October 12, 2011
                Sheila and I left about 10:30am this morning and decided to go to Rhonda before we drove on to Seville. The trip through the mountains was filled with such a variety of landscape that it was hard to take it all in. Driving north from San Pedro on the coast we went up the switchbacks that were not as narrow as I remembered in France. Driving, while hot (90 degrees) even as we climbed through two ear pops, was much less hectic than other mountain climbs. The first ridges we encountered were very dry and somewhat rocky, scrub brush terrain. At certain points we could see the Mediterranean Coast which was clear with little cloud cover. Then as we got deeper in the mountains and began to lose sight of the sea we found the area was green and rich with trees. The colors were so intense to us because it had been awhile since we had seen green terrain. Higher and further, as we drove there was almost a quick shift to arid, rock and brown terrain. As I was driving it was like a wall, one side green and lush, the other brown, stoney and hard. As a result of this distinct change, I remembered the only other time this happened to me was when I drove around Haleakala on Maui and felt I drove through three distinct climates as I completed going around the valcano. It was like my first experience of rain falling on one side of the street and not the other, how can this happen? This trip, unlike the one to Granada, we did not see any homes build on the ridge lines. Perhaps the steep drop offs of the ridge lines did not allow for construction or utility access.   When we started to come down from some of the higher peaks we gradually found some small villages, whitewash homes and buildings alike. Around 12:00 pm we approached the town of Rhonda.
                    We had been successful following our map and signs and avoided using Gussy our GPS for a lot of the trip. As we approached Rhonda we turned on Gussy and found that she was not up to date with the road modifications so we muted her and I decided to trust my instincts to find the city centro. I kept looking for a parking area and we made a few turns and round abouts that were not helpful. Finally, following a sign I drove next to the Bull Ring our recommended destination and through a small plaza and across a cobblestone bridge which was crowded with walkers. I realized that I had to turn around and drive back to the plaza. I did find a turn around in this section of narrow streets, crossed over the bridge, saw a sign for public parking, made to turns and found the underground parking lot that was listed in Rick Steves. We found a spot that I could back into, making the exiting easier as the turning radius in these garages are minimal at best. We went up to the street level and found we were in another plaza area. Sheila showed me the guide to a restaurant recommended by Steves and I recognized the street and we found the restaurant Traga Tapas. We were too early of course so we walked to the plaza we drove through o see the cobble stone bridge. When we drove across our first time through I noticed the crowd however, I had no idea of what had drawn the crowd. Sheila and I walked toward the bridge to find a very deep ravine between the bridge. The drop was incredible and it was so difficult to imagine from the top of the bridge. Sheila took pictures and we were not sure if they could fully show how deep the ravine is from the bridge and how narrow it was at the bridge area. When I looked over the bridge I got a little dizzy and remembered my experience in Estes Park Colorado looking down a slope of over 700 feet. The surprise of this gorge, was like the first time I crossed over a gorge at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. All of the terrain looked flat upon the approach and then all of a sudden there was nothing below you. 
 
 
    
 
 
























































                  We did see the bull ring from the plaza but decided to go back to the restaurant and have our tapas and then on to our destination of Seville. We order five different tapas, salmon, sausages & onion, pork garnish, cod garnish and chicken wings.  We looked at each other in surprise, because these were the first tapas that we had that were different and very original and very tasty.  We decided to chalk one up for the recommendation.  Finally a tapas place that was not a cookie cutter kind of place.
               We got our car and I found our way out of Rhonda and on toward Seville. There were not as many mountainous climbs and drops in the next leg of our journey. In one of the valley areas we found a huge damed lake and when the area started to flatten out we saw olive tree orchards and other fruit trees as we came closer to Seville. When I first spotted Seville on the horizon I saw a large white metal structure leaning at about 120 degrees to the ground. Immediately, I recognized that this is one of the modern suspension bridges that was built in Seville. I saw a picture of the same bridge when we were in Avignon France at the bridge museum. Even from such a distance it was an imposing part of the skyline. We entered the city and knowing that our accomodations were in Barrio Santa Cruz (an old town area) that we would be faced with narrow one way streets and hoped that our hotel would be easy to find. Well that was certainly our hope. After three laps through the same area with people at curbside bars starting to grin as we passed them yet once again, we parked at what we assumed would be a reasonable place. We walked with our luggage, found a sign for the hotel, and could not find a door which was open to access reception. Finally, some young woman came to the door and explained that she and her husband had the same experience and that we simply needed to walk a little further and go up an alley way to the front door. It was a very narrow alley way and we did see a sign that indicated that the reception area was a head. We checked into the Hotel Amadeus got our bags to the room and I went back to rescue the car and put it in a car park near where we first turned into Seville.
                The Hotel Amadeus is really a great place, even better than our stay in Granada at the Hotel Guadelupe.
 






















