it was a full day in Seville yesterday, beginning with a "panoramic" (I.e. Bus) tour of the city. Then our skillful guide walked us through the old city of section of the city - no Jews since 1492 - and through the fourth largest cathedral in the world,,which was built during the Catholic reclamation of the land from,the Muslim moors. Yes,"Moors" were all Muslim.
And we learned that "gypsies" were originally from Egypt.
Lunch on our own in the shade and still nothing worth purchasing. All of our shopping opportunities have been in areas that only offer cheap tourist crap.
After a brief rest at the hotel, we went to a flamenco theater. Our guide interviewed one of the dancers and we learned about the dresses, traditions, and skills of this unique dance. The show was mesmerizing and powerful and having forty new friends sing happy birthday to me made the evening even more special.
We are on the bus on the way to Portugal now. We are stopping at a horse farm on the way.
We had lunch at the beautiful horse farm and an opportunity to see the lusitane horses that are bred there. The owner shared her personal story of having to rebuild her home and stock after she was thrown off her property by the communists in the 70's. they burned her home and sold off the horses in their drive to collectivize agriculture throughout the country. Eventually she returned to her property, rebuilt her home and repurchased ten of,her horses to rebuild her business.
At our first rest stop in Portugal we tried our first "pastel de natan", which is the national dessert of Portugal. It's a custard filling with a carmelized top inside a shell of pufff pastry. Yes, it's wonder and we may need to keep,trying them as we travel through the country during the next three days.
Along the picturesque drive we have seen nesting storks, whitewashed houses, and cork trees. The countryside is so lovely.
