Sevilla

Our plans for today were originally to go to Ronda, but when we woke up it was pouring rain. We slept in a little longer and finally the rain let up around 10. So with our late start, we decided to take a train over to Sevilla, which is about an hour train ride from Jerez. When we arrived, we got taxis and headed over to the Cathedral de Sevilla, the third largest cathedral and the largest gothic cathedral in Europe. We walked around the cathedral for a little over an hour. The altar was made of gold and the treasure room was filled with valuble pieces. Christopher Columbus' tomb is located here as well.
The cathedral was built over a Muslim mosque and the bell tower and outdoors area still show Muslim influence in the architecture. One of the best things about this cathedral was the bell tower, in my opinion. Instead of thirty-four cases of stairs, there were ramps--because back when the bell tower was used by the Muslims, the man that calls the people to prayer would ride a horse all the way up to the top of the bell tower and then call out to the masses to come and pray. He did this 5 times a day. When you reach the top of the tower you can see all of Sevilla.
After our visit to the cathedral, our "monkey with the map" helped us find a restaurant for lunch. It was decorated with stuffed bull heads. The heads were from famous bulls that had fought and died in the local arena.
When we finished our lunch, we strolled around Sevilla shopping a little bit and, not too long after, we made our way back to the train station and back to our apartment.


-Kerri
(yes Mom, I miss you)