Spain 2016 - Seville, Parque Maria Luisa, Plaza de Espana, Archivo Genral de Indias

As I said in the last post I was feeling a little nauseous so walked along by the river for a while.

Nice and peaceful, watercraft of all types.

A waterfall to the right and, in tiles, a map of the area showing the complexity of sailing up to Seville from the Atlantic, through the marshes and the delta.

I walked up from the riverside near this building, part of the 1929 Exposition. I ate my apple here and tried to sketch it, failed miserably, you wouldn't think those Moorish windows would be that difficult.

The building next to it said it was the centre for Contemporary Art so I had to take a look. Walked in and the man at the desk gestured for me to go right in. Most of the works on display were photography or mixed medium using photography as a base. Most used architecture or construction as the topic.

By Mark Wallinger.

By Carl Andre. This one didn't quite fit with the others but I thought it a nice commentary.

The building itself was lovely. This was the courtyard.

From here I walked into the Parque Maria Luisa which was developed for the 1929 Expo. I didn't wander around to the different countries buildings as I had seen them on the bus tour that I took with Nicola. I just walked down the park towards Plaza de Espana, walking off to the right or left whenever I saw something interesting.

Definitely on the horse and carriage route!

Ceramics (more on that later)

Waterfowl.

Here we go, birds again, Christine is going to get abusive.

Now really, how can you resist swans.

Lots of water features, flowers, arbors covered with grapes or wisteria, huge trees and naturalized woodland areas, it was all lovely but the most interesting thing, to me, was .....

all the little girls in white getting their pictures taken by professional photographers (and their accompanying group of parents, grandparents etc). Walking from photo op to photo op holding their white dresses up like little brides. Perhaps Confirmation pictures.

Then I noticed that there were a fair number of little boys, also in white, cream or pale blue, usually in a slightly military style also getting photographed professionally.

They were getting some really cute shots, it was the perfect setting.

I took tons of photos of fountains and pathways, beautifully laid out and sort of formally, informal, relaxing. I could understand why so many families were spending their Saturday afternoon there.

The park ends at Plaza de Espana which was also built for the 1929 Expo.

Heavy into the ceramic here

and water, for reflections,

for fountains

and just for fun.

All the way around the inside arc of the building are benches with the different cities, a map of their location and the coat of arms. Its a quick tour of Spain.

I was beginning to drag. It was about 2 and all I had had since breakfast was an apple. I decided to treat myself to a meal in a restaurant. I found one that was a little off the beaten track, a couple of blocks from the Cathedral, and I settled at a table in the sun.

The usual tomato dish with grilled tuna and balsamic reduction. I didn't think I would be able to finish it all and would have to figure out the Spanish for "doggy bag" but I didn't have any trouble. In fact I had room

for dessert. Finally, a real creme caramelle, or flan as it is called here.

I had hoped that this would fortify me but found that it just made me sleepy (could have been the wine). Anyway I moved on and not wanting to go back to bed I went instead to the Archivo General de Indias. I had read on Tripadvisor that it was free and often had exhibitions. "It is the repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines." from Wiki.

The building is impressive

Lots of marble, columns and rooms lined with shelves holding boxes of all those rare documents.

The exhibit was on the last voyage of the Frigate Mercedes, but no photography was permitted.

It was entirely in Spanish and I was amazed at how much of it I could piece together but I have since looked some of it up, to make sure I have got my facts right. It seems that four Spanish frigates were making their way back to Spain from South America, in 1804,  loaded with goods, when, off the coast of Portugal, they were stopped by 4 British ships. Britain and Spain were in a rare time of peace but Britain did not want this wealth to fall into French hands (Napoleon). When the Spanish refused to surrender the goods, they were attacked and the Mercedes exploded, sank and 263 men, women and children drowned. The British ships escorted the remaining Spanish ones to England. I was glad none of the Spanish people in there with me knew my British heritage, I was embarrassed.
Then in 2007 the "treasure hunting" firm of Odyssey Marine Exploration found the wreck and took the "treasure" back to Tampa, Florida. Subsequently there was a lengthy court case and the U.S. courts ruled that the archaeological finds all belonged to Spain and had to be returned.This included various articles from the ship and the sailors belongings, which were on display here, and 500,000 silver and gold coins (I assume that the display is just a representation). Because it is a library there were lots of documents on display from both the early 1800s and the ones related to the court case. But there were also models, computer generated battle sequences and movies. It is very surprising to me that thousands of people were standing in lines to pay to go into the other sites in Seville and there were just a few of us in The Archives, for free.