The Cathedral

Second to none in beauty (while technically the 3^rd in size), the Cathedral in Sevilla is a sight to behold. What first hits you when you walk in the door is the sheer size of the place. It’s massive! Soaring arched ceilings flanked with carved stone columns and adorned with intricate stained glass windows overwhelm you at the entrance. Then you get to really take your time and look at all the pain-staking detail that went into the making of such a grand cathedral. The gothic style of the main space is so impressive. The wings are flanked by individual rooms displaying paintings, statues, smaller sanctuaries, crypts, and candelabras. You name it and it’s there intricately carved out of wood and most likely painted in gold leaf. The main alter is beautiful, carved from wood and painted gold it is as intricate an altarpiece as you can find in the world, however my favorite part of the cathedral were the back rooms we got to stroll through. 

The sacristy has a 2 of the only Goya paintings with religious themes in the world. The more famous of the 2 depicts two women, the sister martyrs of Sevilla. The other is a picture of Jesus on the cross, which you see everywhere in this city. My favorite room was a circular room now used as a sort of museum that was modeled more in the enlightenment era. It was very light (a nice change from the dusky glow of the main part) and had smaller carvings on the wall columns and a low bleach-white ceiling. If you looked straight up when standing in the center under the domed ceiling, you could see into a room of windows at the top where the natural light lit up a face carved into the stone ceiling, he was smiling down at me! :)

Our last stop was quite a hike up 40 levels of ramps to the top of La Giralda (the bell tower). The bell tower was originally the minaret of the Muslim mosque that was built on the same site years before. Only the bell tower and the central patio are left from the original mosque. I enjoyed the walk up (I wanted some exercise since we eat a ton of fried food here) and once we got to the top… what a view!  You could see the entire city spread out below you. 

After this I got to go home and my senora was amazing and let me eat dinner early (7:30) because I was starving after my longest day yet. After dinner I got to relax for a hour or so then I had to go out to meet my intercambio. An intercambio is a Spaniard you can be paired with to practice your Spanish conversation skills and their English. My intercambio is awesome! His name is Javi and he is hilarious. Despite the language barrier I think we will be good friends. He had to work early the next morning and I was thankful because that meant I could leave by midnight and not feel like a lame for going home so “early.”  The concept of what is a decent time to get home here is something it’s taking me a while to get used to.  I had to interview regular Seville University students a class and one question was “when you go out, about what time do you return home?” Everyone answered after 4 in the morning. Yikes! I realized I would be the only person circling the ‘between 12 and 2’ option. Haha. It’s just one more thing to get used to. 

As far as adapting goes, I believe I’m doing well. I feel pretty decent about directions and the speaking is coming easier each day. I travel to Granada this weekend with program. We leave Saturday morning and get back about dinner time Sunday. I look forward to seeing more of southern Spain. I hope this finds you all well. I love and miss you all. -At

Gorgeous!

The main altar

The choir area

The sacristy - a little bigger than St. Chris's, Mom?

My favorite room

The guy that smiles down at you!

View from the top of the Giralda

On the way out. I love the arches.