The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain: Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville.Wells, Nathaniel Armstrong
Islamic
The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain: Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville.
Seville presents two so different aspects during the two opposite
seasons of the year, that to be well understood it should be visited at
both. During the winter, the existence does not materially differ from
that of the inhabitants of most other European towns; excepting that the
intercourse of society is subjected to less formality. Cards of
invitation are rarely made use of; and you are not, consequently,
exposed to the annoyance of seeing and hearing your house invaded by a
dense crowd, on a night you have appointed a month before, without any
possibility of foreseeing whether you would be disposed or not on that
particular night to undergo such a toil. These crowds are, I believe,
unheard of in Seville; but those who are pleased in each other's
society, know where to find each other; and without waiting for
invitations, small circles are formed every evening, from which all
crushing, fatigue, and intense dressing are excluded.
The winter is also a more advantageous season for the stranger, who
would be totally debarred by the summer heats from the activity
necessary for the satisfaction of his curiosity, in visiting the objects
of interest contained in and around Seville. On the other hand, the
summer season offers to his contemplation the successful attainment of a
mode of existence suited to the burning climate; a problem found to be
solved but in few instances. The first and most essential arrangement
appears to be the turning night into day, and _vice versâ_, as far as
regards society and all locomotion. No one leaves his house until long
after sunset, and visiting commences some hours later. The morning being
consequently the time for repose, and the breakfast hour nevertheless
remaining the same all the year round, the _siesta_ is very essential,
and is judiciously placed between the dinner, which terminates at four,
and the hour for movement--nine, when the Sevillano, refreshed by three
or four hours sleep, and a fresh toilette, is infinitely better disposed
for the evening's amusements than the denizen of more northern climes,
who rises at that or a later hour from the chief repast of the day, and
is put _en train_ by the less natural and less durable stimulants of the
table.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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