Seville como yo lo veo!- Interesting sights! – (XVI)

3.p.m (Spain), December 2, 2012 , Seville

I wrote this sitting in the airport. Posting it today. This may be one of my last blogs on the trip!

As I was walking through the Seville Airport on my way back I saw a number of hoardings which read as follows:

If you have not seen the Opera in Seville you must come back!

If you haven’t seen the holy week in Seville you must come back!

If you haven’t seen the Christmas in Seville you must come back!

If you haven’t seen the April Fair you must come back!

If you loved the city you must come back!

More than one reason why I should come back!!!!

However for now, before the trip ends some more interesting sights in no specific order:

A. Alcazar:When one speaks of the Cathedral of Seville, the Spanish “Reales Alcázares de Sevilla” or “Royal Alcazars of Seville” must never be forgotten. It is a beautiful piece of architecture and the Alcazar along with the Cathedral create an atmosphere so royal that just walking through the alleys makes you feel like a princess.

Wikepedia tells me that: “The Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, originally a Moorish fort. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, and it was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies.”

I am not going to delve too much into the history behind it. However some of the frames that caught my attention as I walked through this castle:

Lamps:Most of the pictures of the lamps that I have uploaded in my earlier post is from the Acazar.However is so beautiful and royal that it deserves another look!

Lamp 1 The architecture: The intricate designs on the walls and the doors are hard to ignore.

Archi

The Baths of Dona Maria De Padilla: Legend holds that Maria De Padilla, Peter l’s Mistress asked the king to use it for her personal use. In the 16^th Century it used to be completely open to the sky and received a lot of sunlight . However the works carried out after the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 resulted in the present state. Not that it is any less beautiful!

I think the sheer vastness, eeriness of the bath and the fact that it was built for someone just for her personal use made it more intriguing for me.

Bath Gardens: The place has number of amazingly beautiful gardens which is very different from each other in the way it is maintained. Peaceful and serene –one can spend a whole day enjoying the beauty of the nature.

Garden

Painting: Every bit of this place has been done with so much of detailing that even the steps that you take are masterpieces in it self.

B. The Giralda: Though it forms a part of the Cathedral of Seville it needs a specific mention because of the view of the town that it gives. One of the most beautiful sights ever.

Giralda

C. Across the Sevilla riverfront on a Sunday evening: A very quiet part of the town, where you get to see elderly couple taking the evening walks, young couples out with their babies, people relaxing and reading after a hectic week.Was there for a bit and got some beautiful frames on the camera. Though the lamps still form a high light of the picture , I couldn’t help posting this for the sheer beauty of the sunset.

D. General : It did look interesting and pleasing to the eyes.

E. Road side shows: On weekends some very interesting and eye catching shows happen on the streets in and around the Cathedral of Seville. It is mainly intended to capture the attention of the children but from what I saw the people across all ages enjoyed the show!

I have seen similar ones in London on the banks of River Thames, but these seemed to be more fun and interactive!

F. Cinderella and her carriage – Prince Charming and the glass shoes are missing though ! : This is one of the most lovely sites in the city – just outside the Cathedral of Seville. I may not have been able to capture the beauty in all its splendour due to my not so great photographic skills.

A beautiful ancient church in the background, men in suits ready to take you on the horse driven carriage across the cobbled streets of Seville. Straight out of a fairy tale!

I also managed to get a glimpse of a wedding happening at the cathedral. The bride along with her bridesmaids walking down the aisle was indeed worth the watch. I was so dumbstruck by the beauty and the royal look that I missed out on clicking a picture!

Talking of wedding – the various wedding gowns that I saw in the city did catch my attention. An earlier post of mine captures a few of them.

The church, the palace, the horse driven carriages, the beautiful gowns – Cindrella and her story seems to be a realty !

Cind Cind 2 Cin

Torre Del Oro : Back to Wikipedia for a brief history of the monument. That as it may be the sheer size of the building and its location right beside the river front made it beautiful to look at. Wikepedia tells me that the Torre del Oro (English: “Gold Tower”) is a dodecagonal military watchtower in Seville, southern Spain, 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, the tower served as a prison during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the golden shine it projected on the river, due to its building materials (a mixture of mortar, lime and pressed hay).

H. Narrow Streets so Seville:The cobbled narrow streets of Seville had been built for the horse driven carriages. Maintaining it that way and not allowing any vehicles into that part of the town has helped to maintain the charm of the place. I got lost innumerable number of times in these streets. I blamed my lack of sense of direction until one of my colleagues who live in the said area told me that despite of living there for so many years she still gets lost!

Cobbled streets