Barcelona to Sevilla

City of Sevilla, Comunidad of Andalucia, 08 05 25, 16:23

On Friday we flew from Barcelona to Sevilla, two very different cities. Barcelona is large, bustling, cosmopolitan, a true world city, more European and Mediterranean then Spanish. Sevilla is smaller, and more Spanish. Sevilla, at its height, was the business centre for trade with the new world from about 1500 to 1650 and has been a smaller provincial capital since then. It is the heart of the Corrida (bull fighting) tradition. Our apartment here is only a block from the bull ring.

In Barcelona, we saw Tom the Builder at work. Antonio Gaudi’s great cathedral, the Sagrada Familia, is still under construction. It is of the same size and scale as the great medieval cathedrals of Europe, but planned and designed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and construction will go on for most or all of the 21st century. Lots of new mathematical, geometrical and geological sciences applied here including computer controlled diamond saws to cut the blocks, but still the same stone construction and the same general shape and design.

Dad”

From Sue Schubert

“Sevilla and it´s not hot!
Saving Seville´s story for another day

Bread for breakfast, for lunch and dinner, or the Spanish equivalent. Bread has been a theme on this blog a couple of times. So let’s finish that story. In Spanish, this delicacy shares its name with a deity, pan, the god of shepherds and flocks, of fertility and the breeze. Honestly! It is also present in religious symbolism; in Hebrew Christ is the Bread of Life just as Bethlehem, the city where he was born, is the House of Bread. The story is getting more interesting, isn’t it?

However, its origins go back even further. In the Neolithic era ground cereal grains were mixed with water forming a grain-paste that could be considered the seed of bread as we know it today. Egyptians invented fermented bread by adding yeast to the bread-making process and created the first bread-making ovens. The Greeks brought experimentation with the addition of new grains such as oats and rye, spices, nuts and dried fruit.

The staple became essential to the common people. However in the Middle Ages due to widespread famine bread became a coveted food. The defined social hierarchies of that time were also reflected in the bread: white bread was exclusive to the rich and wealthy. In modern times flour quality gradually improved, etc. And this nearly completes our story. Nearly. But let’s bring it up-to-date.

In Spain, there are over 300 varieties of bread. Each one has its own story behind it, which, you will be glad to know, I won’t relate to you. What I find of interest is that this delicious and versatile staple has lost consumers in the last few years here in Spain. In 2006, the average Spaniard consumed 54 k; less than half of what they ate in 1964 when they consumed 134 kg. (2.2 lbs. to a K.) But maybe this isn’t very curious at all. I mean most people are watching their waists (grow), aren’t they?

Other observations:

-Most Spanish women seem to be short, square-shouldered and fuerte (strong). Don’t mess with them!
-As we travel to the cities, all the Spaniards dress. All of them. Men in suits and ties (everyday, even without a job to go to such as retirees), or maybe no tie and a sports coat.
-There are more men’s clothing shops per square km. than in any country we have traveled in.
-The women don’t let the men outshine them. Suits, heels, silk, traditional. All stylish. Always. This isn’t the north where the women work in the field and shovel...you know.
-Spaniards love to discuss everything; talk; relate; tell; discourse. You get the idea. And they can make a cup of coffee last for hours while having this discussion (while people wait for their table). This isn’t an issue here.
-The sub-prime mess has affected Spain as well as everywhere in the world. Building is down.
-Many young people have high degrees (remember my story of Kristof from Hungary?) Same deal. Highly educated and no jobs for them. They want to stay; they will probably have to leave or continue waiting tables.
-Pedestrians can cross safely. Cars must stop for them in cross-walks. But if there isn’t a pedestrian there, the car can go.
-Restaurants can be out of food listed on the menu, for no reason. Or, for no reason we understand. "No lo tenemos." We don’t have it. Do you have a problem with that?
-Spaniards have ferias or fiestas most all year for many reasons, but mostly religious. Today and last week was the celebration of corpus, the body of Christ. The first hint was the many women we saw carrying red roses last Thursday in Barcelona. Then, today in Sevilla, we saw at least two processions leading up to local churches--bands playing; parishioners holding huge tall burning candles; altar boys, older ones in robes and priests; and the floats carrying saints and being carried. They were carrying the images of the saint being celebrated, or the baby Jesus. And underneath? There were men carrying these floats. All we could see were their feet and pant’s bottoms, all white. I got tons of photos!

This is all of the trivia I can think of right now. Must run. It is cocktail hour somewhere in the world, and we must honor that tradition! ”