Skulls in the Stars

Part 7 of a photo travelogue of my (not quite so) recent trip to Spain with my wife and her family! (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6)

Our first full day in Seville was quite a busy one!  In the morning, we visited the Seville Cathedral (part 5), and around lunchtime we visited the Real Alcázar (part 6).  After that visit, we were quite exhausted, but there was at least one more “must see” location in Seville: the Plaza de España!  Madrid also has a Plaza de España*, but Seville’s is in a completely different league, as we will see.

The Plaza was a bit of a walk from the Cathedral and the Alcázar, and we were pretty exhausted, so we stopped along the way first to grab some lunch.  I didn’t get a photo of that day’s meal, but this is nevertheless a good place to share a photo of the previous evening’s dinner.

A tapas dinner in Seville.

The upper left corner is a plate of prawns (niece-in-law #2 was appalled by the huge eyes on them), and the other two plates are traditional Spanish tapas: croquetas on the top and a Spanish tortilla on the bottom.  I loved both of these plates and ate them almost every day, eventually burning out on them by the end of the trip!

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Part 6 of a photo travelogue of my recent trip to Spain with my wife and her family! (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)

On our first full day in Seville, we spent the morning visiting the Seville Cathedral, as described in the previous Spain post.  That was only the beginning of the day, however, as we went directly from the cathedral to the Alcázar, a beautiful royal palace with a long  and storied history.  It is still used by the Spanish Royal family as a residence when staying in Seville.

Entrance to the Real Alcázar of Seville, the Puerta del León.

This palace-fortress has such a long history, with such extensive renovations and changes, that even its date of origin is unclear!  It seems that many of the surviving structures date from the 14th century, though some remains could date back as early at the 10th century.

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Part 5 of a photo travelogue of my recent trip to Spain with my wife and her family! (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

Updated some descriptions thanks to commenter VA!

When we woke up on Monday morning, the massive crowds of Palm Sunday had to a large extent dispersed, though the city of Seville was still quite lively.  We had a lot to do, so we wasted little time in making our way to the Seville Cathedral to do some sightseeing.  There was already a lengthy queue waiting to tour the inside of the massive building.

Entrance to the Seville Cathedral.

It is hard to do justice to the size of the Seville Cathedral (Catedral de Santa María de la Sede).  It is the third-largest church in the world, with some 11,500 square feet of interior space, and the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.  Like much of the early architecture in southern Spain (Andalusia), its architectural style is a curious mix of Christian and Muslim tastes.

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