Tapas, Crucifixions galore and a return to school

In early December we all went to Wembley Stadium last week to watch William participate in a scout march around the pitch before a Saracens Vs Oprey rugby union match (England Vs Wales). It was an impressive stadium which, and for our match, was about two thirds full. The weather was icy cold but thankfully not windy. William took part in a march around the field along with 750 scouts, guides and rugby youth teams. They all then took part in a Guinness book of records 'largest scrum ' attempt. We think they succeeded.

He's in there somewhere !

The trip to Wembley coincided with the anniversary of the start of our house search in London. A few days after arriving in December 2010 we were taken around by the relocation company that was supposed to help us. There were very few houses available and those we did see were not suitable. After a 2nd unsuccessful day searching in North London we were dropped off near East Finchley tube station, just one of numerous suburbs we had been driven through. We decided to get some late breakfast at a cafe, not knowing then that East Finchley would become our home and that Casa Pepe, the cafe where we had our first 'Full English', would be on the high street we would soon frequent.  So, before heading to Wembley, we had an anniversary full English at Casa Pepe!

The kids finished school by mid December and in the week or so before Christmas Mark had great plans to take the kids around before heading to Spain but ... they tended to prefer to sleep in and lay about the house. He was able to drag them to a few places including the Imperial War Museum, Borough Markets near London Bridge and to see the Christmas lights and London by night.

The Imperial War museum is amazing. We have been there numerous times, ( no complaining from the kids either !) and there is always something new to see. The first gallery you walk into has all manner of aircraft suspended from the ceiling including a Spitfire, Messerschmidt,  a V2 rocket and a doodle bug ( a 1940s versions of pilot-less drones that terrorised Mark & Sally's parents as kids during the war).

a V2 rocket.

A doodle bug ( slightly out of focus).

Back in Canberra in 2009 William's sea scout leader told his troupe about Jack Cornwall, a former British scout who joined up in WWI. He was just 16 when he died while serving on the HMS Chester during the battle of Jutland. Last Christmas William received a "My History" book about Jack and we were in Jutland for a large part of our time in Denmark last summer. To top it all off, at the War Museum William was able to see not only the VC and other medals awarded to Jack but the actual gun he was firing and was fatally wounded at. For the Australia day weekend we went to Chester. History just keeps coming to life for us like this and has the children really engaged!  

 

The weekend before going to Spain we all went to Leeds Castle, not in Leeds but in Maidstone, Kent on the South East Coast. Just over 1 hour from London, it is billed as 'The loveliest Castle in England'. 

A fortified structure has existed here since the 800s when a Saxon Manor was replaced by a Norman stronghold in 1119. It became a royal palace for Edward I and Eleanor of Castile in 1278. Tempted as we are to give a detailed account of its history, it will suffice to say it was inherited, sold, attacked, defended and extensively redesigned and renovated numerous times over the centuries. 

By 1519 the castle became a royal palace for King Henry VIII. In 1520, when he and Catherine of Aragon were on their way to France to meet with Francois I at 'The Field of the Cloth of Gold Tournament', they stayed at the castle, along with  4,000 of their closest friends and staff. The food list for that visit to France is amazing in itself and shows the British distrust of 'foreign food' goes back a long way. Dolphin and chips anyone ?

By the time of the English civil war (1642- 51) the castle was privately owned by the Culpeper family. The family's allegiances were split between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians and the castle acted as arsenal and prison for the Parliamentarians. In 1823 it was again remodeled and took its current form.  As part of their displays the castle has a nearly 400 year old dublet worn at the Battle of Maidstone- part of the English civil war.

In 1926 an American heiress, married to a British Aristocrat, bought the castle. Lady Olive Baille spent large amounts to renovate and remodel the castle. During the 1930s the castle held parties for Hollywood greats such as Errol Flynn (of Tasmanian / Hollywood infamy). It served as a hospital during WWII and in the late 70s hosted preliminary Middle East peace talks between Israel and Palestine.



The castle's emblem is the black swan, Lady Baille having been the first person to import Australian black swans to Britain.  Not surprisingly, the castle's aviary includes amongst it's collection of stunningly coloured exotic birds, various Australian parrots and kookaburras!

Santa made an early appearance at the work children's Christmas party where we were able to catch up with people we had not seen for a while.  As we offered advice to the newcomers we met, we realised just how fast the year had gone and how far we have come. There was also a work Christmas party for all staff and their partners and another run by the social club - both good fun!

As we were leaving on Christmas Day we decided to have our Christmas celebrations on Christmas eve. This worked out well as Mark's Aunty Mary was able to join us despite not being well.

Spain.