  

The furnishings throughout are moorish tile, marble and a music theme complete with instruments, harp, cello, pianos, violins, music sheets from various compositions. The room is the largest we have had complete with a love seat, sofa, wardrobe, wood beam ceiling and a huge marble bathroom. The airconditioning works well as it was 95 degrees when we arrived at 4:30pm. We got cooled down and did a little walking in our immediate area. Once we were settled we got a reservation for dinner at the Corral del Agua Restaurant.  
                The trick became finding how to walk there without getting lost. I had three maps to consider one from the hotel and two in Rick Steves Book on Spain. I studied them for half and hour trying to fnd out how they fit together. Once I got a sense of where we were on the map and where the restaurant was I felt safe on setting out on our own. Well the maps and the reality did not match. I had a sense of the general direction but I could not find the path that I thought was pretty clear on the maps. I asked two people who were helpful, but their idea of direction and mine varied somewhat. Finally I found a narrow road that I thought was the right street, but could not find the name on a sign. A little frustrated Sheila said to me, " Why don't we stop and get our bearings" . We did and she pointed out that we had stopped at the restaurant.













Once again, we were early and had to wait another 10 minutes before they opened. We were lead to our reserved table and sat in a very beautiful garden in front of the main area of the restaurant. Our waiter had just completing putting on his tux, while we had been greeted by the manager at the door with blue jeans and a scruffy shirt, which he latter changed for a white shirt with red stripes, but not ironed. We order some drinks and Sheila ordered gazpacho and I order a hearts of lettuce with ham for our appetizers and she ordered the pork with goat cheese, and I ordered the roasted pork for our entrees. We were served our first course and Sheila was intrigued that with her gazpacho she had a plate provfided of different cut up items to add to it. My salad was delicious with a warm dressing with the ham in very small pieces. We smiled at one another and took our time, thoroughly enjoying our starters. When the entrees arrived we were likewise intrigued by the taste, Sheila had a sauce that was delicious and we both tried to figure out what was in it. It had a sweet accent and I thought it might have apple in it along with pork stock and maybe wine vinegar. My pork loin was seasoned to perfection and the potatoes were really wonderful. I could not help myself and asked the waiter what was in the sauce. He spoke with the manager and then went into the kitchen. He told us that butter was used with some stock and then he named something that neither Sheila or I understood. We decided to check out the Spanish dictionary once we got back to the hotel. Shortly after the coffee and desert I ordered arrived the manager came to the table and asked how we liked the meal and we told him that it was excellent. He asked if the waiter explained the sauce for the pork and we said he did but we misses one of the ingredients and he said that it was quince that was added to the sauce along with wine. It was fun to find yet again another taste and combination of ingredients that we had never tasted before.
 















                Following our meal Sheila expressed concern about walking back and finding our hotel. I told her that I was certain that I could do it and I found the original route I had planned to take on our walk over, so the hotel was easy to find.


October 13, 2011
                We decided to opt out of the hotel breakfast so we went to restaurant recommended for breakfast from Rick Steves called the Cafe Bar Carmela. We had walked past it the night before and it was a half a block from our hotel. The breakfast included fried eggs and bacon and was good by comparison to our continental breakfasts at hotels. Also, it was nice to get outside while it was still cool prior to another 90 degree day. We walked through some narrow paths and we did get a picture that shows what I mean.
 










                We picked up our maps and were off to the center of the Barrio Santa Cruz, near the cathedral and the Alcazar gardens. We were impressed with the outside of the cathedral which was adjacent to the Giralda Tower.
















We walked around the cathedral and found the information center to get a map that was a little more helpful than the commerical ones we had. Our first visit was off to the Bull Ring and Museum. We walked toward the Guadalquivir River and passed a large opera house and found the Bull Ring.














We got our senior tickets and waited to take the 11:30 am tour. Sheila pointed out from the information that we recuieved that this was one of the main tourist attractions in Seville.  
                We entered the ring and sat under the Presidents box who was in charge of the bull fights.  The ring seats 14, 000 and our tour guide pointed out that the shade side of the stadium was much more expensive than the sun side.   In addition there is an area for the band and they play only if there bull fight is worthy of there music.





















She showed us the gates for the bull, the matador, and to remove the bull carcas. 
  











                    We moved on to two sections of the museum, one was paintings that depicted the fight, the variety of bulls and the men who took part in the game. The next exhibit area had bull heads, costumes, pictures of great matadors and other symbols of the game.























We went on to see the areas where they bring in the bulls and also the chapel for the bull fighters, particularly the matador to say their prayers before the game.
  
 












                        We found all of the information very interesting particularly about a matador who was killed in the ring and the bull was killed along with its mother. It is amazing to me that all sports have traditions that are filled with history and meaning and to the outsider looking it appears not only strange but a little over the top. Sheila did point out that the bull's father got off the hook, literally.
                When we left the bull ring we walked along the Guadal Quivir River which had two levels and a lot of boats moored on the water level. We saw two people along the river with their easles sketching and painting the waterfront, and some fishermen waiting for a strike.
 













            On our way down to the lower level we noticed that the palm trees were filled with date clusters. I have lived in Florida and do not remember seeing date palms. It was possible to see the trees that were fresh with dates and the ones that had matured and began to drop the dates.
 















