2 - 3 April 2017
Last stop in Portugal Vila Nova de Cacela, Portugal. A tavern owner in the last town directed us to this spot for its great views of the Atlantic Ocean - he didn't mentioned the neat flea market happening there.
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Back to Spain! Land of the Tapas plates!
Stopping outside Huevla Spain, at the spot where two rivers merged, just before the Atlantic - this is where Christopher Columbus departed on his first voyage of discovery. The monument was erected in 1892, the 400th anniversary of the "discovery" of the America's.
Just beyond this bridge is where the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria weighed anchor and departed from left to right, on their way to what Columbus expected to be Asia accessed from the West.
A fast food version of tapas - what Tim terms "House of a Thousand Sandwiches" - not the real name, but this chain, all over the parts of Spain we travelled, has 100 different mini sandwiches to choose from.
And now in Seville Spain (the setting for the play "Barber of Seville").
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In the middle of our walking tour (not our horse and carriage tour)....shout out to our nephew Troy Simpson for the I-Pad Gerri is using; he scored it in a crane game on a cruise with us a couple years ago.
The first time we've seen "flying buttresses" - structures that support tall walls of churches, that allow them to soar without being outrageously immensely massive at the bottom. Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral has the most recognizable examples of this design. This cathedral is Seville's Cathedral of St. Mary.
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Bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Mary - largest Gothic church in the world.
Bird captured in flight...
Gerri's birthday dinner...tasty Tapas and Sangria.
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The next day in Seville...inside the Cathedral of St. Mary's. An interesting feature is the side aisle ceilings being the same height of the inner aisle (the nave) - most old cathedrals we have visited have shorter side aisles - the flying buttresses allow this design.
Same cathedral, Christopher Columbus's tomb - the guide information said his remains may or may not be still within - secrets lost to antiquity or purposely obscured due to the shenanigans of those in power over the centuries.
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Views from St. Mary's bell tower, near the top, Geraldi Bell Tower, 330 feet up. We wound up and up, round and round, along with hundreds of others, up the spiral steps.
Royal Alcazar. One of the residences of Spain's Royals, oldest Royal residence in Europe still in use.
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Gardens of the Royal Alcazar - the locals are allowed free entry to enjoy it.
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