In the past week (or so) we have visited Pamplona (no one was there, and no one will be there until july, when Pamplona hosts not the only but the most famous "Running of the Bulls"), we visited a cool area of Aragón known as the Cinco Villas (Fernando II was born here; he's the Catholic king ,and other half of the tag team along with Isabel, that conquered the Iberian peninsula and chucked out and forced the conversion of all the Jews and Muslims- so much for diversity).
We also returned the car that our friend Ximo loaned us while he was in Senegal for three weeks. It was really liberating to have a vehicle for a while. Shopping trips could be spontaneous, and we could buy more than 2 bottles of water at a time. Weekends got us out of the city. Ben's soccer games became soccer games, rather than soccer games surrounded by a half-day adventure on Zaragoza's buses. And I got to drive an Alfa Romeo for three weeks.
Now we are in Sevilla, Spain's third largest chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edhLosefD0Qity and the capital of Andalucia. Andalucia is known for many things Spanish: Olive oil, Gypsies, Flamenco music, guitars, bulls, the Costa del Sol, white buildings, and 115 degree summer afternoons.
It is not summer now, thankfully.
Chances are if you have any stereotypical notions about Spain, they revolve around Andalusian culture. the city is big, baroque, labyrinthine, and has great food. it also has the Plaza de España, one of the prettiest, most impressively beautiful outdoor spaces in Spain and maybe anywhere. If you watched Star Wars: Episode II (I know, it was TERRIBLE, but it was Star Wars, so I watched it), then you have seen this plaza. check out the YouTube clip listed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edhLosefD0Q
George Lucas, king of computer generated scenery, found a real place that was as out-of-this-world-looking as any set he could bild/digitize, and so filmed here. Queen Amidala flew here, but we got to the plaza by horse-drawn carriage.
We have visited the cathedral (one of Columbus' tombs is here, the other in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic), the barrio Santa Cruz (the old Jewish quarter, until aforementioned Fernando came along), and a number of notably narrow streets graces with sidewalks exactly one sneaker wide. And unlike in Zaragoza, we hear English spoken everywhere. This is a VERY touristy city, even now, out of tourist season. Ben and Chaia stop and stare/comment every time an English speaker walks past us, as if they were little dogs and another dog walked by on the street. By the way, Chaia is now officially a "señorita", complete with a polka-dotted Flamenco dress, a red flower for her hair, and black velvet shoes. Her fan is back in ZAZ.
Tomorrow we will visit the Alcázar of the Spanish kings in Sevilla and then head to our next stop on this 6-day tour. Maybe our hotel there will have wi-fi too.
Photo courtesy of http://www.trekexchange.com/images/Plaza_de_Espana.jpg
