Seville 3

Seville catedral

The cathedral in Seville is an amalgam of various styles. Treatises have been written on it, so look them
up if you want to know. It was built on a former mosque (its signature tower, La Giralda, remains) just as the cathedral in Cordoba, and the Cathedral in Mexico DF was built on seven separate lamina of Aztec temples. I would not be surprised to learn that the mosque was built over some other holy place. Is it conquest, hedging of bets that some sort of deity is nearby, or both? Looking at structures like this almost makes me sweat blood to even think of what went into building them by hindreds of craftsmen, over centuries, with minimal tools.

                        

Arches, colonnades, and fountains.

Casa Pilates

Casa Pilates, a palace a short walk from the Cathedral, was built to remember the owner's idea of Pontius Pilate's palace. It is another graceful, colonnaded palace with  a plashing fountain, tiles on the walls under the colonnades and hallways. I am not tired of these yet! There were piles of marble columns lying in a stone-walled room behind a BMW, waiting for . . . their time to come again? There was a tour guide whose English was so awful that it was far easier for me to understand her Spanish (delivered first). One more Seville sight that I thought was mesmerizing and very different. The Espacio Metropol Parosol:

It looks like a real manifestation of a topological CAD  image: and constructed of interlocking sheets in a hivey matrix. This alluring object looks one shape when you look at it: walk three feet and it is another thing. It is fantastic to see this in a plaza surrounded by very old buildings that make an attempt at 90 degree angles all around. I stopped there for a novel lunch: a molded salad of chicken and avocado. As I ate and drew, I was approached by a drunk, who professed undying admiration, duly added his name to my journal and then went away when asked.

I would have liked to spend more time wandering around Seville, but it was time to head for Africa. Morocco, actually. Feet, buses, ferries, cabs, and guides, another adventure. Tedious to be so enthusiastic, but really, everything was wonderful, delicious, and exciting.