royal hall magnificent tapestry wall, and the gardens

Exhausted from my exploration I returned to my hotel to finally check in and have some lunch. Then I was back out again, in the rain, to see the Seville Cathedral, the 3rd largest Christian church in the world. It’s hard to fathom this as there’s no central nave but a series of aisles accessing all the chapels around the perimeter, with the high altar and choir in the center, so there’s no great sense of scale except for the soaring ceiling. I did have an audio guide but to be honest I’m not up on my saints nor Spanish artists….

Largest altarpiece in the world, took 80 years to built, starting in 1481
Mausoleum entombing Christopher Columbus’s remains, returned to Spain after they bounced around the Caribbean a bit
Choir
One of 5 aisles

That was my touristing for the day, back to the practicalities of taking care of laundry and arranging new transport to Malaga for the morning. I still managed to walk 17.8 km today!