Day 144: A Morning in Seville, Spain

Tuesday, 30 May 2017
At Sea — Atlantic Ocean

Stats @ Ship’s Time 9:00p (CEST) … UTC 7:00p (30 May)
Temp: 70.3F (21.3C)
Position: 36.45.24N / 6.58.95W

There is no happiness for the person who does not travel.
~ Brähman ~

This was a short day in Seville … made all the shorter by the fact that we slept in.  No surprise since it was past 2:00a when I turned off the lights in the cabin … had to catch up my journal before the details of yesterday became filmy memories.  Once up, we ate a quick breakfast and left the ship shortly before 9:00a.  Our destination was the Alcazar, which opened at 9:30a.  We figured we were good to go.  Hah!

Walking along the riverfront, we stopped for a photo op at the Torre del Oro [Tower of Gold].  The source of the name given to the tower is a little murky.  Some say it’s because gold brought from South America was stored inside the tower.  Others maintain that it is because the exterior of the tower was once covered in yellow tiles that gleamed like gold in the sunshine.  Either way, no gold — real or virtual — at the tower now.

The Torre del Oro is a dodecagonal military watchtower that dates back to 1220.

We arrived at the wall surrounding the Alcazar before 9:30a to find long queues of visitors at the entrance.  We estimated it would take us about an hour to get our turn at the ticket booth.  No can do … we needed to be at the ship by 11:15a.  C’est la Vie …

On our way to our next stop, we noticed that the Catedral de Sevilla, which we were told would be closed today, was actually open.  And admission was free.  Since we had limited time inside the cathedral yesterday, we took advantage of the opportunity and went in again.  The sign outside indicated that the main part of the church was closed for a special mass … there were a lot of men in military uniform in attendance.  The rest of the building was open to visitation, however, so we wandered around a bit and enjoyed the beautiful stained glass windows before continuing with the rest of our sightseeing.

Left: Glimpse of the Seville Cathedral and Giralda Tower.
Center: Buggies waiting to give cathedral visitors a ride around town.
Right: Door of St Christopher and replica of Girardillo.

Visitation: Mary Meets Elizabeth … one of the themed rose windows at the cathedral.

The Metropol Parasol is a modern structure known in Spanish as Las Setas de la Encarnación [Incarnation’s Mushrooms] … the last part of the name a reference to the plaza where it is located.  Consisting of six wooden parasols, it is said to be the world’s largest wooden structure and was originally designed to provide shade for markets and other events held in the plaza during the hot Seville days.

The underground level has a museum where Roman and Moorish remains that were unearthed at the Plaza de Encarnación [Incarnation Square] are displayed.  There’s a walkway on the top level that visitors can walk along and enjoy panoramic views of the city center.  The parasol was interesting, but it was difficult to photograph well with all the other buildings around it.  (Click here for aerial shots of the parasol.)  The museum was not yet open, so we just wandered around the plaza for a bit before it was time to head back to Insignia.  We beat the 11:15a all aboard by just a quarter hour.  The O tours were still behind us, though, so no worries about missing the ship

According to one internet source, the “Metropol Parasol was given this
contemporary organic design to explore the potential that the Plaza de
la Encarnación becomes the new fashionable, modern-day urban center.”

We were having lunch at the Terrace Café when Insignia slipped her mooring lines at noon.  Assisted by tugboats, we made our way through the drawbridge … this time propelled forward instead of bassackwards.  With the tides an important part of today’s departure equation everything had to go smoothly to get us down the Guadalquivir to the Atlantic.  Everything did.  The light was perfect and the veranda was in the shade, so I enjoyed the transit to the Atlantic from my own lounge chair, popping up to take photos when something new or a different angle of something familiar caught my attention.  Gnat-like bugs were out in full force.  Luckily they weren’t the biting kind … and they did bring out the swiftlets, which were fun to watch.  Storks were everywhere, too.  At first I only saw them in flight, but there was one section of the river where they were nesting, and it looked like most of the nests had at least one chick.

Looking back at the Puente del V Centenario (5th Centenary Bridge) where it spans the Guadalquivir.  If you look in the distance, you can make out the Giralda Tower.

Two of the many stork nests along the river.

Not sure of the purpose of these old buildings … but I like the twin towers.

It was pitch-dark when we left the river for the ocean … but not sure what time it was.  We gain an hour tonight to put us in the same time zone with Lisbon before we get there.  No rest for the weary as we sail towards our next overnight port visit.

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