Seville!

On Saturday I went with my school to Seville. It was such a beautiful city, very different from Granada. It's architecture (architectura) is very different than Granada. Also, the most noticeable thing about Seville, it is friggin hot! Like, super hot. It also has humidity, which Granada has like none of. In Fahrenheit, it was 111.2 degrees, 44 degrees Celsius. That is very hot my friends. So, I apologize for my ratchetness in all my fotos. As always, I learns a lot about Seville and it's history. Seville is basically dedicated to Christopher Columbus, kind of like how Granada has so much on Los Reyos Católicos. 

Seville is the capital of the region Andalucía. It is a super "fancy" city, at least that was the vibe I got. Por ejemplo, Seville has your upper class, dress fancy, and some might say snooty people and culture while Granada has your average Joes, southern friendly, also dresses nice but in a different way people. Also, the Moorish influence is not apparent in Seville. 

The cathedral there is so beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful a things I have seen on this trip yet, right behind the Alhambra. It's architecture is a mix of the Renaissance, Gothic, and Baroque periods. There are many rooms within the Cathedral which exemplify these separate characteristics. 

This is right outside the entrance, and as you can see the outside of the building has a very gothic look. The thing in the center is called a giralda, coming from the verb girar which is to turn or spin. It used to be used for sailors coming in to see which way the wind was turning. There are lots of them in Seville and I'm pretty sure the one on top of the bell tower, the Giralda, actually works. 

The Giralda used to be the minaret, which is like a lighthouse type thing, of the mosque there. However, after the Reconquest, they turned it into a bell tower for the Cathedral. It had a great view once you got to the top, after like 32 "flights". They weren't stairs though, it was a winding ramp the whole way up. Once we all got to the top, we were so sweaty. The view was worth it though. 

Giralda from down below. 

Inside the Catedral, our guide showed us many things and taught us a lot about the history. There were so many tourists, so getting a good picture was hard. But, I did get a few. First of all, Christopher Columbus' tomb is here, along with his supposed remains. I say supposed because it is in hot debate to whether those are actually his. There was been DNA testing that can prove the remains at least come from his lineage, but it is still not absolutely certain. I think they are his though. Anyway, his tomb is cool. The 4 kings pictured holding his tomb represent the four regions back then of Spain and the kings that ruled those regions, when Christopher Columbus returned with new trade routes and lots of wealth, Isabel could unite the country. You might wonder why Columbus is so idolized here, well when he wanted to make his expedition, he first went to Portugal but was rejected. He went to some other places, but Queen Isabel of Spain decided to approve and fund his expedition. Thus, Spain received wealth the wealth that came of it. In turn, Columbus was super greatful to Isabel, as well as Spain as a whole. This event helped to further unite Spain, which Isabel and Ferdinand had been doing since the moment they said "I do". Literally, their marriage was the start of the unification of Spain. 

There is a place in the Cathedral where people can actually get married in, like normal people. Here, however, at this alter,

These rooms exhibit the pure Renassiance influence, much coming from Italian artists. 

I definitely felt like I was in a castle walking through, like Huntchback of Notre Dame style. It was super cool. 

From afar, afar. 

This is our guide, guía, and Danyell. 

Seville is beautiful, no?

Beautiful plaza with lots of shade, sombre, where we ate lunch. 

Plaza de España. This was so beautiful. It was enormous and of course, hot. It is special because it represents every city in Spain and the unification of the country as a whole. 

Me and all my sweaty glory at the Plaza de España. It was not possible to get a decent picture because it was so hot. But, here I am nonetheless. 

Yo vivo in Granda ahora. Es mi ciudad favorita, por supuesto. 

These nifty things were everywhere in Seville. 

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer was a Spanish romantic poet. This monument was dedicated to him, called the Glorieta de Becquer. This part of it was my favorite. The three marble women represent the three states of love. Some might say, past, present, and future love. However, our guide, who was super funny, said she thought it meant the puppy love, the sensual love, and then the reality of love ( going from right to left). As you can tell the future/ reality of love is the sad one, it also is the only one with real flowers in her hands. Oh how true this is. I thought this was funny, so I decided to be the "adoring fan" type of love, the I think you are beautiful I swoon type of "love". Obviously swooning is so yesterday. 

Seville was great and I wish I would have had more time there, but I am also glad I live in Granada. :)