April 9th, 2023 Day 96 of 128

Cadiz, Spain (Day trip to Seville)

Feliz Pascua from Spain. Happy Easter. We started our morning with the knocking on our door again this morning. In my defense alarm was set for 6:45. Room service was scheduled for 7:00 and they can come 15 minutes anther way. They were there around 6:40. At least I heard them knock on the door this morning.  Reminder to self, make sure I wear pajamas on days we order room service for breakfast. Lol!!  I had my “dyed”hard boiled eggs this morning in true Easter tradition. We had an hour to get ourselves ready to meet our excursion group at 8:15 am in the main stage. Cadiz is the oldest city in Spain and was founded almost 3,000 years ago by the Phoenicians. This is Holy Week here is Spain and over the last two days there have been many parades and processions through the streets of town as they carried large statues in honor of the holiday. Today, being Easter, the town was quiet as most people don’t have to work today (unless you work in the tourist business and there is a ship in port). As we left Cadiz we drove over the Puente De La Constitución De 1812, the largest bridge in Spain. It was designed to allow large ships to pass under it. We had a two hour bus ride to the city of Seville. We had a comfort stop about halfway at a rest stop where there was a market and coffee shop. Megan and I got some caffeinated beverages cause we were dragging our wagons a little.  Not really sure how we made these choices when booking our excursions, but the way I look at it is, in the future when I come back here, I’ll be able to spend more time in the port cities and less time on a bus.  As we came into Seville we drove by the the soccer stadium and then got off the bus at the Maria Luisa Park. In 1914 it was decided that the friendship between the Americas and Spain needed to be celebrated and honored. They decided to hold a grand world’s fair but it took ten years to raise the money to have the celebration. In 1925 they started to build the park and all the trees, imported from America, then the two main squares and the hotel. It took 4 years and 10k men to complete the project. A wall was made with bricks, marble, and stone to surround the park. There are 58 benches all along the wall of the square to represent the 58 providences in Spain. They are all covered in painted tiles. Those tiles are all made in Seville. There are many pavilions (buildings and castle like structures) representing different countries. Spain’s is the biggest. Once we got off the bus, our first stop at the park was to see a large statue erected in honor of Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the Americas. Christopher Columbus sailed from Seville to Cadiz and then on to Americas. The navigators all came back to Seville with the gold and silver that they brought back from the Americas. They used their fortunes to bless this community. Columbus is actually buried here in Seville, a fact I learned today. As we walked through the square there were flamenco dancers performing in the streets and I wish we had had more time to stop and watch them. Our next stop on our walking tour was to the Visita Real Alcazar de Sevilla. This Castle originally started as a Moorish castle in the 10th century. The King of Spain renamed this area the Santa Cruz district in the 13th century. Also, known as the district of the holy cross. In the 15th century the Kings of Spain lived here. The kings loved this castle so much they added to it a little at a time to construct the grand structure we saw today. It is still a royal residence when the kings of Spain come here today. They close it to the public when they are here. This entire area was a Jewish community with the typical Jewish quarter with very narrow streets, winding streets small squares. It is very easy to get lost and we were strongly encouraged to stay with our guide and not wander away.  There are three UNESCO world heritage sights all in the square here. The Visita Real Alcazar de Sevilla, the Cathedral de Santa María de Sede la 1929, and the Archivo de Indias. We could not visit the cathedral because it is Easter and there are services being held today. But we got to see and hear the bell tower. It has 25 bells that ring in scheduled sequence. At 12:30pm the bells rang with joyous jubilation. They marked the end of Lent, the end of Holy week and the start of the bull fighting season which officially starts today. It is their “Super Bowl” of bullfighting days. It was overwhelming to hear those bells ringing while standing in a centuries old castle, on Easter, in Spain. I was moved to tears and it was another moment of imbedded memories for me for this trip. After we left the castle we had a chance to walk through the alleyways and see shops and cafes. We were also given about thirty minutes of free time to do some shopping. Megan and I had a lot of fun running back to shop where they were making toffee coasted almonds and the smell drew us right back. They were still warm and they were delicious. We then headed to the bus for a five minute drive to the restaurant where we had lunch. The dessert was the best part of lunch to write home about, cream puffs with a hot chocolate dipping sauce. Megan and I each had an espresso and we were zinging for the rest of the day. After we left the restaurant we walked across the street to The Plaza de España. It has been used as a filming location, including scenes for Lawrence of Arabia(1962), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones(2002) in exterior shots of the City of Theed on the Planet Naboo and it was also used in the movie Night and Day. This Plaza was our second WOW moment of our time here in Spain. Again, my photos do not do it justice. The buildings are exquisite. There is a beautiful water fountain in the middle and moat of sort with boats you can rent a trip in, much like Venice There are multiple walking bridges that take you over the water way and in the center there is a round about where the horse drawn carriages circle the fountain. It was one of the most romantic places I have ever been. Absolutely breathtaking. We had a bout 30 minutes of free time here to take photos, visit the street vendors and buy our magnet and keychain. Then we were back on the bus for our roughly two hour drive back to the port and the ship. We got back to the room and were welcomed by some Cadbury chocolates and note from the ship wishing us a Happy Easter. We dropped off our purchases from the day and headed up to the sail away party. In true Spanish tradition I had to have a Sangria as we toasted our farewell to Spain. It was a wonderful visit here. First and foremost I felt safe. We enjoyed every opportunity we had to soak up the culture, the food, the traditions, the history, the music and the people. I would absolutely come back here again. After the sail away party I headed home and got my blog revised with the photos from yesterday, got today blog and phots all completed and Megan went off to play cards with Gail and Marty. We get an hour back as we roll the clocks back an hour tonight. AND bonus, our excursion doesn’t meet till 10:30am tomorrow so we are sleeping in. I am currently awaiting a FaceTime call with my family who are all getting together back in California in celebration of Easter this afternoon and I can’t wait to “see” them all around 11:30pm my time. May you all be having a most blessed Easter Sunday wherever you are.