Sevilla -- Warning: Picture Overload!

SEVILLA!!

So, after the Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, I hopped on a bus at 7am on Friday morning to head over to SEVILLA. Sevilla is in southern Spain, in Andalusia, which is what you think about when you think of Spain. Beautiful, southern Spain.

It is an 8 to 10 hour bus-ride to Sevilla, so we didn't get to our hotel until late in the afternoon. We stayed in a pretty nice hotel about a twenty-minute bus ride from the city center. It was a bummer that it wasn't directly in the city, but I hear that the hotels in the city are incredibly expensive, so, oh well.

First off, we walked around downtown Sevilla a bit and got acquainted with the place. I went on an organized trip through the university, so we had a tour guide the entire time and a chartered bus -- it was pretty sweet. There was an optional excursion to go on a boat cruise along the Gualdaquiver river, but we opted out and did our OWN version of a river cruise....:

I know this is a terrible picture, but you can get an idea of the boats we rode in! So tiny.

That's right! We were walking along the river and saw the sign to rent some paddle-boats! So we took the last few, hopped in and paddled around the river for an hour. So much fun! It was absolutely freezing and everyone was looking at us like we were crazy because it was getting dark, but we had a blast.



It got dark really fast while we were still on the water. This is one of the bridges we paddled under.

Afterwards, I met up with Lauren and Trevor for approximately four minutes and then we trooped off for dinner. We had a very Spanish meal of tapas where everyone got to pick something. I should've taken a picture of this meal -- it was pretty intense. Spanish tortillas, mussels, weird fish meatballs, salad, bread... all kinds of things! After, my friend Liz and I got some Spanish beer and hung out at this bar by the Cathedral that seemed to the ~the place~ for all of the Spaniards to hang out. There were people allll around the Cathedral! Very cool. We didn't talk to anyone, but we did people-watch quite a bit....

The next day, we woke up early and went on a bus tour around Sevilla. Sevilla was the site of two different Expos -- one in the twenties, and one only a couple of years ago. Countries from all over the world came to these and built buildings and such, so there's all sorts of cool buildings from both Expos dedicated to all the countries. There's like, an Africa building.

After, we walked around with a tour guide who showed us around the city...



Fountain in Sevilla. I took a lot of solo pictures -- gosh, Lauren!


This street is called 'Aqua' because its right next to the aquduct and water would used to run down it.


This is the thinnest street in Sevilla, in the Santa Cruz Barrio. The Santa Cruz Barrio is a little bit like the Ritz of Sevilla, but it didn't used to be. Back in the days of the dictator, you weren't allowed to have any sort of public affection, even if you were married. So couples would go down this street (which is known now as the Calle de Besos or 'Street of Kisses') to have some intimate moments because it was easy to hide there. Also, the streets are so thin so that people could jump from rooftop to rooftop and homeowners could drop things on criminals. Okay, I don't really know if that's why, but that's what people do!!

From the Barrio de Santa Cruz, we headed over to the Catedral de Sevilla, which happens to be the third largest Christian cathedral IN THE WORLD. (First is the Vatican, second is in London). It is Gothic-style, which means the huge turrets and intricate architecture. So absolutely beautiful. Allow me to indulge you:



Outside of the Catedral. It is HUGE.


Main entrance door.


It is realllyyyy hard to get pictures inside of a Church, but I did manage to snap this one. This is the patron saint of the Internet, who gets his own big statue in the Catedral. So, you know, my patron saint.


Inside the Catedral also is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. I was a little disappointed -- I'm not sure what I was expecting! It was just a big statue that said that he was buried underneath... maybe I hoped for a coffin at least? Anyways, I think it is funny that Spain cares so much about Christopher Colon, as they call him, when America really doesn't. We also climbed the bell tower (that huge turret that's in the above picture) and it gave us a view over all of Sevilla. I'm starting to really love these views I'm getting -- it is so hard to climb up, but I always know it will be worth it! The higher and harder the climb, the better the view!



Sevilla is the fourth-largest city in Spain. First is Madrid, then Barcelona, then Valencia. Hey, I've been all those places! (Or soon will be!)


Looking down from the Bell Tower.


I can hear the bells! (Musical theatre reference.)
Also, I kept making hunchback jokes, but nobody laughed. Womp womp.


I feel like all of these pictures are just of me. Well, probably because they are. I don't like pictures of just buildings because they're boring, so you have to look at my face all the time. I always have to make sure I like my outfit when I go sightseeing, hah.

NEXT (I know, there's more) we went to Alcazar, which is a miniature Alhambra. Except, the word "miniature" is relative here, because the Alhambra is like, the size of a large city. Alcazar was really pretty; we walked around all the gardens and such. We even got lost in a hedge maze! (And then pretended we were Harry Potter trying to find the Goblet of Fire... Man, I'm cool.)


This picture is probably superfluous, HOWEVER these fish were grossing me out. They were swimming in this pond that used to irrigate the gardens or something? I was watching them because I thought they were kind of cool, then I realized they actually grossed me out and I had to run away from them. I thought I would share that charming story.


Some of the girls on the tour to Sevilla. Yay for new friends!


Inside the gardens. Pretty, eh?

We got some lunch at this place called 500 Mondaditos, which was really cool. They have 500 different types of baby sandwiches, and they each cost around one euro, so you just order however many you want. So we got those and camped out on the sidewalk to chow down. The thing about Europe is -- they charge you more to sit ANYWHERE, so BEWARE when just going to sit down places. There's usually a sitting fee. And if they have enough money to buy chairs and tables, they're going to be expensive. Better off with the guys with carts and pop a squat in a doorway somewhere. It will probably taste better, too. (Just don't do this in Morocco. My friends went there and are now quite ill.. trust me, you don't want to hear the detailed symptoms.)

Saturday night I went to a flamenco show! I had already gone to one in Granada, but Sevilla has a different type of flamenco, so I wanted to see that, too. It was absolutely amazing. It was in the tiny little courtyard, with ivy covering all of the blue-and-white Spanish tile and lit by candle-light. The dancers were soo good. One day I might put up an example of flamenco so you can listen to it -- it is a little strange, but hauntingly beautiful in person. Flamenco is all about storytelling in dance and song, and they told some beautiful stories that hit you right at the soul; it gets you at a gut-level, in a way that only music can. Must-do at some point in your life.

On Sunday it was RAINING. I was very unhappy about this because I, once more, did not bring a warm enough jacket. (This is a constant theme in my life. I just need to bring. my. jacket. always.) Luckily enough, it stopped raining right when we got to the PLAZA DE ESPANA.



The Plaza de Espana. All of the regions of Spain are represented here in the artwork.


Standing on the steps of the Plaza.



View of what the Plaza looks like.


NOW -- Take a good look at my above pictures. Now, watch this short video.......




Yes, that's right -- they filmed Star Wars at the Plaza de Espana. Very cool if I do say so myself. I ran around like a fool pretending to be a Jedi. Lovely. Across from the Plaza de Espana is El Parque de Maria Luisa, which is this huge beautiful park.






And then we hopped on the bus for another eight hours back home! Talk about a long weekend, whew. Did you get through that? Have I lost everyone?

Anyways, it has been really great. I only have three more weeks here -- I cannot believe it!! My friend and I booked train tickets to Barcelona tomorrow morning, so we're heading off there next! Wow, Barcelona! I'm so excited!

Miss you all tons! Love you bunches.
Besos,
Kandace

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