Friday June 21 – Seville

Today was the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere.  We passed the Rock of Gibraltar at 1:30 this morning but we didn’t get up to se it.  At sunrise, we arrived at Cadiz with its city walls, built to defend it from British and Dutch pirates in the fifteen hundreds.  Evidently this is an area noted for its large and choice tuna.  Our bus ride to Seville took us through fields of sunflowers, wineries, oleanders and oak trees.

In Seville, we first visited a grand house belonging in the fifteenth century to a family called Pilates.  Mr. Pilates was the chief governor of Andalusia. It contained walls of tiles arranged to look like carpets.  There were busts of the Roman Emperors around the four sides of the central quadrangle.  There were four large statues modeled on the Greek statues.  These were done by the Romans.  A statue of the Good Shepherd which was actually made in the fourth century and given to the family by the Pope is still in this house today.  This house first passed to the Pilates family after the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1493.

Next, we walked through the old Jewish area with its narrow streets.

We then visited the Seville Cathedral.  This is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and was built adjacent to the old mosque after the Arabs were defeated.  The minaret of the mosque is now the bell tower of the Cathedral.  It is gigantic.  I have no idea how the imam used to climb to the top before lifts were invented to call people to prayer. The cathedral contains the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

After a great lunch we visited the Spanish square.  We entered through what seemed like a large church door to the amazing sight of an enormous square which is meant to summarise the whole of Spain.  There were fountains and boats on the moat and ceramics identifying the different provinces of Spain.  A sight not to be missed by anyone coming this way.

Tonight we were once again entertained by Kenny Martyn.  Tonight, it was a more intimate setting in the Vista Lounge, where he played Dixieland music with the orchestra.  Even better than last night.  They played among other pieces, Midnight in Moscow, Hiawatha’s Rag, Fidgety Feet, At the Jazz Time Ball and finishing with When the Saints Go Marching In.