I dig ceramic tiles.

Adrienne and I went out today to do some more sightseeing. We first went to Plaza de Espana, a semi-circle shaped building designed by Aníbal González, the most celebrated of Seville’s 20th century architects. The brick building is covered with trimming and ornamental elements made of ceramic. I love this about Spanish architecture. It is so pretty and colorful. Around the whole circumference were benches with all different depictions, a lot to honor a city in Spain. There was also three bridges decorated with ceramic as well. The canal they were passing over had been drained so that took away slightly from the look, but the big fountain in the center was running.

Next we went to the Plaza de Toros. I liked the one in Ronda I saw better. This one only had one level of covered seating with arches and columns while Ronda’s had two which made it much better looking. We also weren’t allowed to go out on the field or see where the bulls come from, probably since it is now fighting season. I actually witnessed on the news last week a clip of fighting and was so freaked by it. If it was more just for show I would love it because the matadors walk with such a bigger than air attitude and swing their capes around like ribbon dancers but then they go and stab the bull which totally repulses me. When I saw the clip I was first laughing and amused by the matador and then squealed and had to cover my eyes. Then I think he may have gotten hurt and I didn’t feel bad since he hurt the bull. Being in Sevilla with the season just having started it would be cool to go just to get the experience but I really don’t know if I could handle it. Luckily our show schedule doesn’t allow me to even have the option so I don’t even have to toy with the idea!

We went in the Cathedral which was very pretty but at this point I am starting to tire of seeing Cathedrals because while each has their own specific details that make them unique they are in general quite similar. The cathedral was built on the former site of a Muslim Mosque. All that remains of the mosque is the Giralda, the famous bell tower. This was once the tallest tower in the world! It was built in 1184 and instead of having stairs a series of ramps was constructed which the Sultan used to go up the tower on horseback. From the top we could see the Bull Ring and other sites of the city.