![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingThe day is not done, but I shall report on our progress so far!
We got a late start, due partly to Mom letting us all sleep in and then an attempt at more laundry; the machine in Vicky's apartment is very very slow, and there is no dryer, so once the wash was done we had to painstakingly set up the drying rack and heater and hang all articles of clothing carefully over the bars and wires.
Around 11:30 Mom, Dad, and I set out for the Museum of Fine Arts (Museo de Bellas Artes), which turned out to be closed, so we continued on to the Alcázar (Reales Alcázares), which is a palace initially built by the Moors and later expanded and altered several times by a series of Christian Spanish monarchs; it is still the Spanish royal family's official residence if and when they visit Seville. We paused to hear and watch all the bells on the Giralda rung at once shortly after noon, which made an incredible clangor.
The Alcázar turned out to be closing at 1:30, since today is Christmas Eve, so we hurried in at about 12:30 and spent an hour and a half looking through the rooms and gardens. It is a glorious palace -- the carvings and tiles and plasterwork and paneling and gilding are ornate, omnipresent, over-the-top... and absolutely gorgeous. You would think it might be too much but the effect is only overpowering beauty, not the overcrowded busyness one sometimes finds with Baroque excess.
I have a special love for Islamic style gardens, which tend to be based around central water elements in a more contemplative way than European gardens, which tend to be more... cluttered, I think, even when they have central fountains. Anyway, these gardens were quite lovely, even in the middle of winter.
One interesting thing about being in Seville in the winter is that while it's generally chilly -- daytime temperatures have been in the upper forties Fahrenheit, I think -- oranges are in season, so the orange trees that line nearly every square and a ridiculous number of streets are all loaded with vivid fruit. I had some coloring book pictures of orange trees as a child, and I always thought they must have been exaggerated for effect -- that nothing could be quite that fruit-heavy -- but no, the images turn out to have been quite realistic. The fruit really is that dramatic: an explosion of brilliant orange among the dark green leaves on the small, bushy trees. Seville oranges are bitter, though, and better made into marmalade than eaten fresh or squeezed for juice.
The three of us had lunch at a small bar (paella for me, crispy omelette w/ shrimp for Mom, and calamari for Dad), and went north of Vicky's apartment to a Lidl and a local supermarket to buy some food and cleaning supplies. Vicky is now up and Mom and Dad have bought some more random stuff from a little local shop (an alimentacion, or Chino, as local slang seems to have it, since many are run by Chinese immigrants), so we will begin getting Vicky packed for her move tonight and tomorrow morning.
Later tonight we will eat random leftovers and possibly a small frozen pizza, and open Christmas presents. It's an odd holiday, but we're together, which is the main point. :-)
(And the Alcázar is gorgeous, did I mention that? I am glad to have seen it. I look forward to the Alhambra even more now!)
Tomorrow we finish Vicky's move and drive to Granada, detouring south along the coast in hopes of scenic views if we have time.
We got a late start, due partly to Mom letting us all sleep in and then an attempt at more laundry; the machine in Vicky's apartment is very very slow, and there is no dryer, so once the wash was done we had to painstakingly set up the drying rack and heater and hang all articles of clothing carefully over the bars and wires.
Around 11:30 Mom, Dad, and I set out for the Museum of Fine Arts (Museo de Bellas Artes), which turned out to be closed, so we continued on to the Alcázar (Reales Alcázares), which is a palace initially built by the Moors and later expanded and altered several times by a series of Christian Spanish monarchs; it is still the Spanish royal family's official residence if and when they visit Seville. We paused to hear and watch all the bells on the Giralda rung at once shortly after noon, which made an incredible clangor.
The Alcázar turned out to be closing at 1:30, since today is Christmas Eve, so we hurried in at about 12:30 and spent an hour and a half looking through the rooms and gardens. It is a glorious palace -- the carvings and tiles and plasterwork and paneling and gilding are ornate, omnipresent, over-the-top... and absolutely gorgeous. You would think it might be too much but the effect is only overpowering beauty, not the overcrowded busyness one sometimes finds with Baroque excess.
I have a special love for Islamic style gardens, which tend to be based around central water elements in a more contemplative way than European gardens, which tend to be more... cluttered, I think, even when they have central fountains. Anyway, these gardens were quite lovely, even in the middle of winter.
One interesting thing about being in Seville in the winter is that while it's generally chilly -- daytime temperatures have been in the upper forties Fahrenheit, I think -- oranges are in season, so the orange trees that line nearly every square and a ridiculous number of streets are all loaded with vivid fruit. I had some coloring book pictures of orange trees as a child, and I always thought they must have been exaggerated for effect -- that nothing could be quite that fruit-heavy -- but no, the images turn out to have been quite realistic. The fruit really is that dramatic: an explosion of brilliant orange among the dark green leaves on the small, bushy trees. Seville oranges are bitter, though, and better made into marmalade than eaten fresh or squeezed for juice.
The three of us had lunch at a small bar (paella for me, crispy omelette w/ shrimp for Mom, and calamari for Dad), and went north of Vicky's apartment to a Lidl and a local supermarket to buy some food and cleaning supplies. Vicky is now up and Mom and Dad have bought some more random stuff from a little local shop (an alimentacion, or Chino, as local slang seems to have it, since many are run by Chinese immigrants), so we will begin getting Vicky packed for her move tonight and tomorrow morning.
Later tonight we will eat random leftovers and possibly a small frozen pizza, and open Christmas presents. It's an odd holiday, but we're together, which is the main point. :-)
(And the Alcázar is gorgeous, did I mention that? I am glad to have seen it. I look forward to the Alhambra even more now!)
Tomorrow we finish Vicky's move and drive to Granada, detouring south along the coast in hopes of scenic views if we have time.
