Sevilla

Cathedral bell tower

We took the bullet train from Madrid on Friday afternoon and arrived 2.5 hours later in Seville.  What a contrast between Madrid and Seville!  Andalucía has a rich, historical culture that is uniquely different from the rest of Spain.  The region was the stronghold of the Moors when they controlled the Iberian peninsula, and the Arabic influence is still very strong in the architecture and music of the region.  Seville is also much dirtier than any city I've been to in Spain!

a view of the ceiling inside the cathedral

The cathedral is MASSIVE.  It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and third largest church in the world.  The interior is unlike any church I've ever seen.  It is so huge that there isn't one single nave and altar.  It has enormous areas where people just mill around and it has 80 side altars, one of which is a large church unto itself.  The cathedral started as a mosque in the 1100s, was Christianized in the 1200s, was added onto, earthquake damage, dome collapses, blah, blah, blah ... It has evolved over time into a behemoth

Notice how massive the interior column are ins

building that showcased Seville to the world at the height of it's (and Spain's) power, when Spain was shipping back boatloads of gold that they sacked from the Americas.  Port of entry:  Seville.  The city got fat and rich, and it shows.  Unfortunately for Seville however, when Spain lost it's empire, the city slid off into obscurity, never to regain it's former prominence.  

Isla Mágical building at Expo '

Expo '92 was in Seville to coincide with the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.  Spain's first bullet train was built connecting Seville and Madrid.  Seville built a great site for the event on the South bank of the Guadalquivir River, which had once been the docking spot for hundreds of galleons loaded with riches from the new world. 

Great suspension bridge build for Expo '92 over the Guadalquivir River

Time has not been kind to the campus of Expo '92

However, like Expos around the world it seems, the campus has fallen into disrepair and is a shabby reminder of a great event twenty years ago.  There are a couple of nice modern bridges and at least one cool building remaining.  Expo '29 had also been in Seville, but it's campus has fared better with time.  It has some great old pavilions from all of the countries in the Americas.

Espacio Metropol Parasol

Chris wanted to go see a modern sculpture/building in one of the plazas of the old city called the Espacio Metropol Parasol.  I thought it only seemed mildly interesting by the description, but I humored him.  When I got there, I was blown-away by it.  It is the best modern structure in the city!  It is an enormous organic sculpture that completely fills the plaza and it's juxtaposition against the older facades around it creates an amazing experience. 

 The textures and shape of the sculpture, along with the voids, both in it and in the plaza around it, make it the best-situated modern sculpture I have ever seen anywhere.  And as I was looking at it and walking through it, I didn't realize that it was made out of wood, glued together and sealed with polyurethane.

P.S.  I made a life's discovery this morning in the bathroom of my hotel room:  when 50-something years old, one should never look into a concave mirror.