Ramping up to crowds

When the Christians took Seville from the Moors they were amazingly sensitive. Rather than destroying the mosques, they converted them into churches.

In the case of the cathedral in Seville that meant retaining the minaret; they just added bells on top. That meant they kept the 34 ramps leading up to the top. The story goes that the ramps were to allow access for a horse or donkey carrying the Iman.

The view from the top of the tower is spectacular. The cathedral itself is cavernous and austerely gothic, but has some lovely stained glass. And we got to see the floats they will carry through the town tomorrow.

We had some tapas in the local bar hidden behind the corner store. We followed the injunction that if you haven’t had a montadillo with peppers and blue cheese you haven’t been in Seville.

Then we walked the incredibly crowded streets. Tomorrow is a major religious festival and the streets have little shrines set up and all the balconies are decorated with shawls. It was pretty cool, but the crowds were very confronting.