Wednesday April 24, 2019

Waiting on Line

It is supposed to rain after 1000 so we are hoping for the best in our visit to the Royal Alcazar. We purchased our tickets on-line with a 1200 time to tour the Royal Apartments. We plan on getting in at the 0930 opening so we can beat the weather (hopefully) and tour the rest of the palace and grounds before the apartment tour. The alcazar was originally a 10th century palace built for moorish governor. The palace core was reworked by Muslim workers for the Christian King, Pedro I. The style which mixes Islamic and Christian elements is called Mudejar. The palace is still used today and is the oldest continually used palace in Europe. I had read a tip on trip advisor that said to skip the first parts and head right to Hall of the Ambassadors in the heart of the palace.

Maiden in the Courtyard

On the short, tickets pre bought line, we get in right after opening and go directly to the Hall of the Ambassadors. It is surrounded by a central patio, the Courtyard of the Maidens. It is beautiful and has a rectangular reflecting pool. We are the only ones here. It is designed to provide coolness in Spain’s hot summers.

Islamic Cube and Dome

We enter the Hall of Ambassadors which was King Pedro’s Throne room. The room is a cube topped by a dome. In Islam, the cube represents the earth and the dome is the starry heavens. There are Islamic horseshoe arches and walls decorated with plants, geometric shapes, and Arabic writing. Here in this Christian palace are sayings such as None but Allah conquers.

Castiles Rulers

There is also Christian elements such as the row of kings, recording Castiles rulers from the 600’s to the 1600’s. There are also coats of arms scattered throughout the palace and natural objects like birds and shells which are not portrayed by Muslims. We get to enjoy this and the surrounding rooms in complete solitude, without the crowds and tour groups that are sure to arrive. There is a small private for the Kings family, Courtyard of the Dolls, which used to have a pool.

Colors Still Pop

Every room we enter is beautiful with so many interesting elements both Islamic and Christian to look at. We enter a room added by Charles V who celebrated his marriage to Isabel of Portugal by expanding the palace and replacing the ceiling in this room from Islamic to Renaissance. We climb up a small staircase as the crowds start to find us and once again are mostly alone. We enter a long Banquet Hall where Charles and Isabel held their wedding reception. Lots of colorful tile here.

Spanish Navy Tapestry

The Hall of tapestries is covered in, that’s right, four very large tapestries. A map tapestry of the Mediterranean world has south pointing up for a upside down view of things. The proud artists put himself in the corner with a scale in leagues and miles. Another tapestry displays the might Spanish Navy which ruled the seas from 1492 until the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 when Britain took over.

Mercury Pool

We exit back through the banquet hall and go outside to the Mercury Pool. This pool is a reservoir fed by a 16th century aqueduct and it irrigated the entire palace garden. It was an extreme show of power back in its day when only the nobles had running water. One wall was converted into a grotto gallery when fortification was no longer needed. We head down some steps into the main gardens. The more we walk around the more we realize the immensity of the place.

She is A Mazing

There are small buildings that once had pools, fountains, and lots of paths. We even find a garden maze to wander through. It is here that I rediscover that my wife is aMazing. After further exploration of the gardens, we slowly wind our way back toward the entrance.

Awesome Place

Along the route we discover an underground pool hidden away from the summer sun. It’s many arches are reflected in the calm water below. We find the main entrance which is where the tour of the Royal Apartment begins.

St Mary of the Navigators

We have about 40 minutes until our tour and use the banos before checking out another nearby room called the Admirals Hall. This is where Columbus briefed Queen Isabel about his discovery of The New World. The Queen created this wing in 503 to administer Spain’s ventures there. Others such as Ferdinand Magellan and Amerigo Vespucci used this area to plan their adventures and map the discoveries. There is an altarpiece painting where a chapel was that depicts St Mary the patron Saint of sailors watching over the ships below her and protecting everyone under her cape, even some Native Americans dark in the background, the first time they were included in a painting in Europe. Columbus is shown with blond hair, dressed in gold, praying. Many historians believe that this is the earliest known portrait of Columbus. There is a model of the Santa Maria and the family coat of arms using Columbus’s Spanish name of Colon.

Hand Cranked Fan

Another room displays some ornate fans of the time. We leave and go upstairs for the tour of the Royal Apartments. We are given audioguide said and are escorted by an armed guard, so no bootleg photos from me here. We tour fifteen rooms decorated with period furniture, chandeliers, clocks, and Royal Portraits. We finish the tour, walk a little more in the gardens and are ready to leave. Just in time as it starts to rain and they put up signs saying the gardens will be closed in a half hour for weather. We stop for a quick lunch at a place advertising New York Style Pizza, which is actually pretty good. We than walk back in the rain to our apartment. I confess to Carol that I woke up not feeling so good, ear bothering me, a bit of congestion, and am feeling pretty wiped right now. We get back and I do the uncharacteristic Charlie and lay down for a nap. Three hours later, I wake up still not feeling great.

The Weeping Virgin

We decide to walk to the Basilica de la Macarena and then forgo eating out so I can get to bed early. We make the easy .75 mile walk in a misty drizzle. The church is actually quite new, built in 1949 to give the Macarena sculpture a permanent home. She is known as the weeping Virgen for the five crystal teardrops trickling down her cheeks. She was sculpted in the late 17th century and is the most popular image of Mary in Sevilla. La Macarena stands atop one of the two most important floats of the Holy Week parades. She is beautifully dressed and decorated.

Hey Macarena

And now a short intermission to do a dance in her honor. Hey Macarena. We walk back toward the apartment and stop at a grocery store where we pick up some chicken soup, salad, and chorizo for the sick boy. We also stop in a small Pasteleria next to our building and buy two pieces of chocolate cake, because we all know the curative powers of chocolate. Carol makes dinner while I get ready for our morning departure. We eat salad, soup, and then the amazing chocolate cake. I then crash, feeling pretty miserable. Hoping for improvement tomorrow.

Expenses
Apartment San Lorenzo 77.17E
Alcazar 34E
Pizza Lunch 7.50E
Chicken Soup Dinner from Dia. 2.56E
Chocolate Cake from Pasteleria 6E
Walked 5.5 Miles