Many Little Trips

Since arriving in Sevilla, I've been to all sorts of historical sites (so many that they are beginning to look blend together). So, here is a brief compilation of these places, all of them very old. If you have any interest in more information than I will provide, I recommend Wikipedia.

Itálica. The first ancient Roman city in Spain. Game of Thrones (a very popular American TV series, that I've never seen) was filmed here. There is a massive amphitheater, one of biggest of the Roman empire, where gladiators used to do their thing. It was cool, and I would have liked more time to explore.

Real Alcazar de Sevilla. This is the royal palace that has changed hands over the centuries, and to this day includes architecture and design elements from both Muslim and Christian rule. So much tile work, and all in various period-specific styles, as the palace was continually expanded and redecorated. Very, very beautiful and unlike anything I'd ever seen; I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. The royal gardens behind the palace are massive and full of cool plants and peacocks, and it would make a lovely picnic ground except for the fact that you have to pay to enter. Fun fact: this is the oldest royal palace in Europe that is still in use. And Game of Thrones was also filmed here.

Catedral y Giralda. The Cathedral is the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world (do I know what Gothic means? Not entirely sure, but I think it's a style of decoration). It was built in the location of a mosque that was destroyed, but for the Giralda, the super tall tower. 

**Side note: that's how all the churches work here - they were built on top of mosques. Which were sometimes built on top of old churches. And one time we saw one that was a church built on a mosque built on a church built on a mosque.** 

The cathedral was very pretty, and even housed the remains of the lower half of Christopher Columbus' body. The Giralda is a tower that contains 34 ramps that wrap around in a square, and reaches a height of 17 stories; for centuries it was the tallest tower in ofSpain. We were quite sweaty by the time we reached the top, but the views of all of Sevilla from the bell tower were so cool.

Plaza de España. A really cool, massive plaza built for the 1929 Iberoamerican Exposition (not sure what that was about). It's a half circle, has a fountain in the middle, and even has a little river with rental row boats. It's beautifully decorated, with tiled alcoves representing each province of Spain. The buildings are now used for the government, I think. I visited with a friend, and unfortunately there are no signs providing any information at all.

Teatro Romano de Cádiz. When my friends and I spent the day in Cádiz, a beach town a few hours from Sevilla, we stumbled upon a Roman theater that was under excavation. We saw a sign announcing emergency works at the Roman theater, and were so confused as to where the ancient theater was and why it was an emergency, but later realized that the ruins were right next to us and that the emergency was to prevent the collapse of the buildings that been constructed on top of the ruins.

Catedral de Cádiz. Another cathedral. This one had a crypt, which was very humid and a bit eerie. Also the most recent burial in the crypt was from 2013. And we climbed the very tall bell tower.

Random Arab castle. Our program took us on a day trip to a park for hiking, and we stopped at an Arab castle on a hill, serving as fortification. I was a touch underwhelmed, and am still not sure where we were.

Ruinas Romanas de Mérida. Our program brought us on an overnight trip this weekend, and our first stop was to see Roman ruins in Merida. We saw the amphitheater and the theater. The amphitheater was smaller than Itálica (see above) and the theater was larger than Cádiz (also above), though this theater has been restored and is currently a functional outdoor theater. Game of Thrones might have been filmed here. We also visited the national museum of Roman ruins, where we learned that the statues don't have heads so that the Roman empire could easily swap new marble heads onto toga-clad marble bodies whenever  the king changed.

Ciudad vieja de Cáceres. Also this weekend, we went to the medieval city in Cáceres. It was really old and pretty, and full of massive palaces and churches and such. What somewhat affected the medieval mood was the fake Oktoberfest celebration that was occurring in the main plaza of the historic city center, full of beer and music. Also, lots of towers on the palaces were flat on top, because some queen would chop the tops off the towers of the families that were disloyal to the king. Very cool space though, really liked it. Game of Thrones was filmed here (you may be noticing a trend).

Trujillo. Our last stop this weekend was in the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro (the conqueror of Peru - yikes!). We walked around, saw his father's house, and also saw a convent that is completely closed off to the world. The monks (and maybe nuns, too?) make candies in the convent, and then people ring the bell and speak through the wall, and the monks place candies on a revolving shelf to sell them. We also visited a very cool Arab fortification castle on the hill overlooking the whole surrounding area. The views were great, and the walk on top of the castle walls was fun. We even went down into the old well area, where the water now appears to be quite stagnant. And yep, Game of Thrones was filmed in this castle.

So there's my not-so-short, but fairly vague summary. Lots of trips, lots of history. I'm starting to think that maybe I should watch Game of Thrones.