Seductive Seville

The early morning train ride to Seville was a very pleasant and restful one and Jerry boy recuperated from the intense sightseeing activities yesterday. Checked into this spanking new hostel near the city centre and surprisingly, this is one of the best rooms I have stayed in so far in Spain! Makes me wonder why I have been paying triple the price for the hotel rooms...

Some personal admin and research later, was at the Seville Cathedral & Giralda. Again, this is an instance of the destructive streak of the Spanish - the old mosque was demolished after Seville fell to the Christians and in its place, a gargantuan Gothic & Baroque cathedral was built in its place. Talk about the loss of Spain´s ancient heritage...The country was bequeathed so bountifully and yet lost so much...The church did make up for it with lavish interiors and a great view of the city from the top of Giralda.

However, those were not the main attractions and what transpired in the evening was even better.

The Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza aka the bullfighting ring was fantastic. Although the bullfighting season was just over in October, the sheer immensity of the ring and the informative guided tour by a very knowledgable and helpful Spanish guide was an experience. It is possible to imagine what a visual feast it must be from the kaleidoscope of colours from the matodors´costumes. Coupled with the danger of the matador being gored to death in a bullfight (child prodigy & national sensation Manolete was killed in 1947) plus the virtual certainty of the bull´s demise, the elevation of mindless slaughter into a virtuosic art-form must be as entertaining as the gladiators´mortal combat in ancient Rome´s Colosseum.

Not far off from the bull ring is a tablao or a taverna which showcases flamenco dances with dinner included. The entire venue was packed with tourists; not a single local in sight. Somehow, I felt that this was going to be another ¨made for tourists¨shows and in a way, I felt I am right. The performance was quite entertaining - the moves were precise, the singing and Spanish guitar accompaniment were very good; but somehow, some of the dancers just lacked the spirit of the dance. Without getting into the melancholic soul embodied in the music, it is impossible to do a good flamenco piece IMHO. Let me repeat: Flamenco is all about SOUL.

Then again, this is my virgin flamenco experience so perhaps I should reserve my judgment. Am going to try for another one tomorrow night and hopefully, I will have better luck...Meanwhile, Jerry boy is thinking of when he is able to come to Seville during bull-fighting season and perhaps stay for a month, catch a few fights and pick up Spanish along the way...Pipe dreams!!