Seville

Home to the largest gothic cathedral in the world! Home to the third largest cathedral in the world (after St. Peter's and St. Paul's). Hot diggity. I've seen the top three! It didn't seem as big as the Milan Cathedral, so I wonder if this designation is based on square feet and not height. Since it was built on an old mosque, it is much wider than your average cathedral. Attached to the cathedral is the iconic tower, La Giralda, originally started as a minaret for a mosque. Though we didn't get to see any big processions, all the cities were preparing for Corpus Christi, so they had their statues out and polished, ready to get on the golden float.
We had dinner out with the group one night and ate with these lovely new friends from Canada, Alex and Vanessa. The waiter had to give a speech about how Spaniards ate; that was the best part of the whole meal because he just read in English from a card. Precious! That meal was so-so but I still dream about the chocolate-stuffed figs!

We went to a flamenco dance one night. Ole! The Gipsy Kings got me primed for hearing this music, and I was itching to get up there and stomp around on stage with them.

Bek and I visited the Real Alcazar (sorry for omitting the accent marks—that makes a difference but I don't know how to make them on a Dell). This a Mudejar palace, but it was only built for a Christian king, Pedro I (the Terrible or Horrible—I can't remember which). He basically was envious of the Alhambra and wanted the same for his own, and who can blame him?

How did it escape me in studying for this trip that Columbus left to find the new world from this port? Well, he did. Along with many other explorers like Vespucci I think. So I looked at this river, the Guadalquivir, with new eyes. Bek and I ate along the river, looking at the Torre del Oro and La Giralda. I had Applebee's style paella. –Sigh– It's hard to find the non-touristy places when you're hungry and it's 8:30 p.m.!