Part 2- Seville Part 2 Seville Kyle and I were blessed with an amazing trip to Europe and Africa. Not only was the trip covered financially (an amazing story in itself) but we also had gracious and conscientious people care and help with our kids. We managed to get sooooooo many amazing things packed into the time we had. I am going to make several posts as I have time to share some of the highlights. Next we flew to Seville, Spain. Seville was where allllll the money came from the European explorers from Spain and the opulent gothic architecture bares the fruit of it! It boasts of the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, as well as one of the most famous royal palaces that was originally built by the moors, and then converted by Spanish royalty. There are many places where cars can drive in Seville as it is a majorly city, but once you are in the old city, many of the narrow walkways are way too small for vehicles and are perfect for walking. It makes for a magical old world experience of cobble stones, archways, and plazas surrounded by balconies. Our hotel was right next to the cathedral and we heard the many bells toll throughout the night and day. Flitting through the multitude of tapas restaurants, we would have one or two tapas before traveling to the next one, enjoying the many sights and sounds of the ancient bustling city. The first night we found an Italian restaurant that was housed in an 11th century Arabic bathhouse. The next day we went to tour the Seville Cathedral where they claim Christopher Columbus is entombed. This was his third resting place so who knows if he’s actually there:) Afterwards I noticed we could do a rooftop tour of the cathedral.  I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was willing to take a chance. It was easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. For some reason we were the only people signed up for the tour on this day and our guide was both ecstatic to share the history of the cathedral as well as to take us through the many secret passageways from the base of the church all the way up to the highest rooftop. We were able to go behind the nave and see hidden treasures no one else had access to! It was amazing! As I had toured the cathedral earlier that day I had seen the small doors four stories up hidden in the walls and thought how cool it would be to see what was behind it- little did I know that I would walk through each of the secret passageways!!! Later we went and visited the Real Alcazar, one of the royal palaces of Spain. It’s on a piece of land that has had a fortress or castle since at 712AD. It has been the sight of many Muslim fortresses as well and the Arabic influence in the architecture is stunning! The geometric patterns are simply breathtaking and the gardens, pools, and baths are stunning! Several Spanish Kings were born here and the Spanish Royal family still stays here when they’re in town. Just to spice things up, while we were touring, the military police were doing a drill for a disaster and we watched them ‘triage’ people and remove threats and other things. It was crazy and entertaining. Seville was a beautifully clean, historically fascinating , and full of intriguingly tantalizing food! We would give it a 10 out of 10!!!!

ME BEHIND THE NAVE!!!!! Very few people get to see this!!! I was totally geeking out

Seeing the tops of the domes from the secret passageways

The cathedral bells from our hotel

Us walking through the secret passage ways 

Our guide opening the door for us

One of many of fun old tapas restaurants

One of many of fun old tapas restaurants

Dinner in the 11th century Arabic bathhouse

The cathedral at night surrounded by the many trees that the Moors planted. All of these orange trees are sour oranges, and are not eating by the people of Spain, but are exported to Britain to make marmalade.

Our guide was explaining to us that these tiles would never be seen by the public, but they were just put here to allow the rain to flow off the roof in a pattern to not deteriorate the columns. Each of the patterns on the tiles is unique to the different areas of Spain and we’re uniquely beautiful.

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

This was very neat. Few people get to see the rooftop of the cathedral. The cathedral was unique, and that it had a flat roof when most of the other roofs were slanted. The builder chose to put the blueprints for the buttresses on the ground so that all of the masons and workers could easily see and follow the plans. This is a picture of the plans from the 1500s

The roof and final parts of the cathedral were finished in 1589. This brick is on the roof where no one can see it, but you can see that the eight is the same as in Proverbs 18 on the top of the tower in the next picture.

These nails were put in after the stain glass was installed in the 1500s. The Stainglass was built by artisans from a particular region of Germany, and when it is taken down and repaired, which happens every few decades, it goes back to the same region of Germany.

These nails were put in after the stain glass was installed in the 1500s. The Stainglass was built by artisans from a particular region of Germany, and when it is taken down and repaired, which happens every few decades, it goes back to the same region of Germany.

Us on the roof

A picture of Columbus meeting the natives.

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

One of the rooftop stairways leading down

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

The gothic art style is overwhelming in its complexity and decoration. In my humble opinion, it’s almost painful to look at.

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

Flying buttresses and spires for days

The outside of the church surrounded by the courtyard of orange trees, planted by the moors in the 1100s

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

Pastries and coffee for days

The cathedral is made of a stone that crumbles when touched so this is the cathedral on my hand

Me on the second story through a secret passage looking down

Dinner in the 11th century Arabic bathhouse

Flying buttresses and spires for days

The cathedral behind me

I was captivated by the narrow streets

These are mushroom caps on the roof that allowed for ropes to go into the church and help lift heavy things

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

One of the secret passageway doors

The top of the cathedral

Magellan’s journey. Four ships left but only one ship made it back.

Christopher Columbus’s tomb in the Seville Cathedral

Goya art in the cathedral 

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces and the drill

Real Alcazar- one of the Royal Palaces

This is a picture of the final remaining people on Magellan‘s final ship that made it back to Spain. They said they were over 200 men on board, and only a handful survived the journey.

Almost to the roof 

The stain glass windows from outside on the roof. They also explained that the builders were trying to find ways to fill in the space between the bricks, and decided to use the old pottery that had been discarded all over the edges of the city to grind up and make into a mortar.

A fresco from the 1200s of the Saint that was supposed to protect sailors. Before leaving on long transatlantic journeys, the sailors would come and spend all night praying before this fresco.