Italica

It sounds like the name of a phoney Italian restaurant or attraction but Italica is a well-preserved part of the Roman Empire on a hilltop outside Seville. Regular buses depart from Plaza De Armas bus station to Santiponce. The service terminates just past the entrance to Italica, the remains of the third largest city in the Roman world and birthplace of emperors Trajan and Hadrian.

It is not so thriving now. A lot of tourists miss it and when I went the only sizable crowds were a couple of school parties. There is still plenty to see. As you walk along tree-lined avenues you can clearly make out the foundations of the houses that once stood there. There are a number of carefully excavated mosaics.

The recommended route guides you round these remains until you reach the amphitheatre. It's a little weather-worn but still stands immense and mostly intact. There are passageways leading round the edge of the arena and standing in the centre or looking down from an open gallery it is easy to imagine the atmosphere when it was packed with cheering Romans.

Admission to Italica is free for EU citizens and €1.50 for others. There are other remains to explore round Santiponce and a few bars and restaurants to get some refreshment after trekking through time and the midday sun. Anybody can appreciate these impressive remains and enjoy the stunning scenery which offers an attractive break from the city.  Check opening times before you travel. The site is closed on Mondays.

Italica is an easy half-day excursion from Seville.

Seville: The Al Cazar and Cathedral

The Al Cazar palace in the centre of Seville is full of people trying to avoid getting in each other’s photos. Many snaps come out looking like the early stages of a Harlem Shake video. As I toured the palace and grounds I found myself dodging round photographers and their subjects including one woman who was being photographed feeding her child the way nature intended. It seems an odd choice of subject for the family album, especially when the palace itself offers endless photo opportunities.

The Al Cazar was home to rulers of the city from Roman times. A fortified palace was gradually added to and rebuilt by successive generations of monarchs over 800 years or more. From the entrance you pass through a complex of halls and courtyards. Art work, colourful ceramics and water features catch the eye at every turn.

You emerge into a garden which initially seems a fairly small set of closed courtyards. As you continue you discover a mind-boggling array of orchards, gardens, patios and hedgerows. There are shady seats and summer houses where you can take a rest. Peacocks wander on the lawns.

After two hours I started to head out. On the way I discovered another series of courtyards and a ceramics exhibition. I explored two cool, dark rooms of fine examples of ceramic artwork before visiting one final courtyard surrounded with houses on the way to the exit.

Seville’s cathedral is located next door. If you have time though you may want to save it for another day. Like the Al Cazar it is far bigger than you’d expect.

If you visit an English cathedral you get to look round a large, impressive church and if you’re lucky they let you climb the tower. The Spanish take the typical English cathedral spruce it up with some ornate decorations, wood panelling and frankly excessive religious paintings and plonk inside an even larger building.

Seville Cathedral has numerous side rooms and chapels all finely decorated and a vast main building with high ceilings. Swifts glide and circle beneath a grey stone sky. There’s also a courtyard with rows of orange trees and the tower offers superb panoramic views of the city.

A stroll round the city centre and by the river along with the Al Cazar and the cathedral is a full day’s sightseeing in Seville but there is a whole lot more to keep you exploring the city for longer.

Back from Spain and Morocco

Just got back from my first visit to Spain including a day-trip to Morocco I visited Seville including the Feria a huge festival of dancing, brightly coloured tents and horses and carts, Cadiz, Tarifa and Cordoba. I'll be going through my notes and putting up some 'postcards' in the next week or two but for now here are some photos:

Milton Country Park

You don't always have to travel far from home to end up somewhere nice. Milton Country Park is a beautiful area of lakes and woodland just outside Cambridge. It's a place I'd never heard about until recently and on a recent bright February afternoon I set off for my first visit. It's proximity to the River Cam means it can be easily reached by walking or cycling along the riverside making the journey as picturesque as the destination.
You can find out more about the park from the website or read a detailed article on the route here.

Route along the river:

The Park:

More photos:

10,000 Views!

It's great to see so many people visiting this blog and thanks to those of you who have left comments or given feedback. I've been stuck at home the last few months and haven't had much to up-date this blog with. I've just booked some flights to Spain in April and hope to spend a few days in Morocco as well so I'll have some more postcards for you. If you have any tips for travel round the Seville area or Morocco please let me know. In the meantime here are some pictures of some snow:

Happy New Year!

Thanks for your continued support. I look forward to sharing more of my travels in 2013. In the meantime, if you are on the road, here's some music for your iPod. This mix comes from the excellent Free Music Archive and features tracks that have made it onto my regular slot on Cambridge 105 over the last year. You can find out more about the show at headstandradio.blogspot.co.uk.

Literary London

Recently I’ve visited a couple of literary exhibitions in London.

On The Road: Jack Kerouac’s Manuscript Scroll
The British Library

To coincide with the new movie of ‘On The Road’ this unique manuscript is on display at the British Library, a short walk from King’s Cross Station. The 120 foot scroll was written over three weeks. It’s an incredible piece of unbroken prose and when rolled out it is a literal and literary road. There is accompanying display on the life of Kerouac and his literary associates. Admission is free and there is also a permanent exhibition with rare and early manuscripts including Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and The Beatles.

Until 27th December 2012, admission free
http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/kerouac/

Shakespeare: Staging The World
The British Museum

This exhibition presents the world Shakespeare lived in and how events during his life inspired and were reflected in his plays. It gives Shakespeare’s work a wider context. Macbeth was inspired by the conflicts between Catholics and protestants, English and Scots and was performed less than a year after the gunpowder plot. Another section explores the parallels between the Tempest and British colonialism. Walter Raleigh founded Virginia during Shakespeare’s time. There are a wide range of exhibits including some unexpected artefacts like a silver box containing the eye of one of the conspirators in the gunpowder plot and a seven-foot tusk from a narwhal thought in Shakespeare’s time to be from a unicorn.

Until 25th November

Standard: £14.00
16-18 year, unemployed, disabled: £12.00
National Art Pass: £7.00
Under 16 and members: free

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/shakespeare_staging_the_world.aspx