Flamenco!

The conference's social event tonight was a flamenco performance.  A four person group: guitarist, vocalist, female dancer, and male dancer.  It was a small venue, which made for a very intimate feel.  The energy was amazing, but what I really didn't expect was how loud the dancing would be, so much stomping.  They were all very good, but the visual flair of the female dancer stole the show.  I was very impressed and would definitely go again.

Seville Olympics?

My conference started today, so this morning after a massive hotel provided breakfast buffet, I set out on the half hour walk to the venue.  The conference is located on the Isla de Cartuja.  An interesting thing about Cartuja: its the site of an Olympic Stadium for the Seville Olympic Games . . . which you've never heard of because they never occurred.  I guess building a stadium seemed like a good way to attract the Olympics, but then their Olympic bids failed in 2004 and 2008 and apparently the stadium has gotten hardly any use:  A UEFA Cup Final, four international friendlies, and a handful of big concerts.  Just below the stadium is the proposed site of the Olympic village which has since been converted into a science and technology park.  It also had hosted a world's fair in 1992.  This makes for a weird mix of science-themed street names, Expo-style art exhibitions, and custom manhole covers.  In any case one of the science park buildings was hosting the conference, so these elements all add up to an interesting morning walk . .  . feels kinda like a science theme-park.

Spanish EPCOT?

Shade art of some sort?

And the manhole covers . . . they were
everywhere. (not always upside down).

Yes, they have their own rocket.

Siesta

At this point I'm very hungry, and I make my way back to a sidewalk table near the Cathedral and order some tapas.  My food is very quickly prepared.  A squid dish that seems to be three whole and fairly large squid with an inked aioli and Seville's signature potato dish which is a bit like home fries with a spicy ketchup sauce.  Very good, but almost immediately as I start eating I notice the place starting to close around me.  It is almost 4pm, and apparently I am witnessing the beginning of Siesta.  As I learn, Siesta here is ~4-8pm and seems to apply to pretty much any business, but especially restaurants.  In fact the locals often eat dinner at 10 or 11pm and seemingly enforce this practice by closing their restaurants to prevent tourists from eating earlier.

Food is not the only area where Spain's clock seems to tick to its own beat.  Spain is due South of England, however has decided to use Central European time (like Germany), so the sun is still visible well after 9pm even now and there is light in the sky after 10pm.  Maybe somewhat explains the late meals . . . but not quite.  Even if the schedule is a bit unorthodox there's not much to complain about Spanish cuisine.  Varied and delicious.

Searching for the Barber

Checked into my new digs at the Hotel NH Plaza de Armas, I decide to head out and see Seville.  I walk south along the river.  Not far away I pass the Plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla (the Seville Bull Fighting Ring) and accompanying museum.  I'm a bit torn.  I'm not really on board with this particular form of entertainment, however as with most things, I feel the need to learn more so I can be more informed.  I enter and book a walking tour.  The building is very impressive, apparently it is the oldest active ring in Spain and the building took 132 years complete.  No fights are scheduled for the next couple of weeks.  The tour guide gives a very good background on the fight and traditions.  She is very careful to talk about how the best fighters are scored highly for finding the most humane methods to dispatch the bulls of the day.  She also talks about how the bull fighting corporation is well-known for its charitable causes.  All this seems to be a well-orchestrated attempt to place the sport in a good light.  She does gloss over the fact that by the time the matador quickly dispatches the animal, it has already been weakened by lancing and pinning by a series of banderilleros and picadores.  I kept an open-mind and I appreciate the tradition and pageantry, but its hard to not view this as a legitimized form of animal mistreatment.

The royal box at the Seville Bull Ring.

