Day 25 - Sevilla: Easter Sunday Desayuno, (End of) Mass at the Cathedral, River Walk, Macarena, Alcazar... and Easter Pizza?

So, Sunday was Easter Sunday, and the final wrap-up of my week of Semana Santa in Andalucia. Decided I would go somewhere and have a full breakfast with patio seating, and I did just that. What I didn't realize is that I think I ended up picking a place that catered to British tourists. There weren't that many breakfast options.

Needless to say those beans that tasted like they were swimming in Spaghetti-O juice stayed right on that place. Haha. Happy Easter to me.

After breakfast I headed into the centro to see about seeing the Cathedral again. As it turns out, they were holding Mass when I showed up and they were letting tourists in the side viewing area to the right of the altar. I entered right as they were about to give Communion.

I stayed through the end of the Mass. I know that it wasn't too many years ago that all of Mass was said in Latin, but it still surprised me that some of the song was in fact in Latin at this Mass.  That was all though, the rest was in Spanish. It surprised me that what little of the Mass I caught (the tail end) still resonated so much. Thousands of miles away, it was like being at a Mass in Cali -- the same basic messages being conveyed. I particularly liked the way the priest began his final remarks -- he started by explaining the origin of word "Pascua" (Easter Sunday in Spanish is Domingo de Pascua) -- translating back to the word originally for "paso." He tied it into his general parting remarks -- I won't get it across well here in English, but needless to say I am glad I attended what I did.

After the Mass, I headed out to the riverfront and decided to go for a walk along the river.

One of the many bridges that crosses the Guadalquivir River.

I knew I had to be at the Alcazar at 3pm for my appointed visit time. As it turned out, I ended up walking basically the entire length of the river through town without realizing it. When I pulled out my map to figure out where I was, I realized I was very near the Basilica de La Macarena. I didn't think I was going to make it over to that church since it was completely on the other side of town, but there I was.

It was funny, the weather was fine for the entire duration of my walk along the river, but not but within a minute of coming in and crossing the main boulevard that runs along the riverfront, it started raining.

 

The two pasos on display that must have been used during the week's processions.

After leaving the Basilica I decided to head across and through the entire maze of central Sevilla to get back to the Alcazar, which was basically on the entire other side. Ended up stopping and buying another 3 Euro umbrella as I didn't have one with me and I was getting soaked, tall buildings and narrow one-lane streets notwithstanding.

Made it to the Alcazar with maybe 15 minutes to spare before my 3pm entry time. Wandered through a few souvenir shops and made the 3pm entry time, on time.

I spent maybe 2 hours in the Alcazar? A little more?  Some of it was quite impressive, but after seeing the Alhambra in Granada it was hard to be that mesmerized by the Moorish architecture and tilework in the Alcazar. Although, the interior of the palaces in the Alcazar were much more recent and well preserved, which should be given proper credit. The extensive gardens were nice, and if anything a nice respite from the otherwise busy and constrained feel to the centro in Sevilla.

Also, it was still raining for a good fair amount of my time at the Alcazar.

After the Alcazar I made my way back to the room, as my shoes and pants were soaked through wet from the rain (thankfully I was wearing khakis instead of jeans, so they weren't all heavy and cold). Once back to the room, ultimately decided the plan was to go to an ATM and get cash (I had less than 15 Euros on me), then see about getting some beers and some tapas nearby for my final night in Sevilla.

I leave the hotel and it is pouring, torrential rain. So bad that people with umbrellas are ducking into doorways. My clean, dry shoes (my *expensive* running shoes, no less) get completely soaking wet, along with my dark heavy jeans within the two short blocks that I walk to the ATM (I could see it from the front steps of the hotel). THEN the ATM rejects my card. So, I am soaking wet from the knees down even with the umbrella, still low on cash -- and it is still pouring rain. I recalled seeing I could order pizza delivery from the room, and scratched the prospect of ordering drinks and tapas while in squishy shoes and cold, wet pants.

It took over an hour for that Easter pizza and combo appetizer to arrive. I was starving. However, apparently in Sevilla the Telepizza places don't cut the pizzas??

My guess is they probably just forgot to cut mine. Oh well. I didn't have any type of cutting utensil so I went Neanderthal mode and ripped it in half, then chomped away. Funny, my Ethpanol appetite just isn't the same as it was in the US. Couldn't even finish half of the thing.

(Note: I don't ever post pics of half-eaten food -- to me it's one step away from posting pictures of garbage (I blame this on my days spent working as a dishwasher in a cafeteria), however... this one makes me laugh.)

Feliz Domingo de Pascua a mi!  Looking forward to Madrid for the last leg of this Iberian Peninsula journey!