Seville4 – Friday – the Cathedral

Quick Breakfast and a 7 minute walk to the cathedral.  We got one audio tour for the adults and one for the kids.  I had to laugh when Zeke said his audio tour told him “you are in a church, you must behave”.  I didn’t get that same scolding.  The audio tours were useful, but it did get to be redundant.  This is so-and-so’s tomb decorated in the so-and-so style by so-and-so in the year of so-and-so.  Too much for me to remember.  It was still fascinating to see all of it.  Some things stood out…

1) We found our first public drinking fountain!!!  I was amazed and it was even cold.  It definitely deserved a photo… with the lack of bubblers, we’ve been packing water like a camel in the desert.  Trying to keep the kids on that perfect point between hydrated and needing to go bathroom too often.  There’s definitely an art to it.

2) The tomb of Christopher Columbus!

It’s been interesting to me to get a more Spanish point of view on the Americas.  Spain conquered all of Latin and Central America and took much of the riches they found there.  Hence all the Spanish spoken there.  Seville was the center of commerce to the Americas in the 16th century.

3) The Treasury, where Maeve and Theo each posed in front of their favorite piece

The treasury also contained a crown for the Virgin Mary with the 2nd largest pearl in the world on it.  Zeke later pointed out that it’s the 2nd largest known pearl, i.e. there may be larger pearls not yet discovered in some part of the ocean.

4) The expanse and spaciousness and cool protected feeling of such a massive cathedral.  If I were a peasant living in the heat of the streets and I were offered the opportunity to enter such an extravagant cathedral and feel the ostentatiousness of it all, the protection from the heat, the spaciousness, the wealth collected from the Americas… I’d definitely buy whatever they were selling.  In this case, Christianity.  It’s a little overwhelming.

5) Really old graffiti.  Here’s one we spotted from May 30 1934…

5) An empty portico where some priceless work of art once stood.  Zeke felt obligated to fill the missing piece.  Yes, Zeke is priceless…

6) We ascended the 34 ramps (not stairs, because they would ride their horses up to ring the bells to call the people to worship) and got a shot of the bell tower.

And a view over the town including the orange tree courtyard.

We finished the day by exchanging some money.  Maeve found a fan that she loves…  and that matches her Spain World Cup jersey.