Sevilla and Córdoba - Tours on Tapas on Tours

Hello,

In this blog post, I will be writing about our recent excursion to Sevilla and Córdoba. What I found interesting, impressive, and any other comments that may come to mind.

Cool Things:

1. Seville Cathedral 
This cathedral is evidently the "third largest church building in the world" and was truly an architectural marvel. We also were able to climb up 37 ramps to the top of the tower and look out over the town of Sevilla. The city was much larger than Granada. Upon further research I found that the population is about 3x greater in Sevilla and it showed.

2. The Mosque Cathedral of Córdoba 
This building was really incredible both in architecture and historical background. Basically you had different religious groups taking this area over time and making additions to this Cathedral. The end result was a wonderful Cathedral with both Catholic and Muslim elements. The most amazing thing to me was this giant mahogany choir seat carving which you can see here.

3. Procession of the Virgin Mary in Seville 
After our dinner in Seville at the hotel, we were able to witness the process of the Virgin Mary through the streets of Seville. This was a really cool experience. Basically there were a bunch of guys crawling on their hands and knees holding up a giant float-throne type thing that had the Virgin Mary on the throne. Throngs of people were following and cheering and there was a big brass band. I talked to my host Mom and she said that people were especially religious in Sevilla.

4. Alcázar of Seville 
This place had incredible gardens and many beautiful fountains. One specific place was called El Patio de Banderas or like The Courtyard of Flags. There was one fountain in particular that reminded me of a volcano.

Thoughts: We met up with another group for this tour and I got to chat with a few new faces which was really nice! We also had the privilege of having two really great tour guides who were really passionate about what they were sharing with us. I loved experiencing that passion and feel that I have a decent understanding of the history of Spain (Andalusia especially) at this point thanks to the many various tours/excursions/lectures we have had.

- Patrick Wilson