After a countdown of years, then months, and finally days and hours, we are in Spain! The Santa Cruz neighborhood of Seville to be precise. Santa Cruz is the Jewish section of historic Seville. Not that I've seen any evidence of it's Jewish origins yet - it all seems extremely Catholic with a bit of Moslem influence. Tonight for instance we walked north up Jesus of Great Power Street and back south on Love of God Street, passing several cathedrals and catholic schools enroute.
Streets in Santa Cruz are incredibly narrow, 10 feet or frequently even less, between the facing walls of buildings that line them. The idea of a grid system for streets, or any system had not been conceived yet, so it is fairly labyrinthine. Sidewalks are irregular to non-existent. When vehicles pass by in one of the non-existent sidewalk sections, pedestrians duck into the nearest doorway or if there isn't a handy doorway, simply flatten themselves against the building wall. The buildings are four and five stories tall, so with the aforementioned narrow streets, the streets are a bit like canyons on western US rivers - there is at least some shade except at high noon, or when the street happens to line up perfectly with the sun angle. This is a godsend because it is hot hot hot here! We are loving Santa Cruz and would like to find a more permanent apartment here
So far I can say that the coffee is great; gazpacho is creamy smooth and delicious; plazas are sprinkled like salt everywhere; Cruz Campo cerveza is light and perfect for the heat; and the Spanish tradition of siestas and late night meals makes total sense due to the extreme heat which dissipates around 9 PM. We have not adjusted mentally or physically to the siesta tradition however. If we eat dinner at 10 PM, then we don't go to sleep until 1 AM or later. Then we sleep til 11 AM and by the time we've breakfasted and are ready to venture out, it's 1 PM, and that's just crazy due to the heat and to the fact that businesses are closing for the afternoon by then!
A little background may be in order, though most of you are well aware of it. After retiring around the first of February, 2013, we spent a month in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with near and dear relatives sleeping and skiing. From mid-March to late May we
