Seville

Andalusia Vineyards

Yes, that is a vineyard.  Just one of the miles and miles of vineyards that we saw as we drove from Valencia to Seville.  Once the vineyards vanished, then the miles and miles of olive groves appeared.  I thought that Greece had more olive trees than I had ever seen.  I believe Spain now holds that place.  And, in between the vineyards and the olive groves were acres of grasses (oats and barley I think) so green it was surreal.  I kept trying to capture it all in photos, but alas I'm afraid I failed.  

Seville Apartment

Our VRBO has a distinctive Spanish flair to it.  Marble floors and stucco walls give way to high ceilings and wrought iron works. We are on the bottom floor of a 3 story building that encloses a courtyard.  There are some drawbacks, but the location overcomes any negatives.  We can walk to the most interesting and beautiful parts of the city.  A few steps from the apartment is the Seville Cathedral and the Alcazar.   

The Cathedral of St Mary of the See

The Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world.  The scale and volume of the space can take your breath.  Notice the size of people next to the columns.  They are completely dwarfed.  It has the longest nave of any cathedral in Spain.  The many chapels are so ornate that I found them almost vulgar.  But they are filled with Della Robin sculptures, Murillo paintings and undisturbed stained glass.  There is an orange garden adjacent to the Cathedral that was filled with the aroma of orange blossoms.  

Cathedral at Night

The bell tower or La Giralda has bats.  Bats in the belfry.  Our very funny waiter on our first evening confirmed that for us. And then he said, "they shit all over everything."  On our third evening we sat at an outdoor table beneath the tower, listening to flamenco music, drinking sangria and watching the bats fly.  

photos at Flickr

The Pig on YouTube

Cathedral on YouTube