Splendid Spain!

We are falling behind a bit in our blogging as we are doing so much each day, by the time we get back to the hotel room we fall into bed and sleep and get up and do it all again. Although we have been able to Skype the kids (and Bella) periodically which is great! The most exciting news that we have received from home, is that Iain has finally moved out of home into a house in Vermont…great news (and we have rented out his room so he can’t move back in!)

Salamanca main square. Setting for the film
Vantage Point. Gorgeous spot!

Anyway back to business…we popped into the beautiful Spanish towns of Avila and Salamanca before we arrived in Portugal, then we visited Seville (pronounced Sev – ja, the “ll” is a y sound, so pae”ll”a is troublesome!!) after Portugal (which I will blog separately about!)

Avila and Salamanca were both fleeting visits and  were much like Toledo - medieval cities with magnificent old buildings especially the churches. In Salamanca we dropped into the city square which is stunning, and we found out it was the setting for the movie “Vantage Point”, which I have seen (and recommend anyone the watch it) and enjoyed very much.

The big challenge in Salamanca is to go to the façade of the university and find the FROG in the carvings. Easier said than done, of course or else there would no challenge. Fortunately we were given some clues or else we would have been there all day as the façade is huge and the frog is small. We were all scanning the intricate carvings looking for “skulls” which was the clue given…hmmm…shouldn’t be too hard to find skulls…hmmm…another clue?...yes please…right hand column…gracias…okay, right hand column skulls…scanning slowly from the bottom…do you know how big this facade is?...keep on scanning…serious neck cramp from looking

See the frog???

 up…any sign of skulls…nup…scanning…get to the top of right hand column…have to start again…blow that for a joke…anybody else see the skulls?…yes, good I give up…where are they?...right hand column one third of the way up…where?...there...where?...there... oh, there…okay, got the skulls, where’s the frog?...there…where?...there…oh, that little lump on the top of the skull…are you kidding me?...looks like a lump on the top of the skull…well that’s it…okay, I guess if you say so…there’s the frog, I told the lady next to me…where?...there!

We both loved these little towns and vowed to come back and spend time in these beautiful places.

As for Seville, what a magnificent place…so old and touched by the Moorish people and their stunning architecture. We arrived in the afternoon just enough time to change and go out for our Flamenco show and dinner. We had dinner and all the alcohol we desired…so we drank with gay abandon. Just on the wine in Spain…we are enjoying the wine here very much, although the reds are not as big as our Australian reds they are very drinkable and when it’s on the house…they taste even better!

Then came the show. Out came a troupe of four dancers (brilliant) and off the show went for about 1 and half hours of Flamenco. It was fantastic and when plied with lots of alcohol, everyone becomes very loud and happy. We were whisked away into a world of colour and beauty, with the skill of the dancers sublime. Men and women performed their traditional dances and we lapped it up! We were

Passionate Flamenco performer!

 treated at the end to a segment of the Carmen, with the well known music (this reminds me of my mum who has been known to put some fruit on her head and tap dance around the house, Carmen style). Flamenco is a very passionate dance, and the performers were almost in pain bringing aross the story to the audience. We loved it, loved it, loved it!

On the bus back to the hotel we all sang along with our tour guide (who has a very good voice) some of the old favs...and we all sang along...free alcohol helps!!! Best night out all round!!!!

The next day we had a sleep in and nearly missed breakfast. Um-ahh! But we finally got moving and wandered into the old part of the town to find the cathedral. The Giralda (Cathedral of St Mary cathedral) is the third largest cathedral in the world (St Peter's Rome and St Paul's London are 1st and 2nd - not sure which is which though!) The following is a bit of history about the cathedral.

The Giralda (named for the giraldillo or weather vane on its summit) was the minaret of the mosque that was replaced by Seville Cathedral. Built in 1184-96, the tower was the culmination of Almohad architecture. It is considered the finest of the three great Almohad minarets: the other two are in the Moroccan cities of Rabat and Marrakesh. Topped with four copper spheres that could be seen for miles around, the Moorish tower was used both to call the faithful to prayer and as an observatory over the city.

Try and "feel" the size of this cathedral!

La Giralda was so venerated by the Moors that they wanted to destroy it before the Christian conquest of the city in 1248. This was prevented by King Alfonso X, who declared that "if they removed a single stone, they would all be put to the sword." The Giralda thus preserved, it became the bell tower of the Christian cathedral (begun 1402). Several additions were made to the Giralda in the Renaissance era, after an earthquake (1356) destroyed the original copper spheres that topped the tower. Four more levels were added at the top for the belfry (1560-68).

I don't think I can impart to you the size of this cathedral...it is enormous, and Christopher Columbus is buried here...how about that for some history!

Chris Columbus' tomb. Pretty impressive!

As part of the entrance fee you could wander up to the top of the tower which is 37 levels up. It was a surprisingly easy walk up as it was ramps not stairs (I could not do that many stairs - even with training from Hotel Marignan) so we got to the top to some stunning views of Seville. What a delight! And then the bells started to ring in the belfry where we were. It was delightful.

View from the top of the belfry of the tower!

We love Seville and yes...we declared that we will return one day!