Thursday, February 7, 2019

San Juan de Aznalfarache

This afternoon I walked to San Juan de Aznalfarache. It's a small city across the river to the west of us here. It's not that far in the grand scheme of things--only about 2.5 miles. It was a nice clear day for a walk with temperatures at about 70 degrees. The bridge across the Guadalquivir is mostly a pedestrian/bicycle bridge, though there is also a one-way lane for public transportation. The "sidewalk", which appeared to be bolted onto the bridge as an afterthought, was less than reassuring:


The river was low and muddy, but flowing to the south towards the Atlantic ocean about 50km downstream:


The bridge appears to be a drawbridge, now defunct. This massive cement block suspended above the bridge deck is a counterweight for the part of the bridge that raises up:


Here is the cantilever part beneath the counterweight:


Beneath the bridge on the other side of the river was a community garden. The gardens looked well-tended and productive--even in February:


There's a monument in the center of the city (which I neglected to photograph) called Monumento Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. It's up on a hill and has a set of switchbacking stairs leading up to it. I climbed the stairs and took a picture of Sevilla. The only real standout building in the Sevillian skyline is the "lipstick tower". Oh well:


Back on our side of the river, the retired streetcar a few blocks down from our flat looked good in the bright afternoon sunshine:


This evening, Laura and I had a quick dinner at one of the thousands of carry out Mediterranean food places around here. Love me some falafel. 

***

I finished reading Factfulness by Hans Rosling. I really liked his closing remark, so I'll put it here:  

Most important of all, we should be teaching our children humility and curiosity.