Lincoln

 As I mentioned earlier, there are a few deciduous trees around Sevilla. I was struck by the fall colors along the river path today:

I wonder when they will re-grow their leaves. Sooner than the trees in Walla Walla? We'll see.

The boardwalk along part of the path has now been replaced with asphalt. Definitely a step up:

It remains to paint it green like all the other bike lanes in the city, haha.

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It rained a lot today. My walk was during a 2 hour break. There were some pretty vigorous downpours at times:

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Finally got around to watching the movie Lincoln today. It covers the last few months of the civil war and really focuses on the politics surrounding the passage of the 13th Amendment-the abolition of slavery. It was an interesting view of the politics of the age-certainly seedy and unseemly, but nowhere near the cesspool we see today. Lincoln and the other politicians pushing for the abolition of slavery act almost entirely out of principle with the legacy of the US at the forefront. A far cry from the zero sum game we see today. I thought to myself, it's hard to even imaging someone like Trump being in Lincoln's position during the Civil War. There's no doubt that he would have put the economic interests of the South above the abolition of slavery. Frankly, it's not just Trump, as a nation we've trained ourselves to view every issue through the lens of economics and growth. We've forgotten that if we act on principle, prosperity will follow. We've put the cart before the horse.

Nativities 'Я' Us

We took advantage of some nice weather and a weekend with no painting crews hanging from ropes tied to the roof to do two loads of laundry today. Gotta have that roof clothesline. Generally relaxed weekend.

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This evening, after dinner, we walked about. Over in Plaza Nueva there was a "pop-up" old book market. It looked like old and rare books shops from all over Spain organized this event. Some of the books looked quite old:

A little further along, we came upon another collection of temporary merchant stalls beneath the walls of the cathedral. In this market one could satisfy all of one's nativity and miniature needs:

For the person that doesn't have enough variety in their miniature cow collection:

As a mathematician, I always appreciate recursion. I like this nativity in which Joseph is holding a lamp that has a nativity in it. I'm not sure if the Joseph in the lamp is also holding a lamp with a nativity inside, but I like to think that's the case:

Finally, if your nativity is just a bit too static, don't worry, one shop has animatronic figures for all of your motion active miniature needs. From nativity to simple medieval Spanish peasant scenes:


Real market or minimart? You decide:

Homemade Chinese Food

Laura's friend, Wang Zhi, is leaving Sevilla today. As part of her extended return to her home in China, her parents have joined her here in Spain and are touring Europe with her. As part of the farewell tour, Wang Zhi invited us to her flat for dinner cooked by her parents. Laura has some before photos. Here's an after:

There was spicy tofu (my favorite), dumplings, a chopped pork medley, an egg and tomato dish and two different kinds of shaved potato dishes. All of it was amazing. Wang Zhi also invited a number of other Sevillanos. One of them was Angel, a senior psychology major at the University of Sevilla. Angel's English was excellent. It was nice to chat with him and ask him all the little questions about Sevilla and Spain that I've built up over the past couple of months. He was also pretty outgoing. And, brave enough to attempt a transliterated karaoke of chinese versions of common songs like Twinkle Twinkle and Frere Jacques:

The Chinese folks in the room were unanimously in praise of Angel's pseudo-Chinese singing.

The flat was a bit too far to walk, so we took a bus to the dinner. When we left, the buses were on night schedule, which is usually a half-hour between buses. Instead of waiting, we rode a couple of bike shares home. Needless to say, there's still quite a lot happening on the streets of Sevilla at 1am. It all seemed pretty safe though. It was a bit misty in the late evening, but not too cold.

The late night is my explanation for the lateness of this entry.

Horses

Laura found tickets to a horse show at an exhibition center on the east edge of Sevilla called Fibes - Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones. The annual SICAB horse show is held there. While SICAB is a massive show and competition, we had tickets for an evening exhibition that showed off, in a non-competitive venue, some of the various horse skills and talents at the show as a whole.

We took public transportation out to the site with no trouble.

This is the front. The complex is divided up into 3 large halls. We found our way to hall C and took our seats. There were a lot of children at the show. Parked right in front of us was a stroller. I took the opportunity to snap this shot of one of the "baby cozies" I mentioned in an earlier post:

No need to call CPS on these folks, haha.

The show consisted of perhaps a half-dozen "acts". The most notable was the final act where a single trainer put 4 horses through an amazing repertoire. What was interesting is that the horses wore no bridles or saddles. The trainer stood in the ring and horses obeyed his voice commands. I didn't think it was possible to get that kind of precision from a horse:

Here, the trainer stands next to a horse, while two other horses patiently lie down. A couple other notable parts. This team of 4 riders stood on pairs of horses and performed various precision drills:

And this coach team demonstrated competitive barrel racing technique:


This group demonstrated high-speed saddle tricks:

The bus ride home was uneventful. Though the bus was crowded with folks exiting the event, we found a seat in the back:

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Earlier in the day, I went with folks from Laura's school on the weekly "cultural activity". We went to the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla. I'd been before, but it was nice to go on a guided tour with someone that knows about the works. At one point we stood in front of a couple of art students doing sketches. One took the opportunity to check her phone. Can confirm, her sketch was spot on:

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Otherwise, normal day, did some math, walked along the river, etc.

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Oh, and under the boardwalk... there are cobbles. Why am I not surprised? Hasta manana.

Under the Boardwalk

I walk/run along the river pretty much every day. I always go north because to the south it's a rickety old boardwalk and cobbles most of the way. I like my ankles too much to deal with that. This morning I noticed crews pulling up the boardwalk:

Here's hoping they replace it with something smoooottthhhhhh.

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Folks here in Sevilla have low tolerance for cold. We noticed this quickly when the high temps started dipping into the 60s. All the babies and toddlers in their strollers were suddenly tucked into little half sleeping bag-like things that come up to about armpit level. They're so common that when Laura and I notice a baby that doesn't have one, we jokingly threaten to call child protective services. Today it was calm, sunny and 75 degrees, but this poor dog in the grocery store lobby still had his sweater on:

Looking into his eyes I could hear his thoughts, "I'm burning up. A little help here?" I guess it's all a matter of what you're used to.

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Spanish class was interesting. Past tense seems more complicated here than in English.

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Painting continues on the interior courtyard. Today I went into the kitchen to get lunch and there was a painter hanging from a rope right outside the window. There was a modicum of eye contact. It was awkward.

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Crick is almost gone. Fingers crossed for a complete recovery tomorrow.