Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sevilla, I'm speechless...


When you picture Spain, what do you see? Magnificent historical sites? Immense parks full of tress, wildlife, lakes, and families spending time together?  Narrow cobblestone streets lined with Spanish style architecture? If any of that comes to mind you’re imagining Sevilla, quite possibly my favorite city in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bilbao; I’ve made amazing friends, learned a lot about the culture/language, and discovered even more about myself and life in general. All together it has been the experience of a lifetime, but this weekend allowed me to experience true Spain not the Basque Country and all I can say is “WOW”.


Okay, I guess I have more to say than “wow”.  This was my first hostel experience and I definitely lucked out; it was in a great location (2 minute walk from the Cathedral/city center), clean, and the staff was very friendly. I also met people from Brazil, Finland, Canada, Australia, England, Portugal, and Korea! Friday’s weather was gorgeous so we spent the entire day touring around. The first stop we made was Alcazar, the coolest Palace and gardens I’ve seen yet! The intricacy of every room was spectacular from the tiling on the floors to the etchings in the ceilings and the arches separating the rooms. I’m pretty sure I spent more time looking at that, and exploring the gardens, than I did reading about the building's purpose. Overall it was great though; Christopher Columbus’ boat (well, a model of course) was there, they had a room devoted to ancient tiles (reminded me of all the tiling in our house in California), and the gardens were really fun to wander through while soaking up the sun we don’t have in Bilbao. From there we hopped in a horse carriage (yes, you read that correctly) and got a ride through the entire city! At one point we went onto the main street and around a roundabout which was a tad unnerving as you can imagine, the horse didn’t seem too thrilled either. We had it drop us off at Plaza de EspaƱa, which was amazing! It’s a huge plaza in the heart of Maria Luisa Park, also beautiful, with a mote surrounding it that you can take a rowboat around. After enjoying a quiet lunch, where I had churros con chocolate for the first time (imagine churros without the cinnamon sugar and a chocolate sauce to dip them in), we headed back to the hostel to catch a walking tour of the city. Our guide was a from Italy who knew literally everything about Sevilla since the 1400’s; he had quite the personality, and wasn’t afraid to share his opinions. Numerous times he’d tell us a story about something and then go on a little rant, which I found hilarious with his Italian accent and over the top hand gestures. That night for dinner our hostel had a paella cooking class so for 5 euros we got to watch/learn how paella was made and then pig out on it! Absolutely delicious. The hostel also had a “nightlife tour” so we participated in that too, lots of fun of course. My friend studied abroad here last year so everywhere we went I remembered a story she had told me, made it a little more exciting! At the first bar we went to they taught us how to salsa dance! On Saturday it stormed, just as predicted, so we slept in then had a leisurely lunch in town then spent time visiting the Cathedral that took our breath away the first night we arrived. Not that it wasn’t a luxurious structure, full of history and fascinating artifacts, but after seeing countless other Cathedrals these past few months it sort of felt like “just another building” so we made our way through then went and sat in starbucks to escape the rain (a rare find in Europe that you can’t pass up). 



This trip felt almost surreal to me. The scenery was unbelievable, the culture was interesting, the people were open to foreigners (something Basques do not enjoy doing), and the company was perfect! I went with my friend Lauren, who I've traveled with before, but also Angela and our personalities were perfect. There was no bickering, no stress, just three days full of laughter. The fact that things weren't ridiculously expensive and we didn't get lost helped I'm sure, but I haven't laughed as much as I did this weekend in forever; exactly what I hoped for a weekend away. Now it's back to reality, if you can even call this life "reality". Lots of tests and projects coming up in the next 27 days. Here's a few pictures! I took 116 so I'll try to pick the best :)












2 comments:

  1. You must be from a creative family. Great writing and pictures like I would have shot and from the same angle. "Time to leave Grasshopper". You're too young for that reference so Goggle it. Great piece, love you. Dad

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Dad!! I understand the reference :) See you soon!!

    ReplyDelete