16 May in Edinburgh - very foggy.  In fact started being foggy yesterday afternoon which seemed very strange to us.

Back to Seville

On Wednesday - 2nd full day, we visited the Cathedral, Giraldi (Bell Tower) and Church of El Salvador as part of the carefully curated KA Seville tour.😕

Headed for Tower first as was told  to do that to avoid the hordes.  Managed to book tickets for first entry of the day (as I do) and after still queueing for 20 minutes or so in the sun, headed in.  There is a ramp to walk up the Bell Tower as it used to accommodate horses.  Judging by the grooves on the ramp, a number of people were transported up in some sort of small carriages.  The tower used to be a minaret when the site was a mosque.  The Christians added a top to it and it's now a bell tower, which obligingly rang while we were up there.  It was loud.  Great views of the city and roof top of the adjourning cathedral.

Then to the Cathedral.  Largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and 3rd largest cathedral after the Vatican and St Paul's (See comment above about importance of being the largest etc).  It is enormous.  Some 50 odd chapels.  Loved Christopher Columbus' grave - held aloft by 4 men representing the 4 kingdoms of Spain - Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarro.  Is some controversy as to whether his body actually made it back to Spain but who cares.  It is a great sculpture.  Great clock above it too.  Also saw Goya picture which we liked.  Enjoyed some of the side chapels.  Vast majority date back to the height of the Spanish Empire.  Was also some largish chapel where Magellan and his merry men prayed before heading off to circumnavigate the world.

The main altar is literally dripping with gold.  Looks like waterfall upon waterfall of gold.  Somewhat gross we thought but our views on many aspects of organised religion are probably well known by now.  Ended up in a garden of orange trees with a fountain dating back to when it was a mosque. Not that exciting now and exited through a gate dating from Moorish times.  Also saw some Moorish tiles under one of the altars.  Otherwise the Catholic Church seems to have obliterated any trace of the mosque.  Different to the Real Alcazar where a lot of Moorish Architecture remains.  Pity.

The Cathedral ticket also gave us access to another church - the Church of El Salvador.  Despite being pretty much churched out, we went to see it as was close by.  Its a fancy baroque style.  Was also on the site of a mosque and before that, a Roman basilica.  No sign of any of that.  The Church has been largely restored/rebuilt in the 1990's so not as interesting as The Largest Gothic Cathedral in The World.

But Church is in a lovely square where we attempted to find a small lunch not involving tapas and ended up with a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. It was OK.  Stephen however was more excited by the cafe being very very close to a chocolate shop he spied yesterday. A visit was in order after lunch and a purchase was made so he could ascertain the quality of their chocolate.  Then an ice cream shop was found so Stephen's day was made. 

On the way back we detoured to a bar next to our hotel for a beer and then rested in the afternoon.  Saw Australia's entry to Eurovision yesterday.  Don't hold out much hope. In fact given the bloc voting that occurs, not sure who actually does vote for us? (Just heard we are already out - not surprised).

Booked dinner again at Duo Tapas as remembered did nice salads and craving some lighter food.  (Stephen with dessert menu).

Off to Grenada tomorrow morning for 2 nights.  Short train trip.  Mmm.  See next entry.

(On the way back to our hotel on one of our days here, Stephen contemplated a visit to a Barber of Seville as thought would be funny (corny but funny) but chickened out as couldn't work out any of the options available and scarred by a hair cut in Dubrovnik in 1987, the memory of which still manages to raise a chuckle from me.)