Spain Day 05d-Barrio de Santa Cruz or old Jewish Quarter

The old Juderia, or Jewish quarter, was established in the middle ages after Sevilla's conquest by King Ferdinand III who then concentrated its Jewish inhabitants here. In 1492, after Spain was completely conquered after Granada fell, the Alhambra decree expelled all Jews from Spain.

This courtyard with all the orange trees was the parade grounds for the military, first Moors then Spanish. The Moors introduced these orange trees to Spain for shad since the leaves always stay on the tree. The oranges are the marmalade type so must be cooked before eating.

This passage was one of the only ways into the Juderia as it was at first locked for self protection and eventually for Spanish authorities to keep Jews inside.

On the left is the wall supporting the aqueduct that once brought water into the Alcazar. The street is named after it, Agua.

In the Barrio there are many houses with courtyards where the inhabitants are proud of their gardens inside. Several keep a door open, with a barred gate, to show it off to passers by and allow for cool airflow.

Every once in a while there are small open areas where you can find a little eatery or shop or both.

There are many items that were part of the older Roman era that have been repurposed like this column and cap.

This is one of the narrowest lanes in the Barrio.

There are a few of these large open areas where you can find locals and tourists alike enjoying an evening of food, drink, and conversation.

Made for the 1929 exhibition, this tile map of the region was done after the Barrio has a fixup.

Tile work also is present in the seating and detail work of this open area with orange trees.

Alliance plaza.

Spain Day 05c-Night walk in Sevilla

After a meal we wandered some more. We also saw this shop selling pastel de Nada from Portugal! They are egg custard inside pastry that you sprinkle cinnamon on. We bought two and later during our stay in Sevilla bought another six. A great reminder of a previous trip to Portugal.

Another side of the cathedral. More on that on another post.

We made our way to the river and saw a recreation boat from the time of Columbus. It offered tours onboard but we declined and instead ate our pastel. 

We stayed here for about 30 minutes watching the world go by and looking at the community of Triana across the river.

The Torre del Oro lighthouse made by the Almohad caliphate to control access to Sevilla, built in the 13th century.

Here is a night shot of the cathedral.

The Archive of the Americas. All documents about the New World were stored here and many of those documents are still here. The archive is UNESCO designated.

The Gateway of the Lion, entrance to the Real Alcazar of Sevilla. 

The walls of the Alcazar will take us to the Barrio de Santa Cruz, otherwise known as the old Jewish quarter or Juderia.

Spain Day 05b-Sevilla Walkabout and Bar Postiguillo

After arriving at our hotel in the central part of the city, we started our walkabout. The streets were narrower because we were in the older part...older than Madrid and founded as the Roman town of Hispalis. For a city of 1.5 million you couldn't tell in the central part. After it was conquered by the Castilians, it became the gateway to the New World as all goods from there had to first pass through Sevilla. Christopher Columbus set sail from here as well. Silt in the river going to the ocean and the decline of the Spanish Empire froze the city in time but has seen resurgence; part of the grand tour in the mid-1800's, Ibero-American exposition of 1929, and Expo '92. It is now capitol of this Southern region of Span, Andalusia.

The city was setting up stands for the parade and floats that roam the streets during holy week, the week preceding Easter.

Lots of modernista style buildings are along the main thoroughfares, which most are walking streets. 

This is the cathedral of Sevilla. More on that in another post.

We stopped at Bar Postiguillo for a meal and was extremely happy at the service and quality of food.

We had potatoes with short ribs, zucchini strips with reduced balsamic, and gazpacho! The gazpacho in particular was refreshing after a day of wandering.

We also had some fried 

Spain Day 05a-Train to Sevilla

It was time to head from Madrid to Sevilla and to do this we took the train. Spain has a national train service, which has many fast train routes and is well managed. The main train station in Madrid is the Atocha railway station. This station was built in 1892, after the previous one burn down, and the architect Alberto de Palacio Elissagne got some help from Gustave Eiffel.  It was renovated in 1985 and again in 1992, which is when the tropical garden was added.

Our train trip took about two and a half hours and we bought all of our tickets in Spain in advance, except our Madrid to Toledo and back again leg of the trip. More on that in a future post. We also bought the tickets through Trainline rather than the difficult to use Renfe website. Although we paid a bit extra through Trainline it was negligible for the peace of mind. The ride was comfortable and the cafeteria car was well stocked with basics.

Lots of interesting scenery flew by during the journey and it was a good time to catch up on re-reading about our next destination, reading for fun, or just looking out the window. The images below are some of what we saw.

Spain Day 04b-Egyptian Temple and Puerto Rico

 After going to the park we went to Egypt to see a temple. The Temple of Debod was originally just south of the Aswan and built in early 200 BCE and later extended. In 1968, because of the Awan dam construction, Egypt gave it to Spain for its help with relocating the Abu Simbel temples. Because not a lot of Egyptian structures of this size are located outside of Egypt we wanted to see it. We came around sunset for the nice light and were glad we did. Lots of folks, locals and tourists, also enjoy the area around sunset for the great views over the Northern part of Madrid.

Next it was back to Puerto Rico, a great inexpensive place to eat with many dishes to try.We started with a Spanish white rueda wine.

Then onto a hearty soup with egg on bread.

Then Gallacian octopus.

Also sepia (mahogany) fish with salad.

Finally dessert with rice pudding and caramel custard. A great end to a nice walking day.

Spain Day 04a-Chocolate and a Walk in the Park

We started off day 04 of our Spain trip in Madrid going to the best hot chocolate place in the city according to Isaac our Devour tour guide, Chocolat Madrid. He had told us it does not use any corn starch to thicken it that many other places do. It was on our way so we gave it a go for an early lunch too.

First we had the vegetable sandwich with salad, tomatoes, egg, and tuna. Delicious and great price.

Then came the chocolate and churros (fried thick and crispy dough). It was indeed one of the best hot chocolates I have tried. It was more dark and less sweet than other hot chocolates so it was exactly to my liking.

We then went somewhere to walk it off...the park! Not just any park though, Buen Retiro park also called El Retiro. It was first established in 1505 as land for a monestary and ryal retreat. It was expanded when King Phillip II moved the court from Toledo to Madrid in 1561 with avenues and trees. Since then it was expanded and improved until it passed to public ownership in 1868 and is a UNESCO world heritage site at 350 acres in size. Below are images taken in or of the park.