Parque de Maria Luisa y Plaza de Espana

Buenas Noches,

Today was Sunday, so unfortunately all of Seville was closed all day. They force you to rest and relax here, and I am very very not used to that. The Spaniards close all shops and businesses each day between 2-5pm. How convenient-- just enough time for lunch and a siesta! It makes me crazy to take naps every day and stay inside but it is scorching hot so during the day Seville is kind of quiet. The sun is hottest here around 3-6pm, unlike home. Due to the intense heat, the Spaniards make more use of the night time and the city seems to "wake up" when it starts to get dark and cool off. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't make for very good pictures in the dark.

Here are some pictures of our neighboorhood..

Our building :)

Amelia took us to a beautiful park near the city that was given to the people of Seville as a gift from the queen. The Parque de Maria Luisa, (named after her), was built for the World's Fair in 1929 and is filled with many gorgeous flowers and trees, as well as monuments and fountains. One interesting thing about the park and the entire city, is that... there is NO grass. Just dirt or sand everywhere. Which is why we return to the house each night with Black feet! yuck!! But there is no way of avoiding it because sneakers are just too hot to wear during the day.

Besides the heat, we did get to see some of the historic areas of the city that I have learned about in school. Seville was originally named "Hispalis" by the Romans and was the second to last city to be taken over by the Moors, then renamed "Sevilla". Seville and other Spanish towns were then taken over by Ferdinand and Isabella during La Reconquista. Still today, there are many many historical buildings that were erected during the Muslim era of Seville. These buildings are known for having repeating decorative tiles, intricate archways, tiered vaults, and domed ceilings. You can see the traces of this style of architecture all over Seville.

La Plaza de Espana :)

After the park, we visited La Plaza de Espana. This is one of the most amazing things we've seen so far... and go figure, my camera died as soon as we got there. (pics from Natalie coming soon!) This monument was built to honor all the provinces of Spain and is a really good example of the Moorish-style architecture. All of the tiles and little columns are the balconies were hand-painted and are all different. The tiles on the floors and ceilings are intricately carved into beautiful patterns, each ceiling different from the other. In the middle of this monument, there is supposed to be a circular canal of water with an area of floor in the middle but this area is under construction. There are beautiful hand-painted bridges that connect the middle floor to the outside floor. The monument is designed in a half-circle and there is a mural to represent each province of Spain along the wall connecting the buildings. I was just running around touching everything on this building. The floors, the columns, the steps, the walls, etc. Everything was so detailed and must have taken forever to decorate by hand.

Mas tarde, Adios