EL CAMINO

It was time for us to 'salir a la carretera Juan' over the holidays and so we packed up Rocinante and headed down the A5 bound for Andalusia, the south of Spain. It's about a 5-6 hour drive though rolling plains  - and rain believe it or not - with a couple of refreshment stops along the way to check out the coffee (bad move!). The good news is that Santa had come up with the goods and los ninos were engrossed in their new devices the whole time (the occasional skirmish over the charger notwithstanding) and it was a pleasant day's driving to the stunning city of Sevilla, Spain's 4th largest with more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than you can poke a stick at.

A pit stop in bullfighting country

 Our hotel was only a 10 minute drive from the city but we chose to eat locally after a long day, made longer by having to wait until after 8:00pm for anything to open. It was worth it though as we found a little bistro called Al Gusto that served up some of the simplest but best tapas we've had.

Al Gusto calamari - scrumptious

Buzzy gets into the quail eggs

We hit the old city running only to be stopped in our tracks by a café that didn't want our business (the only conclusion one can draw after the waiter didn't want to serve us) and the subsequent eatery handed out the worst breakfast I've ever had - a shame because we were sitting right across from the cathedral with a superb brass quintet serenading us. (Travel Warning: The variable level of service and food quality followed us everywhere we went, but I guess not everyone wants a Michelin star). Let's get to the good, indeed GREAT, stuff.....

Do not go here - worst breakfast in Spain

Fab brass quintet - check out the dacks. Reckon he's a tourist?

Seville Cathedral is simply awesome and will, quite literally, take your breath away. It is the largest gothic cathedral and 3rd largest of any kind in the world, and also the largest in terms of 'volume'. It dates back to 1184 when it was built firstly as a mosque before the gothic cathedral was ADDED onto it from 1434.  Nothing prepares you for the experience of walking inside it, you literally suck in air at the sheer size of the expanse (23,500 square metres to be precise!). Every great cathedral in the world is something to behold, but this one's a real doozy. There are the tombs of several medieval and middle age Spanish kings and queens, the cathedral treasure had to be seen to be believed, and it is also the final resting place of Christopher Columbus's remains (which seemed to travel as much as he did when alive) in an extraordinarily ornate catafalque. Attached to the cathedral is the 98 metre high La Giralda bell tower (the symbol of the city), which began life as a the mosque's minaret before the bell tower was extended on the top. It was amazing, the minaret portion consisting of 35 ramps instead of stairs so that the sultan could ride his horse up to the top for the view, and finally extended by 17 steps during the Spanish renaissance to form the bell tower.

Seville Cathedral - gothic magnificence

 

 

Retrochoir

 

Tomb of Christopher Columbus

 

San Fernando Pedro Roldan

Santa Teresa Francisco de Zurcaran

View from La Giralda

 

Cathedral roof

  

Plaza de Toro

Sevilla is Spain's only river port

La Giralda ramps replace steps

Cathedral from the Court Of The Oranges

 

La Giralda

Cathedral and La Giralda

 

 

 

 

Magnificent at any time

 

 

Across the courtyard from the cathedral is the Alcazar. If you come to Spain and can't make it to Granada, then fear not, because apart from location (Granada's Alhambra is in a stunning setting), Sevilla's Moorish palace/fortress is every bit as spectacular as it's illustrious counterpart. It is, of course, a WHS, possibly the best example of mudejar architecture still in existence, and the oldest royal palace still in use in all of Europe. The use of glazed ceramic tiles throughout is quite amazing and the gardens are fabulous. Don L particularly like the Patio de las Doncellas, meaning "The Courtyard of the Maidens", and refers to the legend that the Moors demanded 100 virgins every year as tribute from Christian kingdoms in Iberia....you gotta love those Moors!

The Alcazar

 

  

That's what I call a ceiling

 

Glazed ceramic tiles - intricate and beautiful

Maria de Padilla Bathroom

Gigantic wall tapestires

....more tiles

...some of them even look lifelike

 

 

 

 

LegsyBoys at the Patio de las Doncellas

 Time was running out for us and it was a choice of the General Archive Of The Indies or Plaza de Espana; we went to the latter, and what a sight it is.  It was only built in 1929, but it is an outstanding example of Regionalist Revival Architecture, a mixture of diverse historic styles, ArtDeco and of course lavish glazed ceramic tiles. We had time to stroll through the tiny alleys and lanes of Santa Cruz, the medieval Jewish barrio and pop into a local watering hole before finally settling down for dinner. Our restaurant was something to behold, and if we weren't previously aware that we were in the regional heart of bullfighting then we were now, as the mounted heads of 8 bulls stared down at us eating. Dulcinea was initially put off by it - "look at that one, how sad his eyes are", but really, how would you feel if someone lopped off your head! and anyway, every second establishment seemed to have el toro stuck to the wall. The food? It was excellent.

Not your average balustrade

 

 

Plaza de Espana park bench

Public seating - glazed ceramics of course!

How big is it? Dulcinea and los ninos are on the balcony!