When we booked our flights to Spain we had no idea that the entire London tube system shuts down on Christmas Day! We found out in time but still had to hunt around for a reasonable cab fare with many companies quadrupling their fares. We were lucky to be recommended an owner/driver who charged the usual fare and is now our first point of contact when a cab is required! 

Our flight to Seville was the first low cost / budget flight we had done from London and we were somewhat apprehensive about potential problems with luggage limits, check in and seating. In fact we had no problems at all, the flight was fine and we got to our hotel in the old quarter of Seville without incident. Our hotel, a typical 17th centuruy Andalusian style terrace house complete with the Arabic style decoration common to the area, was just a few minutes walk from the Cathedral. Seville has a history of over 2,000 years, having been captured by the Moors in 712 and made capital of the Damascus-based Omayyad caliphate from the 8th to the 13th centuries. 

The road our hotel looked onto.

A few hours after arriving we walked around the old quarter to find most shops were closed and the streets fairly empty. Oh well - fair enough for Christmas day we thought. We caught the tail end of a service at what we assumed was the Cathedral and were impressed with what we saw. But it didn't seem large enough for the descriptions we had read of. We later realised we had gone into a mere side church. The actual cathedral is much, much, much bigger!

After going out again we were stunned to see the previously quiet street packed with people. This was not just a Christmas Day occurrence, more it was the Spanish time of the day for getting very dressed up, going out, walking around and eating. It was an amazing scene as dusk fell with the cathedral illuminated and the Christmas lights turned on. We later found that there are very particular times for the Spanish to do a whole variety of things especially eating meals and particular foods. The siesta too is still very real with shops closing at 2 pm for several hours. 

Our visit to the Cathedral the next day left us astounded. As the 3rd largest church in the world and the largest Gothic cathedral, the place is huge. The very ornate gilded statuary we first saw in the side church the previous day was far outdone in the endless chapels that fill the Cathedral.

 

The Cathedral was built on the site of a Mosque that had collapsed after an earthquake in 1356. The work started in 1402 and continued for just over 100 years. Apparently local tradition is that the decision makers at the time agreed the building would be "...a church so beautiful and so great that those who see it built will think we were mad". When completed it became the largest cathedral in the world surpassing the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul which had, for the previous 1,000 years, held that title.

There are places and people that we all hear about as we grow up and assume we will never have anything to do with in our lives. Over the years Sally and Mark, separately and together have seen many. The kids are making a fairly impressive list of their own given their ages. We all shared a first however by seeing Christopher Columbus' tomb in the Seville Cathedral. 

We strolled down to the river enjoying the brilliant clear blue skies that were to last for the whole trip. The weather was coolish though, especially in the morning and evening and particularly in Cordoba. The streets throughout Seville and Cordoba were lined with Seville orange trees, all of which were in fruit. The kids got excited and picked a couple to try, but were bitterly disappointed - literally! These trees are planted for the heady perfume of their blooms in spring and the oranges, if used, are turned into the famed Seville marmalade.

Apart  from Seville oranges, the Andalusia region is famous for flamenco and the 'dancing' horses. The flamenco we saw was in a small museum theatre. In the individual photos the dancers may look slightly comical, however from the front row the passion and energy of the performance was truly captivating. Even the kids were impressed.

We also saw the the dancing horses on our last night in Spain. The kids thought we were going to a museum about horses and were pleasantly surprised with what they ended up seeing. 

The history of some of the places we have been to in the last year is ridiculous. Thankfully both Aisha and William have been bitten by the history bug. Aisha is deep into Tudor history while William has a growing interest in, and knowledge of, Roman history. Just outside Seville is the former Roman town of Italica. The Roman general, Scipio Africanus, founded the town in 206 BC for Roman soldiers who had been wounded fighting the Carthaginians in the 2nd Punic wars, where Scipio defeated Hannibal. At its height, Italica was home to only 8,000 people yet it became the birthplace of two Roman emperors, Trajan, who was the first non Roman emperor, and Publius Aelius Trajanus Hadrianus Ausgutus also known more simply as Hadrian - of Hadrian's Wall fame. 

Italica now, of course, is a shadow of its former self. There are the remains of streets of shops & houses along with their mosaic floors. Most impressive are the ruins of the amphitheater which was the 3rd largest in the Roman world. It seated 25,000 spectators who came from across Andalusia to see gladiators fight and animals perform. While usually not classed as wild animals, the kids attempted to recreate the gladiator heart attack scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian as well as doing their best to perform for the crowds. Would they have received a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' ?

Eating out when 'on the road' is often a challenge trying to find food that not only suits all of us but is not overly expensive nor too unhealthy. The wide selection of generally inexpensive food in Spanish tapas bars suited us well. While not all the restaurants we went to were as fancy as the one below, they all had character.

