Cadiz, Spain
17 November 2007- Saturday
Dock in Cadiz
Tour of the Capital of Andalusia- Seville
The toen was built an the soutern most portion of the iberian peninsula- the site where Hercules had separated the continents of Europe and Africa to form the straits of Gibraltarand is hterefore washed by the waters of both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians built the sity in 1100 BC which makes it the oldest city in the western world. Dock in Cadiz early enough for me to get good sunrise pictures- they've actually been nicer than the sunsets. I'm ecoming addicted to the 2 eggs over easy with bacon and toast on the fantail of the boat. Our tour is the first one called by Tamara (more about her later) and we wind up with another good English speaking guide. Drive through Cadiz which also has a long history but became especially prominent when the Guadajiver River silted up the port of Seville and Cadiz became the preemminent town to unload all the treasure coming from the new world.
We follow the road north along the Guadajiver River with a lot of open land and arrive in Seville with a lot of new housing available on the west bank which makes me wonder where they hold Feria (the horse market that became a week long festival after Eater week) now as hey used to set up their casatas (wooden tents) on that bank. We make a stop at he Maria Luisa park to see some buildings put up for the 1929 Pan American exhibition which was Spain and its former colonies in South America and conclude this part with a visit to the Plaza Espania a stately semicircular building to which each province contributed a mosaic about thei most important contribution to medieval times (e.g. Heulva as the site of embarkation of Columbus) an impressive edifice. Then on to the center of the old city with a visit to the Cathedral- built in 1248. The. 3rd largest in Christendom built on the site of a mosque but much embellished with the riches of the new world- it is also the place of Columbus' tomb. It is a Gothic construction with the choir for the nobles in the middle of the church in front of the main altar. The main altar is completely covered in gold leaf and it's hundreds of figures tell the story of the life of Christ.The Ghiralda is the bell tower next to it and is moorish architecture. From there we visit the King's palace which is more moorish architectue with tiles and inlaid woods and then a walk through the narrow streets of the Jewish quarter. The houses are all whitewashed , iron grilled windows and have flowering plants all over the place. All in all a very nice tour followed by a lunch at the Hotel Macarena. In Seville, the Macarena is a statue of the BVM with a glass bead tear on her cheek which is caried cross town to the Cathedral by a procession of penitents during holy week before Easter. The lunch is a full 3 courses and we finish at 4pm and are back at the ship by 530pm but there is no way I can eat another meal at 6pm. Skip dinner, but make the Marco polo showtime for a program entitled "music makes the world go round" with some enthusiastic young people who do a good job- and it is another erly bedtime since they have advanced the time of tomorrow's tour to 715am departure. The only saving grace is that we have crossed another time zone and turn back the clocks tonight.
Dock in Cadiz
Tour of the Capital of Andalusia- Seville
The toen was built an the soutern most portion of the iberian peninsula- the site where Hercules had separated the continents of Europe and Africa to form the straits of Gibraltarand is hterefore washed by the waters of both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians built the sity in 1100 BC which makes it the oldest city in the western world. Dock in Cadiz early enough for me to get good sunrise pictures- they've actually been nicer than the sunsets. I'm ecoming addicted to the 2 eggs over easy with bacon and toast on the fantail of the boat. Our tour is the first one called by Tamara (more about her later) and we wind up with another good English speaking guide. Drive through Cadiz which also has a long history but became especially prominent when the Guadajiver River silted up the port of Seville and Cadiz became the preemminent town to unload all the treasure coming from the new world.
We follow the road north along the Guadajiver River with a lot of open land and arrive in Seville with a lot of new housing available on the west bank which makes me wonder where they hold Feria (the horse market that became a week long festival after Eater week) now as hey used to set up their casatas (wooden tents) on that bank. We make a stop at he Maria Luisa park to see some buildings put up for the 1929 Pan American exhibition which was Spain and its former colonies in South America and conclude this part with a visit to the Plaza Espania a stately semicircular building to which each province contributed a mosaic about thei most important contribution to medieval times (e.g. Heulva as the site of embarkation of Columbus) an impressive edifice. Then on to the center of the old city with a visit to the Cathedral- built in 1248. The. 3rd largest in Christendom built on the site of a mosque but much embellished with the riches of the new world- it is also the place of Columbus' tomb. It is a Gothic construction with the choir for the nobles in the middle of the church in front of the main altar. The main altar is completely covered in gold leaf and it's hundreds of figures tell the story of the life of Christ.The Ghiralda is the bell tower next to it and is moorish architecture. From there we visit the King's palace which is more moorish architectue with tiles and inlaid woods and then a walk through the narrow streets of the Jewish quarter. The houses are all whitewashed , iron grilled windows and have flowering plants all over the place. All in all a very nice tour followed by a lunch at the Hotel Macarena. In Seville, the Macarena is a statue of the BVM with a glass bead tear on her cheek which is caried cross town to the Cathedral by a procession of penitents during holy week before Easter. The lunch is a full 3 courses and we finish at 4pm and are back at the ship by 530pm but there is no way I can eat another meal at 6pm. Skip dinner, but make the Marco polo showtime for a program entitled "music makes the world go round" with some enthusiastic young people who do a good job- and it is another erly bedtime since they have advanced the time of tomorrow's tour to 715am departure. The only saving grace is that we have crossed another time zone and turn back the clocks tonight.
Labels: Barcelona to Rio
posted by DT at 7:28 AM
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