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Cuba - More than old cars
Weather: 37º C and just HOT
The plan today was to go to the Tourist Information Office on the way to the cathedral. With some help we did find the TI Office but it was closed and it wasn’t just closed for lunch or something. Oh well there is another one that we will go to after visiting the Cathedral.
Why are we visiting yet another cathedral I hear you asking. Well we know at least one of you is asking. Although we are trying to avoid giving history lessons in the blog there are some things that you might be interested in about this cathedral as follows:
1. It is largest Gothic building in the world;
2. It is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world after St. Peter (in the Vatican) and St. Paul (London);
3. It is the highest cathedral in Spain. Of course this may change when the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is finally completed;
4. It has the 3rd most valuable art collection in Spain and it has the Tomb of Christopher Columbus containing a portion of his remains;
5. The Christians kept the minaret and the outer courtyard of the mosque when they built this cathedral. They added a lantern, a belfry and 24 bells to the tower.
As we entered the Cathedral there was a family with a young boy following us. You could sum up the Cathedral size by the boys gasp of amazement when he entered and his words – WOW! It was not ornate but it was large.
It also has an amazing museum and the wealth of gold and silver would put the crown jewels to shame. This is one of the things that annoys Bruce about the church – its wealth while half its congregations suffers. Much of the gold and silver gifts are from the wealthy who were trying to buying their way into the favours of the church but when you see an item that has been gifted by a Cardinal, well whose money provided that?
He has had his rant – must have been the heat, although the cathedral was cool. We walked up the tower and that was unusual. The walk was not on steps but rather on 35 ramps. Perhaps this is what is in minarets – we don’t know having never been up one. The view up there was ok but one thing missing in Seville is lots of church spires, which we have seen in other cities in Spain when we have gone up their towers.
When we came out of the cathedral it was like stepping into an oven. Off to lunch and more importantly something cold to drink. You’ll never guess what we had. Anyway lunch was just tapas as we had booked to go out tonight to a dinner and flamenco show.
Now off in search of the main Tourist Information Centre. Long story short – couldn’t find it, even with help from a local. Headed back to the hotel as it was now about 5pm and we needed to get ready to go out tonight as well as work out how to get there without the help of the Tourist Information Centre. Managed an ice cream on the way back but had to eat it quickly due to the heat.
Now on our way to the flamenco dancing at Tablao El Arenal. This was not too far from our hotel, just on the other side of the bull fighting stadium. We actually lucked on some signs to the place which was helpful. We had booked dinner with the dancing however Bruce’s selection for dinner could have been better. The dancing however was to die for – it was the opera of dancing. There were 2 guitar players, 3 singers (2 men and a woman) and 5 dancers (3 women and 2 men). They were passionate and excellent. Never realised the influence the moors had on the music, singing and dancing of Spain. Great evening and 10 degrees cooler when we came out. Walked back to the hotel along the river.
Temperature tomorrow is supposed to be higher – sigh.
The plan today was to go to the Tourist Information Office on the way to the cathedral. With some help we did find the TI Office but it was closed and it wasn’t just closed for lunch or something. Oh well there is another one that we will go to after visiting the Cathedral.
Why are we visiting yet another cathedral I hear you asking. Well we know at least one of you is asking. Although we are trying to avoid giving history lessons in the blog there are some things that you might be interested in about this cathedral as follows:
1. It is largest Gothic building in the world;
2. It is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world after St. Peter (in the Vatican) and St. Paul (London);
3. It is the highest cathedral in Spain. Of course this may change when the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is finally completed;
4. It has the 3rd most valuable art collection in Spain and it has the Tomb of Christopher Columbus containing a portion of his remains;
5. The Christians kept the minaret and the outer courtyard of the mosque when they built this cathedral. They added a lantern, a belfry and 24 bells to the tower.
As we entered the Cathedral there was a family with a young boy following us. You could sum up the Cathedral size by the boys gasp of amazement when he entered and his words – WOW! It was not ornate but it was large.
It also has an amazing museum and the wealth of gold and silver would put the crown jewels to shame. This is one of the things that annoys Bruce about the church – its wealth while half its congregations suffers. Much of the gold and silver gifts are from the wealthy who were trying to buying their way into the favours of the church but when you see an item that has been gifted by a Cardinal, well whose money provided that?
He has had his rant – must have been the heat, although the cathedral was cool. We walked up the tower and that was unusual. The walk was not on steps but rather on 35 ramps. Perhaps this is what is in minarets – we don’t know having never been up one. The view up there was ok but one thing missing in Seville is lots of church spires, which we have seen in other cities in Spain when we have gone up their towers.
When we came out of the cathedral it was like stepping into an oven. Off to lunch and more importantly something cold to drink. You’ll never guess what we had. Anyway lunch was just tapas as we had booked to go out tonight to a dinner and flamenco show.
Now off in search of the main Tourist Information Centre. Long story short – couldn’t find it, even with help from a local. Headed back to the hotel as it was now about 5pm and we needed to get ready to go out tonight as well as work out how to get there without the help of the Tourist Information Centre. Managed an ice cream on the way back but had to eat it quickly due to the heat.
Now on our way to the flamenco dancing at Tablao El Arenal. This was not too far from our hotel, just on the other side of the bull fighting stadium. We actually lucked on some signs to the place which was helpful. We had booked dinner with the dancing however Bruce’s selection for dinner could have been better. The dancing however was to die for – it was the opera of dancing. There were 2 guitar players, 3 singers (2 men and a woman) and 5 dancers (3 women and 2 men). They were passionate and excellent. Never realised the influence the moors had on the music, singing and dancing of Spain. Great evening and 10 degrees cooler when we came out. Walked back to the hotel along the river.
Temperature tomorrow is supposed to be higher – sigh.
- comments
Gael Wow - my arm hairs are standing up just thinking about standing next to Christopher Columbus's tomb!
Gael This is torture seeing this picture; I'm fasting today - it's just plain cruel!
Gael It's sheer torture seeing this picture; I'm fasting today - it's just cruel! Boo hoo!
Gael Sorry, it appeared the first comment didn't come up so I repeated it - nothing like rubbing it in though! Ha ha.
Gael Sounds like you had the most brilliant day - so much culture, history and entertainment. The dancing sounds extraordinary and I can just about hear the music now and feel the passion. Green with envy! Take care.