We caught a fast train to Cordoba where we spent three nights. It was considerably cooler there but we still enjoyed clear sunny skies. We stayed in a former convent not far from the Mezquita and the old city. Everything was a fairy easy walk away including the large and very popular Plaza Carredera.

The Cordoba Cathedral -Mosque, Mezquita, is a world Heritage site. It was a Mosque that used to be the Visigoth church of St Vincent which in turn used to be a Roman temple. As a mosque it was / is  the 3rd largest in the world. Under one enlightened Muslim ruler of Andalusia half the mosque was allowed to continue to be used as a Church by the local Christians. Once this ruler was ousted by an Omayad prince the Christian half was purchased back from the church while abandoned and ruined churches were allowed to be rebuilt and used again.

The minaret that became a bell tower.

The naive altar piece.

The ceiling of the naive.

The Mezquita underwent numerous changes as well as four different extensions to reach its current dimensions in 987. It is the prayer hall that is the most dazzling with its seemingly endless rows of columns with alternating red and white voussoirs or wedge shaped bits. These 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble and granite were in part made from the remains of the previous Roman temple and other ruined Roman sites around the city.

After the reconquest of Spain under Ferdinand III in the early 1200s, when the Christians re took control many mosques were converted back to churches. The Mezquita was again remodelled and had numerous Christian statuary chapels installed in every nook and cranny. The minaret was converted to a bell tower while in the very centre of the prayer hall a renaissance cathedral nave was built. It was possibly these alterations that saved the Mezquita from the excesses of the not completely unexpected Spanish inquisition.

A service has been held in the nave every day since it was consecrated after the reconquest and we were fortunate enough to be able to attend one. 

We went back to Seville in time for New Years eve. Mark was laid low with a mysterious thing so Sally & the kids went out looking for festivities. Unlike Christmas Day, there was very little public celebration. They were back home by 11:30 to see in the New Year and to fill their mouths with 12 grapes in one go before the end of the striking of the 12 bells of midnight, as per the Spanish custom.

By New Years day Mark was feeling fine and we went for a walk across the river to the Triana district. Again the streets were deserted and we weren't sure where we would get breakfast. Sure enough at around 10:30 everyone came spilling out and the streets came alive. We found a cafe and started the new year with pastries and doughnuts. So much for the healthy grapes of the night before ! While wandering around we found highly decorated buildings, both commercial and private, a life sized nativity scene complete with real chickens, rabbits and a washing line with nappies. Of course there was a lot more religious decoration too.

Shoveling grapes in ...at least it isn't chocolate.

A tavern exterior.

The entrance way to someone's house.

The life sized nativity scene.

We finished our new years day, our last full day in Spain, by walking to the Plaze de Espania. Built in 1928 for the Spanish - American exposition it is now more highly decorative than functional and is a popular destination for strolling Sevillians. We did some strolling of our own but also some resting in one of the many provincial alcoves that line to building on a mid winter's day when the temperature went up to 25 - equivalent to a good British summer's day.

On the way back to the hotel we walked past a cafe which seemed to be very popular and filling fast. We went in and found it was an upmarket churros cafe. We had tried Churros con Chocolate at the Plaza Carredera in Cordoba. The cafe was full of people enjoying large plates full of what are really just sausage shaped doughnuts and cups of rich thick dark warm chocolate sauce. When we ordered churros for four the waitress looked a little surprised but took the order and disappeared. When the plate arrived we realised why she looked surprised. The kids were sure they could finish the lot but in the end it proved to be a win for the churros.

Just one last waffer thin churros ...?
W admits defeat.

For our last evening meal we decided to try Paella which was not so readily available as we thought it might be. Unfortunately the tavern chose served a very ordinary & possibly pre-made paella. William, still full from chuross, made himself far too much at home propping up the bar and watching soccer on the TV.

We spent our last night in Sevilla thinking about everything we had seen and wondering when we would return. The teddies in particular were looking forward to coming back.

Our flight was scheduled for 11 am on Jan 2nd. We decided we could squeeze in a visit to the Museo de Bellas Artes, a 10 minute walk from the hotel. The art gallery was supposed to be excellent but had been closed for the Christmas - New Year break. We were amazed at the works we saw. While 90% of the subject matter was crucified Christs, weeping Madonnas and a variety of saints with their faces turned up to heaven, the quality and size of many of the artworks was astounding. The weeping Madonna below is an amazingly life- like, life- sized wooden bust.

The Martyrdom of St Andrew.

This post is very late and Mark, suitable admonished, is currently working feverishly on the next few updates creating his usual compelling accounts of us as we go........ strutting around London.