                We sat down on a street side shop which had spraying water mist to cool the customers and had some water and a soda. We then walked back to the plaza near the cathedral because Sheila found an article in the tourist magazine about a Diego Rivera showing being held in the Casa Provincia. It took us a while to find it and it was in the end of one of the tourist information offices. The paintings were early paintings by Rivera and were very different than the two murals I have seen. One was impressionistic and had a Picaso influence to it. It was not an extensive exhibit, but I could see a real sense of progression in the earliest works that were present and understood the work that went into the murals.  
                We went to the cathedral in the square and paid our entrance fee. It is supposed to be the third largest cathedral next to Rome and London St. Paul's. It was gothic, but it was much more square than other cathedrals we have visited. The squareness of the building took away from the transcepts serving to resemble a cross. The inside pilars were enormous and the width was far greater than any of the English cathedrals we have visited. 
 




















                The choir was separated from the main altar that almost made it appear that within this huge cathedral there were two small areas, the choir and the main altar.
 
 
 
 







































































            The side altars, which were many had some interesting altar arrangements and the figures in some were clothed which I have seen a lot of this clothing of the statuary in France and Spain.

 





































                    While the cathedral was huge in proportions it did not spark a sense of spirituality like the Gaudi Holy Family in Barcelona.   The cloisters which was the exit area was all paved and I missed the grass and meditation gardens that are so much a part of other cloisters we have visited. I was glad we took the tour but I found that it was not as captivating and spiritually moving as I had hoped.
                    We were a little tired with all of the walking and particularly the heat so we meandererd back to the hotel and put our feet up, cooled off and got ready for our next adventure which was dinner and a Flamenco dance show at Tablao El Arenal.  I had looked at maps to find the location and I got the general area, but out of a moment of sanity we caught a cab. This proved to be an excellent choice as I would have never found the narrow side street that led to the entrance of the restaurant. As a matter of fact, when we got out of the cab I was not sure that we had arrived, but Sheila motioned for me as she was talking to the hostess. We were seated next to the dance floor.    The meal was a included with the overall price so our expectations for the food were not raised too high. Actually, the starters and entrees were very good, not outstanding but better than expected. When the dancing started I was immediately aware that my understanding of what flamenco dancing was all about had little to do with reality and the tradition that unfolded in front of us. The music, guitars and drum box, along with singers seemed to have a very definite moorish influence. The dancing and singing was very dramatic and appeared very close to a story telling tradition. Some of the dances seemed to suggest a love affair, others portrayed a sense of mourning and release from grief. The tempo of some of the music and dancing was so incredibly fast and long that both of us wondered how they had enough endurance to perform the variety of steps and taps, maintaining the rythm and grandeur of the story line. There were a couple of times when the dancers nearly kicked over our candle on our table we were so close to the action. I felt exhausted after the performance and my only task was to watch. It was more than worth the price and it really seemed to be so rich in its variety and true to the traditions of Flamenco.   It was the very best way for us to experience Spain on our last night in Seville. We only wish that they had allowed picture taking.

October 14, 2011
                We woke up still talking about the dancing the night before. It did not take us long to pack and we went out for breakfast at the Cafe Bar Carmela. The morning was quite cool, almost chilly. In the dryer climate the difference in temperature really stands out. During our breakfast we discussed our travel plans for going back to Cabopino. Sheila suggested that we drive toward Cadiz because it is relatively flat most of the way. My biggest concern was finding the way out of Seville.
                We checked out of the hotel, got the car and set off with Gussy our GPS. Naturally, I had her recalculating right from the start which increased my anxiety right of the charts, as I was sure that we would wind up spending another night in Seville, because I could not find the road to Cadiz. With some luck and perservence we did find a sign that said Cadiz and I followed it with our little car that was usually hotter inside than out.  
                    Driving back was a unique experience in the fact that the route we had selected from Seville was a flat plane. It was amazing to drive on a flat terrain because up to this point our driving for almost two months had been a mountain or hill side roads. This trip was straigtht and flat and it was obviously an hugh agricultural area with above ground water runs of concrete with pumping stations every so often. It was possible to see for long distances in all directions. It certainly made the driving a whole lot easier.  When got close to Cadiz we turned west and began a climb into the more mountaineous area. What I found remarkable about this portion that while we were obviously climbing up a grade the road was fairly straight and wider than in other parts of our travels. As we headed toward Algeciras there were slopes and valleys but they were greener than the other areas we have seen in the south of Spain. There were two large lake systems on our return and I was not able to see if they were man made through dams or not. There were a number of ranches along the road.   Before arriving in Algeciras we turned west and drove past Gibraltar. We are planning to come back soon when Catherine, Sheila's daughter and her sons Ryan and Connor arrive. We got home around 5:30 pm, unpacked, did laundry and put our feet up and enjoyed the cooler weather and less humidity in Cabopino. We did order out at Da Bruno's and had a quite and peaceful evening.