Seville, Spain 11/29 - 12/2

My last stop in the Andalusia region of Spain was Seville.  I had about 4 days here, one more day than I had planned, but I planned poorly, which was not that big of a deal, Seville is not a bad place to spend another day.  I was reaching my burn out point of visiting the Spanish cathedrals and palaces, but I decided to push my limits and visit the cathedral and bell tower known as Giralda.  I had read that the cathedral was free on Sundays, but that was not true, unless your are a Spanish citizen or unemployed...which I am but I had no way of proving it, damn it!  The cathedral was pretty unique and also houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus.  The Giralda had nice views of the city as well as some interesting displays on how the tower was built and added on to several times through out the decades.  I did not go into the Alcazar, the Moorish Palace, since I did not think it will be anything close to the Alhambra in Grenada. 

The tapas was not free like it was in Grenada, but I was introduced to a great little spot called "Bodega Santa Cruz" where I must have stopped by at least 3 or 4 times to eat some great food and wash

it down with some wine and or cerveza (beer) all at a very affordable price.  Socially, the bull fighting scene in Seville is a pretty big part of their culture, but like most things, the season is done until next year.  Futbol (soccer) on the other hand is still very much in season 
and paralyzes the city whenever a match is on.  I watched the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match in a city square with many

other people, mostly in silence until there was a big play or goal.  

The first picture is of the cathedral and bell tower, Giralda.  Next to that is Plaza de Espana, to Star Wars fans, it was used as Naboo, in Episode II.  The bottom left is Christopher Columbus's tomb inside the cathedral.  The middle pic is of a worker at Bodega Santa Cruz carving up some presuto before the evening rush.  It appeared that he has had many years of practice at his trade.  The right picture is of a what I think I remember is a Magnolia tree, said to have been planted from a seed brought back by from the U.S. many moons ago.  

In the last post I said I was headed to Madrid the following night.  Well that changed, Lisbon was way too much fun to leave, although I am in Madrid for night #2 right now.  Ill be catching a flight to Barcelona tomorrow morning, it was cheaper and faster than the train.  I have 5 nights booked in Barcelona, I have heard only positive things from there.  If anyone has any questions or wants to learn more about the places I have blogged about, Wikipedia is a great place to begin, or you can always ask me.