Plaza de Espana - magnificent

 

Santa Cruz alleyway

Columbus monument

Sidewalk café - just right for merienda

That would be jamon hanging from the roof

Doesn't get much more authentic than this

Flamenco bar in full swing

 

Let's eat here

Ole!

Plenty of testosterone in this photo

Buzzy gets ready to demolish a seafood fry up

Anchovy anyone?

 Next day, we're in Rocinante and heading further south down the old highway (not hard to work out why they built the freeway!) towards the famous seaport town of Cadiz (as opposed to Sevilla, which is 80 km inland and Spain's only river port). Don L has done some research and so on the back of advice like "it's a lovely little town" way we head to Jerez. Jerez happens to be the epicentre of Spain's famed sherry industry and all the major bodegas are located here, so we're up for a tipple or two (los ninos are fine - electronics rule!).  We are disappointed in Jerez (it's not all rose coloured glasses!). We don't see any medieval grandeur, and to make matters worse, EVERY bodega is closed because it's Sunday. One expects the bodegas of Spain to operate along the lines of wineries back home, but no, Sunday remains a day of rest. Whilst this is frustrating to for the LegsyBoys on holiday, we can also appreciate the Spanish willingness to hold onto some old fashioned virtues, like not opening on a Sunday even in a tourist destination. So we leave Jerez with a thumbs down and head onto the seaside town of El Puerto de Santa Maria, renowned as the departure point for Columbus's second voyage to the Americas, as well as the place where the first world map was drawn. There's a beach here (yay, it's the Atlantic in winter!) which pleases Aimee as she takes snaps of surfboard riders, but there's little else to excite here, other than the waitress at the café we stopped at hits on Liam!!

Ten kilometres on is our destination, the famous port city of Cadiz, the oldest continually occupied city in Spain (and one of the oldest in Europe), one of the most densely populated cities in Europe, and home to the Spanish Armada Navy. It's located like a bulb on the end of a narrow strip of land (to all intents like an island) and access is via a massive bridge. In the 18thC Cadiz was the most important and wealthiest trading city in Europe, controlling all shipping with the New World (isn't history fascinating when you can actually SEE IT). Behind the old wall, the Old City is a fascinating entanglement of narrow lanes, like many of the Moorish towns in the region. It dates back to Phoenician times (1100BC!!) and the archaeological museum next to the cathedral is amazing, given that there are still diggings going on and it is possible to descend and look down upon the ruins that have been uncovered from this period. We climb up the Torre Tavira (Tavira Watchtower) which dates back to the 17thC is only 45 metres high but is the tallest point at a fabulous view of the town can be had, and because it is built on sand, the low level town landscape has remained unchanged since medieval times. The tower also houses the Cadiz camera obscura, which we go into and los ninos marvel at it. There are few in the world and why it's here is anyone's guess, but it's terrific. We mosey up to Caleta Beach, a beautiful crescent shaped sand beach where we watch the sunset and los ninos have fun in the sand.

Welcome to Cadiz

 

C13th Arco de la Rosa

Cadiz Cathedral

Anyone lost a Barbie doll?

Don L finds the Royal Telephone - no answer unfortunately

 

Cathedral at night - spectacular

 

Sign leading down to the Cathedral crypt

Looking down on pre-Christian ruins

Burial site of a foetus - says it all really

They had raunchy artists even BC

 

 

Torre Tavira (camera obsucra on top)

 

 

 

Camera Obscura

Wow - that's art!!

Cadiz from the tower rooftop

Inside the camera obscura - Buzzy takes it litrally

Pretty cool, huh

 

Caleta Beach at sunset

 

Because of its location, Cadiz is also renowned for its seafood and Don L has researched this. A specialty of the region is fish'n'chips except there's no chips as the Spanish don't do chips. The fish still comes wrapped in paper etc, just no chips (not wishing to harp on the point!). Freiduria Las Flores is the premier venue to pick up some fish'n'.. so we make a beeline for it. There's also a delicacy that Cadiz is famed for called 'cazon en adobo', or DOGFISH in spicy batter (made from paprika, oregano, salt, garlic and vinegar!). If nothing else, we are intrepid and so Buzzy opts for some whiting (which was delicious, but did not match the succulence of King George from South Australia) and Don L went for the jugular. It came in chunks and each piece had what seemed to be a giant vertebra in the middle of it (I HATE bones in fish!), and it tasted AWFUL. Buzzy and Dulcinea had a go and concurred, and the aroma was REVOLTING - we could still smell it clinging to us 3 hours later. BUT, we gave it a go, and that's what's important.

Fish sin chips at Freiduria Las Flores

Dogfish and Don L - revolting (the fish, that is!)

 Our day over we wandered back through the alleyways, stumbling across an impromptu street party that was just great and had los ninos in sticthes as the senora was singing VERY NAUGHTY words!! We popped into a store looking for a soft drink vending machine, but apparently the locals have other things on their mind!

Cadiz vending machine

Impromptu street gathering

Gracias....Gracias....the crowd loved her

The locals less so!

We headed 'home' to Sevilla up the freeway and went back to the local eatery where we were greeted like regulars, which I guess we were all things considered. Tomorrow we head south east crossing the northern extremity of the Sierra de Grazalema in search of more adventure.....