It's a Wonderful Life in Europe: Hola Espana

So, I'm downtown Wiesbaden doing some shopping and visiting with a friend when I get a text from Pete that says "how about going to Spain this afternoon for the weekend?" What could I say?

We flew to Madrid which is a busy, vibrant city of over 3 million people. Our hotel was located on a plaza right in the heart of the city. We were only in Madrid for 24 hours.

That's when our last minute adventure took us to the charming city of Seville about 2 hours by train southeast of Madrid. As we traveled the countryside, we saw grove after grove filled with olive trees, then oranges, then almond trees in bloom, and finally, date palms.

Just outside our hotel room

Seville is known for it's bullfights, tapas and Flamenco dancing... and it's awesome cathedral. It is the third largest in the world, after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London. They are not exaggerating - it is enormous. There are 44 individual chapels inside the church. It felt like we were inside multiple churches all under one towering roof.

The 42 meter central altar is decorated with 3 tons of gold leaf. It's considered one of the greatest altars in the Christian world.

Columbus Tomb

Even Christopher Columbus is buried in this church. He was transported from Cuba back to Seville for his final resting place here. Although Pete's colleague Ivan, who's a local Sevillan, says every city in Spain claims to have Columbus' actual remains.

In the 1400s, a mosque was removed to make room for this cathedral. All that was left of the mosque is the La Giralda tower or minaret. The entire area is a mixture of moorish (from Marrakesh) and christian symbolism. This minaret is one of the 3 oldest surviving in the world. By the time we climbed the 39 ramps to the top of the bell tower, the view was even more breathtaking than the walk up.

Every 15 minutes the bells ring....that was our cue to head back down the ramps that were built over stairs since the bellringer could only get there on horseback.

Outside, the weather was perfect - about 70 degrees and sunny - unseasonably warm for even Seville.

We took this opportunity to visit the Alcazar - the oldest European palace. Many kings and queens, including Ferdinand and Isabella lived there. It was built in the 7th century!! by the Moors.

Ivan told us he used to spend days roaming around these grounds when his father, a well-known Spanish artist, would come here to paint when the area was closed to the public. The Alcazar is a mixture of gardens, patios and courtyards, and all with the moorish style.

The next day, we headed out again along the river, past the bull-fighting stadium and through the narrow streets until we came upon this small, beautiful church. Inside was another

display of over-the-top gold plated altars. We discovered that most of the gold came into Seville from the early explorers to the new world. There is apparently just as much in sunken treasure all around the southern waters of Spain, waiting to be found. That's another trip.

Best of all, when we came out of the church, a crowd had gathered around 2 little tapas joints that served the best olives stuffed with small cornichons (pickles).