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Page 2 - Seville Impressions

Welcome to Seville 

We are now just entering Seville.  Manuel is expounding on bullfighting and Flamenco—two areas for which the city is famous.  Bullfighting is out of season at this time of the year.  He tells us Flamenco for the natives is called “deep” Flamenco which I understand involves some furious singing with lots of screaming.  Most tourists go for the type that has mostly dancing, mild singing, gentler guitar strumming—in other words, the variety hour kind.

I can now see the Guadalquivir river, perhaps the single most important factor in the emergence of Seville (as well as neighboring Cordoba) as a center of trade and exploration in the 15^th and 16^th centuries.  The city is 3 hours by high-speed train from Madrid.  It is the capital of Andalusia, a region of eight cities (“provinces”) that also includes Cordoba, Granada, and Malaga.  Well known for its leather, Cordoba is considered the center of Moorish Spain and has the famous Mezquita, the great Mosque.  Granada, known as the Moorish Jewel, lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and is famous for Alhambra--the Arabian palace that many consider the jewel of Moorish architecture.  Malaga is in the Mediterranean coast, famous for its beaches and the Alcazaba castle. 

We arrive at today’s hotel, the Occidental, quite smoky but is apparently popular with American tourist groups, in no small measure because of the friendly and helpful staff.  Fresh fruit, cheese, and wine await us in our room, courtesy of hotel management.  We take a quick nibble and rush out to catch a Flamenco show (the “tourist” kind) at El Patio Sevillano.  A free drink comes with admission.  The cast numbers around 20 with a full complement of dancers, three guitarists, and a balladeer (who, I assume, would do most of the screaming had this been the “deep” kind).  Flamenco is an Andalusian art form, no doubt with gypsy roots.  It consists of three parts: Cante, the song, Baile, the dance, and Guitarra, guitar playing.  Baile involves a lot of foot-stomping (think of a centipede crawling up your legs), and graceful movement with chin-to-the-air stance. You get the idea.

Page 1 - Seville Impressions

Page 3 - Lifestyle

Page 4 - The Alcazar

 

 

December 7 - 10, 2011 -- Albuquerque, NM

 

 

 

 

 

 

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