Seville Cathedral entryway detail

I walk onward to the south-ish.  Seville is hot, thermometers are reading 36C (~97F) today, but no humidity.  Its perfectly comfortable in the shade, but in the sun you are sweating profusely before you realize you are hot.  I find myself choosing my route based more on the amount of shade a street can afford rather than any set destination. Regardless I quickly find myself at the Cathedral, which after the Moorish occupation, was built over the mosque as the "largest church in Christendom".  It has an interesting gothic architecture, with unusually large flying buttresses, which I suspect are awkwardly dimensioned due to the desire to obscure the Moorish elements of the underlying building.  This part of the city is busy with street restaurants, but I decide to pass on eating to explore further.  I wander through the gardens surrounding the Alcazar, the former home of the Moorish Kings.  The Moorish influences are everywhere in Seville, but mainly as accents.  In this area it really has the feel of what I think Morocco may be like (which is after all less than 100 miles away).  Orange trees line the streets and I see homes that seem to have interior courtyards.

Orange trees line the plaza behind the Alcazar

No barbers witnessed, but all very cool (or hot rather).

Seville-bound

I'm onboard the AVE train from Madrid to Seville.  I scored a seat on the quiet car with no one in my row.  Time to stretch out and watch the Spanish countryside blur by at 275 km/hr (170 mph).  Nice ride!

My cross-country high-speed chariot

Madrid

AC room

After the typical lose a night, get thrown into the next day NA to Europe flight, I arrived in Madrid this morning.  I eventually made my way onto a city center bound train (two trains in a row never turned up), and here I was.  Arriving at Atocha station, I had to navigate what must be the world's largest taxi stand (there had to be 200 taxis lined up), and in fact circumnavigated the sizeable building before figuring out how to exit onto street-level.  Luckily the weather today was beautiful: sunny,  70's (or mid/low 20's depending where you are from), just an occasional cloud.  I checked into the AC Hotel near Atocha  AC is Marriott's new brand, I was surprised at the ultramodern room, glassed in shower in the bedroom with 27 shower nozzles/heads/rain makers.  Very nice.  Unfortunately this is my one day to explore Madrid, so I wanted to make the most of the time I had left.  Already tired, I decided to take a quick shower to wake myself up and head out on foot. 

Art in the Reina Sofia Terrace

I had a general direction where "interesting stuff" might be, but kind of just took it in stumble-upon mode.  First Stumble-upon was the Reina Sofia, part of the Spanish National Art Museum.  Much smaller than its much bigger sibling the Prada (which I knew I didn't have time for), the Reina Sofia has more specialized exhibits and is famous as the home of Picasso's Guernica.  I toured two of the three permanent exhibit floors, and was duly impressed by the size and number of paintings by masters for being Madrid's "Other" art museum.  Many Dali's and Picasso's, and a handful of Van Gogh's, Gaugin's, Manet's, and various other Spanish and non-Spanish artists.  The Guernica itself was impressive as billed.  Its a huge masterwork taking up a wall, and there are many subtleties to the painting that were never apparent to me in pictures, such as the way undersketches had been allowed to come through in places providing additional layers to the work.

Guernica (stock pic . . .no cameras allowed).

I then marched up, up, up the hill in the general direction of the royal palace.  My random walk afforded me some views of family life living in old Madrid, kid's playing football in the street, dogs running around, and grandparents chasing grandchildren.  It was a very authentic experience and probably not one that is found on the typical tourist routes.  I eventually walked into the Mayor's Square, which was surrounded on four sides by an impressive wrap of government buildings.  It reminded me a lot of a similar square I saw in Brussels a few years ago. 

Town hall on the Plaza Mayor

I then continued on my way and found the Palacio Real (Royal Palace).  At first I stumbled on the side of the building and even that was quite impressive, but I eventually discovered how to access the front and it immediately struck me the similarity of this building to another Habsburg palace I visited last year in Vienna.  In fact they must have been modeled after one another so as not to confuse the royal family.  Slowly I wound my way back down the hill, and made it back to the hotel just seconds before I completely collapsed of exhaustion.  I think its going to be room service tonight, then sleep!

Palacio Real -  Habsburg palace number 3 for me

Cathedral near Palace

A neat market I found

España

Today I'm headed across the pond for a quick trip to Spain to attend a conference.  I'm hoping to have a little time in Madrid and Seville to tourist.  I'll brush off my three major words of Spanish: cerveza, banos, and champiñones (as in 'NO champiñones, por favor').