True or False

I had another full day in Seville, so I decided to do a free (donations gladly accepted) walking  tour with a group called Feel the City. About 60 people showed up and we were gathered together by some very energetic and entertaining young guides in purple shirts and umbrellas. We were divided up first by language then parted a la Moses down the center to form groups of about 15. Our guide Rafa was a recent Fine Arts Graduate from the university here. He said the main goal of the guides was to have us fall in love with the city as they had. Rafa knew his stuff and was an articulate, passionate guide who interacted with us a lot. I tried not to be the teachers pet and give all the correct answers to his history and culture questions, but I had been listening well the past few days and knew a lot more than I did last week.

Andalusia, and Seville in particular,  are very proud of the way their city has integrated different faiths and cultures over the past 2500 years. The existence of mosques, cathedrals and synagogues all neighboring each other is one example of this. Another is the style of architecture known as Andalusian Regionalistic which combines Moorish, Roman and Christian elements together in a unique way to this area. Their greatest example of cultures coming together is the Flamenco which added the influence of the Romanian Gypsies as well. I'm going to a show tonight, so I will be able to write more about that tomorrow.

During the 3 hour tour (10km) he told us several stories from the region and we had to guess whether they were true or false. One involved Maria Carolo who was the most beautiful woman in all of Seville during the reign of Peter 1st. He saw her walking one day and was smitten. As king, he generally slept with whomever he wanted and so he proposed that they spend a night together. She was a married woman and turned him down. He didn't like this at all and thought he would get rid of the problem, namely her husband. He had him sent to the front of the battle and he was killed. (sounds a bit like David and Bathsheba!) When she found out that her husband was dead she fled to the protection of the Santa Clara convent. Undeterred, Peter sent his men to fetch her and lock her in the tower by the river. She was not only beautiful, but also cunning and she used her looks to persuade the guard to release her and once again fled to the convent (so maybe not that bright), where Peter himself pursued her. A chase around the convent ensued, culminating in the kitchen. That is always a bad spot for a fight- and Maria decided to throw a pot of hot oil on her face, permanently disfiguring herself and losing the ardor of the king. She lived out the rest of her days in the convent. Upon her death she wasn't buried because her body didn't decay. Instead it mummified and every year on her birthday they bring her mummified body out for public viewing and so people can have her intercede for them. That was one of the true stories.

Another story was about Carmen, an independent and feisty woman who rolled cigarettes in the Royal Cigarette Factory. Basically he recounted the Opera of Carmen, so not actually true, but based on the attitudes of the women who worked at that factory. All in all a great tour and a fun day.