An ancient wall separates a portion of the old city containing the Mezquita from the newer section where our hotel is located. We stopped here to watch the local dogs play in the water.
We set out for another visit to the Mezquita, to see the shops one more time and hopfully run into the celebration happenings for the beginning of Semana Santa, Holy Week, in Spain. We found the procession that was going from the Tower of the Mequita to the main sanctuary inside. While we couldn't understand the exact words they were chanting and singing, we have been to plenty of Palm Sunday processions to know the basics. Many people had large palms and branches to wave as the parade of religious went by into the cathedral. Many people tried to crowd their way into the cathedral as there is no admission fee on Sunday mornings, specifically becasue if worship, but there is a great deal in difference in admission to the space between the 70-year-old woman in her Sunday best holding palm branches and a family of 5 with cameras and wearing shorts, baseball hats and flip-flops. It was interesting watching the tension develop on the face of the "bouncer" as he tried to decide who was there to worship and who was there as a tourist. We wondered if the church was more interested in people worshiping or collecting admission from tourists. Probably some of both. We decided to skip the mass.
A closeup of a section of the Mezquita above a doorway. The pattern in the middle section was one Escher copied in June of 1936.
The Palm Sunday precession into the cathedral/mosque.
We wandered the streets a while longer, crossing the bridge over the river and watching the tourist busses unload. We decided we had had enough and headed back to the hotel, because Dave had promised some pool time at this hotel, which boasts a roof-top pool area with lounge chairs and some shaded areas. We thought about laying in the sun, but after about a half-hour of the scorching brightness, we moved to chairs in the shade to nap and enjoy the outdoor weather without running around doing other things. I hate to rub it in, especially hearing about the crummy weather and rain and snow in Michigan, but it was in the upper 20s here today, which is about 80 degrees F and not a cloud in the sky.
Another view of the hotel showing the oxidized (yes, rusty) shell in all of its glory.
The bridge over the river in town. The same river runs through Sevilla, although it is much larger there.
Some interesting paving stones in the street near our hotel.
We walked about town looking for some dinner options, which are still at a much later time than we are used to at home. We set out about 7:30 and stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a beer and glass of wine, but they only served sandwiches for a meal. We were hoping to visit a tapas bar we had stopped at last night, but had arrived too early for the kitchen to be open and did not wait. Tonight we were in luck and ordered a few tapas to try. Dave thoroughly enjoyed them, but I was a little more reserved in my fondness for some of them. The weather has turned a little more windy this evening and cooler, so we finished up in the hotel lounge with a few more bites to eat. We wanted to note that the lobby and lounge area has some really weird elevator music ranging from selections from the musical Cats to the theme from the Godfather movies to Carmen. Maybe the weirdest part is that we recognize all this different music that has been elevator-ized with Spanish trumpet flair.
At this point we have seen all the major sights we had hoped to see and we begin our slow journey home. Tomorrow we have tickets on the 10:00 am bus to Malaga, where we will then catch a short train, bus, or taxi to nearby Torremolinos to spend one night on the Mediterranean. This bus is not a direct route, but has about 7 stops in small towns to make pick ups. Our seats are in the direct front, where we can witness all the action. Tuesday night we have a flight back to Amsterdam and Wednesday morning we head back to the US.
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