The Sister City

Seville is the “sister city” of Kansas City, which is a fact I actually only remembered shortly before arriving here. To be honest, I didn’t really think about which cities in Spain I was going to visit when I was preparing, I just thought about how I would be going to Spain in general. But when I was driving to the airport towards Kansas City, thinking about how I’d be spending most of my time in Seville, it hit me. The faint voice of my past Spanish teachers echoed in my head—KC is took a lot of inspiration from Seville.
And when we went to the Giralda as a class tour, and I was struck with déjà vu, I realized that I had seen a much smaller version of the remarkable tower before. It was connected to The Cheesecake Factory in Kansas City! The irony was overwhelming. Of course, this 1000 year old historical Spanish site would be associated with a commercialized food chain in the states. Now, I do need to give Kansas City some credit, as it did incorporate a lot of the classic architecture of Seville in the buildings of its Country Club Plaza (where the Cheesecake Factory is located), and I’m sure has some other less ironic representations of Seville throughout the area. The fact that the copy of the Giralda proudly sits atop a Cheesecake Factory back home makes me think of America’s commercialization, and yet also how much it has appreciated other cultures, and drawn from them a lot of respect and inspiration. So now, every time I pass it, I am reminded of home, but also of the differences between Spain and America.
The area of La Giralda and La Catedral is actually my favorite of those we have visited so far. La Catedral is enormous—and when you’re inside, it feels even bigger than it is because it was designed so that there is always something blocking your view of the opposite corner. The interior is incredibly grandiose, with more gold decorations than I have ever seen in my life. It is truly beautiful, and when you exit, you can go up to the top of La Giralda to get and vast view of Seville.
It is also fascinating seeing the old Moorish architecture mixed with the newer Catholic additions. Through Spanish architecture you can also see the history of which peoples were in power at what times. I always thought American architecture to be more one-dimensional in that sense, but in the case of La Giralda on the Cheesecake Factory, one could say that we simply added another historical layer to the iconic building. It’s funny how the world gets smaller over the years. Who would have thought that I would accidentally end up in the sister city of my home town, all the way across the Atlantic? Que guay!