2004 Europe

Diana at Plaza Espanola


April 28 – Today we are in Cadiz, Spain. We got up at 6:15AM, double yikes, to be on the bus to Seville at 7:45AM. It was cloudy in Cadiz but it was raining in Seville. Not very hard and not all the time. It was about 1.5 hours from Cadiz to Seville and the trip went smoothly once we were out of the city limits. In the cities, both of them, the traffic is terrible. Much worse than SoCal. The gridlock might hold you at a traffic light for three cycles.

Cadiz and Seville are both in the province of Andalusia. Cadiz is one of the oldest constantly inhabited cities in Europe. It was founded either the Iberians or the Phoenicians over 3,000 years ago. Some claim it is the oldest town in Western civilization. It is a fishing town that has grown to about 800,000 people. We didn’t spend any quality time there because we were headed to Seville.

The first stop on the way to Seville was at a truck stop on the highway. It was just a gas station and a café. You know you’re in a civilized place when the fast food on the menu is 9 different kinds of paella, one of my favorite Spanish dishes. I hope to have some before we are done with this cruise. We stop several more times in Spain.

When we got to Seville it was very cloudy and soon began to drizzle. The city is built on the Betis River. The Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans all occupied this area, using the river for a way of commerce; the Romans called it ‘New Roma’. This area was under Muslim control starting in 711 and ending in 1248 when Fernado III recaptured it for the Castilians. Seville is the capital of Andalusia. The first thing we toured in Seville was Los Reales Alcazares or ‘The Alcazar’. It is a Palatine fortress built in 1364 and is the oldest building of its type still in use in Spain. They are conducting an archeological dig under the marble floor of the interior patio and they have exposed some of the original Roman structure that the current palace was built on. The king uses it when he is in Andalusia so we were lucky that he’s not in town.

After this we walked through the Jewish Quarter that occupies some of the oldest parts of the city. It has very narrow streets, perhaps 10 feet with no sidewalk. Two-storied buildings line the streets, producing an increased impression of closeness. The area has many small shops and cafes that would be attractive if it weren’t raining. The Jewish population was largely driven out of Spain during the Inquisition but a small community still lives there.

Our next stop was the Santa Maria Cathedral, the third largest Christian church in the world. It was built between 1401 and 1506 on the site of a mosque that had been converted into a cathedral. The minaret and the patio of orange trees are the only parts of the original mosque remaining. The cathedral is in the Gothic style but has an unusual rectangular form in place of the normal cross shape. The panels behind the altar are carved in the Gothic style and took almost 50 years to carve and guild. It measures 18 by 20 meters and contains more than a thousand sculptures. It has 36 panels that depict the life of Christ from birth to death and is the largest retable in a Christian church. The pipe organ has four sets of pipes each set on either side of the choir, which occupies the center of the structure. Two sets face toward the choir and two face outward. It has a total of 7,000 pipes. Unfortunately no one was playing it as they only use it on special occasions. The minaret of the former mosque, called the ‘Giralda’ is over 93 meters high and was built in 1184. It has come to be the symbol of Seville. The cathedral is gigantic in scope and full of highly decorated and intricately carved structures. On of the most unique is the crypt of Christopher Columbus. The cathedral is one of 5 places in the world that claim to have his bones. His crypt is a casket being carried by four pallbearers. I’ll attach a pic although it was hard to take. My little flash was not up to the task so I had to hand hold a half-second exposure. It came out pretty well actually, everything considered.

The orange trees were interesting in that they were the ‘bitter’ or Seville orange variety used in making Scots marmalade. While southern Spain was under the control of the Moors they grew the otherwise inedible `sour oranges` largely for the medicinal qualities of their skins. In the early 1800s James Keiller, the founder of the Dundee Company, introduced marmalade made from these oranges as an aid to breakfast digestion, first, in Scotland, then in England, and subsequently, in a number of Empire markets. By the 1870s, `Dundee Marmalade` was being bought in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and China - mainly to British expatriate consumers. By the end of last century, its fame was global. Keillers did not invent marmalade. What they did was take one particular version - orange `chip` marmalade, increasingly favored by domestic jam-makers in Scotland - to improve, standardize, and promote marmalade. This is another of the great marketing successes of all time. Taking oranges that were not edible and turning them into a unique product with a worldwide market.

The other two I’ll mention here are Ivory bar soap that’s “So pure it floats.” when in reality it’s so full of air bubbles it’s lighter than water and a lot less soap per bar; and Thomas’ English Muffins which are “Full of nooks and crannies” to improve their taste when in fact what they are is full of large air bubbles once again decreasing the amount of actual muffin in each one. Two cases of turning air into a value-increasing ingredient in a product. Double Yikes!! At least Keiller was selling something other than air, inedible sour oranges.

After leaving the cathedral we boarded the bus and rode out to the Santa Cruz Quarter. In 1929 Spain hosted an international exposition in this area of town and many of the exposition structures remain and are still in use. The Spanish Plaza housed Spain’s exhibition. It is built in a half circle with a 200-meter diameter with towers anchoring each end connected by semi-circular building with portico to the main building in the center. In the middle of the plaza between these towers is a large circular fountain. A picture of Diana in the plaza follows this post. After a short visit there we boarded the bus and returned to Cadiz and the ms Noordam.

This evening we said farewell to our tablemates, Beverly, Ann and Harry as they are disembarking in Lisbon. Beverly is returning home and Ann and Harry are staying in Europe for the wedding of their daughter in France. They live in NoCal and Beverly lives in Massachusetts. It has been a lively table, the youngest we’ve ever had by a big margin. No one was over 65 and they are usually all over 70 if not 80. The entertainment was British comedian Duggie Brown, he was very funny.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger