Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Amendment to the last post
In fact the number of members in the brotherhoods is closer to 1,000 than 200 and includes children in smaller versions of the outfits. And I was worried I´d miss the parades! We spent a lot of the next couple of days working out how to avoid them!
Spain trip - Day 4 Sevilla
We visited the Gothic Cathedral today. It´s supposed to be the biggest church in the world and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The Giralda Tower is attached the the Church and is one of the most important examples of Moorish architecture. The cathedral had everything you expect of a grand church. We are already starting to get church fatigue. Well, we have a couple more to see yet. One is the great Gaudi church in Barcelona and the other is the Sistine chapel in the Vatican City (we are visiting Rome at the end of April).
The great thing about the Cathedral and the Alcazar palace is that succeeding generations of the kings and heads of the church had enough foresight not to knock down the previous structures but to add to them instead. This leaves a mish mash of excellent examples of different styles of architecture that were around in each period.
The rest of the day was spent in the beautiful and peaceful Maria Luisa gardens and the Plaza de Espana, a grand but unused building on which work stopped after the Wall St crash. We also walked around the Jewish quarter which had a lot of character.
The temperature was a balmy 28 degrees.
Spain trip - Day 5 Sevilla
Did some shopping today.
Joseph likened the festivities of Santa Semana (Easter week) to the AMP fair back in NZ. Everyone from the region comes out in their Sunday best. We felt very under dressed. There are huge crowds. Cute little kids were dressed in smart outfits (boys in all in one braces and shorts suits and long socks with hair neatly combed, girls in pretty dresses with bows in their hair).
My lasting impressions are of the sound of Spanish trumpets, the coloured wax in the streets (from the brotherhood candles), the family feeling of the Santa Semana festival, the smell of orange blossoms, the beautiful gardens, the many shoe stores, the narrow streets, the view of the processions and floats progressing over the bridge with the hooded brotherhoods and throngs of people following. You don´t see that every day!
Our visit to Seville ended wonderfully with the sound of a classical Spanish guitar serenading us to sleep. I think there was a music school next to our hostel and someone was practicing. Divine!
Spain trip - Day 6 Travelling on the train and Barcelona
Another pleasant train trip. I managed to get tickets in the Tourist class for this trip. A 1/3 of the price of the 1st class tickets. It was still comfortable though.
We are now back in Barcelona and looking forward to checking out Senor Gaudi´s legacy.
In fact the number of members in the brotherhoods is closer to 1,000 than 200 and includes children in smaller versions of the outfits. And I was worried I´d miss the parades! We spent a lot of the next couple of days working out how to avoid them!
Spain trip - Day 4 Sevilla
We visited the Gothic Cathedral today. It´s supposed to be the biggest church in the world and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The Giralda Tower is attached the the Church and is one of the most important examples of Moorish architecture. The cathedral had everything you expect of a grand church. We are already starting to get church fatigue. Well, we have a couple more to see yet. One is the great Gaudi church in Barcelona and the other is the Sistine chapel in the Vatican City (we are visiting Rome at the end of April).
The great thing about the Cathedral and the Alcazar palace is that succeeding generations of the kings and heads of the church had enough foresight not to knock down the previous structures but to add to them instead. This leaves a mish mash of excellent examples of different styles of architecture that were around in each period.
The rest of the day was spent in the beautiful and peaceful Maria Luisa gardens and the Plaza de Espana, a grand but unused building on which work stopped after the Wall St crash. We also walked around the Jewish quarter which had a lot of character.
The temperature was a balmy 28 degrees.
Spain trip - Day 5 Sevilla
Did some shopping today.
Joseph likened the festivities of Santa Semana (Easter week) to the AMP fair back in NZ. Everyone from the region comes out in their Sunday best. We felt very under dressed. There are huge crowds. Cute little kids were dressed in smart outfits (boys in all in one braces and shorts suits and long socks with hair neatly combed, girls in pretty dresses with bows in their hair).
My lasting impressions are of the sound of Spanish trumpets, the coloured wax in the streets (from the brotherhood candles), the family feeling of the Santa Semana festival, the smell of orange blossoms, the beautiful gardens, the many shoe stores, the narrow streets, the view of the processions and floats progressing over the bridge with the hooded brotherhoods and throngs of people following. You don´t see that every day!
Our visit to Seville ended wonderfully with the sound of a classical Spanish guitar serenading us to sleep. I think there was a music school next to our hostel and someone was practicing. Divine!
Spain trip - Day 6 Travelling on the train and Barcelona
Another pleasant train trip. I managed to get tickets in the Tourist class for this trip. A 1/3 of the price of the 1st class tickets. It was still comfortable though.
We are now back in Barcelona and looking forward to checking out Senor Gaudi´s legacy.
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