Adventures in Spain: Day 8
So I got out super early and solo explored the city at sunrise> Got to spend most of the morning alone in the most beautiful Plaza de España. The plaza is located in the Parque de María Luisa, in Seville, Spain. It was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It is a landmark example of Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of the Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival styles of Spanish architecture. [ 0 ]
After heading back to the hotel J and I went off to explore Casa De Pilatos. Casa De Pilatos is an Andalusian palace in Seville, Spain, which serves as the permanent residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli. The house is an example of an Italian Renaissance building with Mudéjar elements. It is considered the prototype of the Andalusian palace.[ 1 ] There was a mix up with our tickets and we were unable to take the tour of the private residence. So triple check your tickets for what languages are offered on what days when you book! The building was so pretty and maybe one day I will get to see the private residence!
Next up was brunch where I got to try Roscón de Reyes, Kings Cake for the feast of the Epiphany and I found a king in my slice! This cake is traditionally served on January 6th which is a national holiday and the day that children in spain receive their gifts.
Next up was a visit to Palacio De Las Dueñas, currently belonging to the House of Alba. It was built in the late 15th century in the Renaissance style with Gothic and Moorish influences. The palace is one of the major historic homes of great architectural and artistic heritage in the city. [ 2 ] This home additionally had so much information on he history of bull fighting in Spain.
This home tour was the best of our entire trip! Our english guide had a small group of five people to tour the house with and it nearly felt as tho we had a private tour and we got to see the chapel that Amerigo Vespucci was married. Yep that is right Amerigo Vespucci the guy that the continent of America is named after.
One of the reasons we had wanted to be in seville this week was to experience The Three kings day parade or “Día de los Reyes Magos” . In Spain children get their presents on January 6th and on January 5th there is a large parade to celebrate the gifts that were brought to the baby Jesus. For the first time in many years the Parade was moved to the 4th of January due to the bad weather forecast for the 5th of January.
We arrived an hour early and the parade route was already being lined with those ready to celebrate. Families were taping there shoes with clear tape which we later found out was to save there shoes from the massive amount of candy that would be thrown from the floats and end up crushed into a sticky concrete beneath our feet.
While the parade was only 33 floats long it was teamed with bands and riders on horse back. King Melchior (Rey Melchor) or the first of the three kings was on float #11. King Caspar (Rey Gaspar) the second of the three kings was on float #22. Lastly, King Balthazar (Rey Baltasar) was on float #33. The crowd chanted and cheered for each of the three kings. Tons of candy was thrown into the crowd at speeds that made J and I laugh simple because in the USA it would be considered to dangerous and would not be allowed for insurance purposes. The locals told us that in near by area's the floats still threw toys not just candy but that had been stopped in Seville.
The 33 float parade lasted for hours and wound about the city till well after nightfall. Previous year estimated that 15 tonnes of sweets were thrown through out the parade route and the ground was covered as we made our way to dinner!
Tonight we treated our selves to one of Seville's best rated dinners. We went to Barra Baja Restaurante which served some amazing takes on Andalusian meals! It beat every expectation and we left well feed and ready for sleep!
[ 0 ] Plaza de España. Trava. (n.d.). https://www.travatravel.com/destinations/02/plaza-de-espa%C3%B1a
[ 1 ] Urrutia, J. (n.d.). Pilate House, Seville. La Portegna Madrid. https://www.laportegna.com/en-us/blogs/news/casa-pilatos-sevilla?srsltid=AfmBOoq3JmsMSdDaxTlR7utpJ6Awg-YEqvtqh9rJhS9KiUoZGBzso_Gq
[ 2 ] History. (n.d.). https://www.lasduenas.es/en/historia
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