This is a continuation of the article on Madrid, published here.
Seville
Wednesday, Oct. 29
Each guest room has a work of art on the door.
OSSN travel agents took a high-speed AVE train from Madrid to the Andalusian capital, Seville. We arrived shortly after noon and checked into our five-star hotel, where a most interesting site inspection awaited us.
The Gran Meliá Colón, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, is a lesson in art. Each of the six floors is devoted to a different Spanish artist whose life and career was linked to Seville.
The door to every guest room is a reproduction of part of a major work of art from the Golden Age. An example below is from the floor honoring Francisco Goya, where this door shows a portion of his painting, "Charles the IV and His Family."
Notice the picture-frame light at the top of the door and that the door's gilt moldings resemble a frame suitable for an Old Master's original. This creates an art-gallery atmosphere in all the corridors.
Inside each room is a small print of the whole piece of art from which that room's door was taken. It is quite ingenious and lovely — and especially worth considering for any clients who are known to be art lovers.
In the main lobby, the hotel's original stained-glass dome and heavy crystal chandelier remain, but their formality is offset with contemporary elegance, interpreted in a fun way.
Looking up at the stained-glass dome and chrystal chandelier in the Gran Meliá Colón’s Lobby.
All guest rooms are done in white and black, with gold leaf headboards. And if body and feet are feeling the effects of too much sightseeing, there's a rooftop Jacuzzi that overlooks the city.
With our free afternoon in Seville, Karen and I headed to the Hotel Alfonso XIII, where I'd arranged a site inspection. Built in 1928 on the orders of the king, and now a member of Starwood's Luxury Collection, its Mudéjar-style architecture is exquisite. The sweeping arches, ornamental towers, wrought-iron and fabulous ceramic finials look perfect in Seville.
Lobby of Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville.
The Royal Suite was simple, but elegant. Featuring prominently was this inlaid case and table — a gift from the Aga Khan to the hotel, along with two large, silver-framed mirrors.
We finished our tour in the hotel's Andalusian-style courtyard, where we had the best sangria and tuna salad ever.
Lunch in the Courtyard at Hotel Alfonso XIII.
The free afternoon finished with a 50-minute ride in a horse-drawn carriage (50 euro). Our guide enthusiastically told us about every point of interest we passed — but in Spanish. If we had it to do over we would first try to find a driver skilled in conversational English. But it was nevertheless a lovely 50 minutes. It would have seemed a shame to be in Seville and not see it by carriage.
The group had the opportunity to experience a tapas "progressive dinner" of sorts, starting at an al fresco café. The stroll to the two restaurants allowed us to witness what a lively and beautiful place Seville is by night.
It quickly became obvious to us that Sevillanos love to mill about and enjoy their city in the evening. Locals are eager to tell you how much better it is now that a once-busy thoroughfare has been closed to traffic. The new pedestrian avenue certainly contributes to the festive atmosphere of Seville after dark.
Seville Cathedral at night.
Thursday, Oct. 30
There was a morning coach tour of the city, where the most emblematic monuments of Seville were pointed out. We made stops at sites of particular interest, including María Luisa Park (pausing both at the Mudéjar Pavilion and the Plaza de España), the Jewish Quarter and for a guided tour of the cathedral.
Rose Garden in Maria Luisa Park, Seville.
Plaza de España.
Built to demonstrate the city's wealth, the Gothic Seville Cathedral is the largest cathedral — and third-largest church — in the world. When it was completed in 1528, it supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral, a distinction the latter had held for nearly 1,000 years.
Seville Cathedral houses the tomb of Columbus and is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. For those willing and able to ascend 34 steeply inclined ramps, followed by 17 even-steeper steps, a panoramic view of the city awaits from the top of Giralda, the 343-foot high bell tower.
View of Seville, on the way up to the cathedral's bell tower.
For our lunch break, Karen and I chose a nearby sidewalk cafe where, for a few spare coins, we could enjoy several minutes of accordion serenade on yet another glorious day. How good it was to be in Spain.
Ronda
A two-hour coach ride took us to Ronda, one of the Spanish white villages and a Property of Cultural Interest. The city is proud of its famous Ronda Bullring.
The really awe-inspiring activity here is simply to stand on the New Bridge — well, it was new in the 18th century — and look down into the narrow, deep El Tajo gorge to the Guadalevín River, 390 feet below.
The New Bridge in Ronda.
Those who have had the time and fortitude to hike to the bottom have reported that it was well worth the effort for the spectacular views. For us, that will have to wait for a future visit.
Ronda's setting has long been fodder for artists and writers. Ernest Hemingway spent many summers here, and it is believed that his famous scene in "For Whom the Bell Tolls," in which fascist sympathizers in a fictional village are executed by being thrown off a cliff, is modeled on actual events in Ronda at the time of the Spanish Civil War.
George Eliot's book "Daniel Deronda" ("Daniel of Ronda") tells of a Spanish Jew who's brought up as an Englishman. Some speculate that Eliot's ancestors lived in Ronda prior to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
Overlooking the Gorge at Ronda.
Granada
It was after 9 p.m. when we checked into the NH Victoria in Granada. The hotel's interior has few nods to its 19th century origins, its décor looking much like the décor of so many other contemporary hotels around the world. But it is an acceptable four-star property, and it's centrally located — just not especially memorable.
Friday, Oct. 31
Three of the best hours on the whole trip happened this morning when we toured the UNESCO World Heritage palace and fortress of Alhambra. Fabulous place!
The citadel was built at various times between the ninth to 16th centuries. It's primarily done in the Mudéjar style of the Moorish rulers of the Iberian Peninsula, during which for 800 years Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together in peace. The architecture sought to represent the theme of "paradise on earth." It did a good job, with its columns, arcades and water features.
The Court of Myrtles. (Photo courtesy of Karen Steele)
There is a great deal of carved embellishment on the walls of the Alhambra, and yet we learned from our guide that no scaffolding was used for this. Instead, he said they filled the rooms with sand, then removed sand as the artisans made their way down the walls.
The Oratory at the Alhambra.
The Alhambra is a popular place for brides and grooms to have photos taken.
The Court of the Lions (Photo courtesy of Ron Dodgen)
Muslims do not depict animals in their art, so why is there a lion fountain in a Muslim palace? Our guide explained that the fountain was a gift from the Jewish population, and that each lion represented one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The basin was sculpted on site from a single piece of white marble.
We had a free afternoon, during which Karen and I lunched and headed out to do some shopping. We learned that, unlike some of its sister cities in Spain, Granada takes seriously the tradition of siestas from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Shop after shop was hidden behind metal security doors covered in graffiti. If shopping will be on the agenda for your clients, this is something you might want to consider when planning their itinerary.
Granada’s shopping streets close for business during siesta hours.
As a city, Granada didn't hold quite as much appeal for some of us as did Madrid and Seville. However, it does have one major benefit: the Alhambra — and the whole trip to Spain would have been worth it just to see the Alhambra.
Next time: Málaga, Barcelona and Montserrat.
