Friday, April 17th 2015
My bus arrived in Sevilla at about 5:45 am. I made my way by myself the mile long walk to my hostel. I can't say it felt unsafe, but certainly an experience that I have tried to avoid in Boston and now I'm doing it in a country where I can only speak parts of the language. I arrived at my hostel a bit later and although I didn't have a reservation until the next night, he checked me in and allowed me to go to my bed! I was shocked and so appreciative to get a few more hours of restful sleep.
I woke up a long while later and it was like it was a new day. I got ready and joined the group for a city walking tour. I met Aaron on the tour, he is a friend that I knew at Camp Island Lake so many years ago who is studying in Seville and will spend some time showing me around. It was super nice to see him! I find it so special to rekindle all of these past friendships. Although, once the tour started Aaron was showing off and had the right answer to our tour guides questions because he is living here and taking Spanish history courses unlike the rest of us tourists! Speaking of the tour guide, he was great! He was very animated and taught so much history in a very interesting way. He incorporated people on the tour by giving us roles in the historical stories. I was first used to show the meaning of the infinity sign in the NO8DO logo, which meant I was married and connected for infinity, but then instantly divorced. I was later the crazy Queen Jane that had some very important roles in history (somehow the person I was ‘married’ to then ended up playing my son. I’m not sure how that ended up happening, but we found it entertaining). In conclusion, it was a great way to learn about the long history of the city. We saw some beautiful places and learned many interesting things. The tour ended in Plaza Espanya, which was made for their big exposition and was fantastic. The building had so much symbolism and everything was gorgeous. After the tour I walked around the area with a group from the tour (Aaron had to run back to his host mom) taking pictures and enjoying the sun. A group of eight of us went to get tapas afterwards, and they were very good. I like the fried Hake the most, but I also got to try quail egg, which was delicious, and more Papas Bravas. Many people at the table spoke awesome Spanish, so I was incredibly intimidated which made my Spanish way worse. Sharing tapas is certainly the way to go, because I got to try quite a few things and most of them were very good! Yum! After lunch I went with three people that I met on the tour, Ali, Ari and Pat, to the Alcazar. The Alcazar was an amazing palace that had beautiful and very intricate wall and ceiling moldings. I was definitely walking around with my head back, trying to observe everything. We then went into the gardens and wandered through the beautiful plants and structures. In one of the ponds, a man was throwing in bread for the fish, but these fish were crazy! It was like they hadn't been fed for days. I think we wandered the palace and grounds for two and a half hours! They were that great and I really enjoyed the company. I have to say it was really nice to meet other solo travelers, which I have met a bunch of here, who have similar interests to myself. We got along so well that I decided to have dinner with them. So, I ran back to my hostel, changed my clothes, drank a few glasses of the free Sangria sitting in the garden at my hostel, and then raced back to their hostel for dinner. They served a nice dinner in their hostel, but the most impressive was the view! The rooftop where we ate on had an amazing view of the cathedral, which glowed at night. It was very fun to meet the travelers from everywhere and learn about where they are from and what led to our paths crossing. After dinner we went to a bar and got a rebujito pitcher, which is the drink special to the festival in Seville that starts on Monday. At the bar there was some spontaneous flamenco, of course amateur, but it made for a fun environment. We went to one more locals bar for the rest of the evening before heading home. Meeting those three new friends really made my day. They were fun to be around and shared a very similar travel excitement. I'll see Ari again tomorrow, but I will certainly remember our little crew.
Saturday, April 18th 2015
This morning I decided to wander. I first started by going through the Jewish quarter. What is called the Jewish quarter in Sevilla really doesn't have very many Jews, or any at all. It is now a cool area with cobblestone streets and churches. There was a little Jewish museum, but it seemed pretty small and not very good, so I didn’t go in. I went shopping and wandering through the streets but of course the boutiques weren't exactly in my price range. I then made my way to the main cathedral. The church was crazy big and beautiful, but I have seen so many churches! I did get to see remains of Christopher Columbus, or at least the tomb where they supposedly are and a lot of gorgeous gold decorations. I made the climb up the giralda (clock tower). There were 34 ramps to climb, each with little windows or antiques in the middle. When I reached the top there was a gorgeous view of the entire city! It was quite remarkable. I could see the bull ring, the river and many other things.
I walked down and started heading to Triana, which is across the river. Just as I finished the gorgeous walk across the bridge, I came upon the Triana Market. Of course loving markets, I went inside. It was pretty cool with lots of amazing stands. I then walked by one that said Spanish Cooking class at 3:30. That was only half an hour from now, and learning to cook Spanish food would be amazing! So, I decided to go for it! I called Aaron and he came running from his place to meet me. There were only 7 of us in the class: two girls our age from New York and a girl with her parents from Michigan. The class was great! First we got a walking tour of the market. I saw all of these amazing new fruits, which I of course had to purchase. The instructor helped me pick out an arrangement of Spanish cheeses to try and bring back to the hostel. Perfect breakfasts for the next few days: mango, new fruits and cheese! I also saw them slicing by hand the Spanish ham, which was incredible. We then went back to the kitchen to learn some dishes. Spanish cooking is all about slow and bringing out the flavors of the delicious ingredients. So they don't use very many spices or adding flavors, just bringing them out. We made salmoneca, which is a cold tomato soup, spinach and chickpeas (which was incredibly fantastic), Spanish tortilla (which I could totally do again and was quite easy), and the grand finale: paella. Paella was really fun to make and interesting to learn. I just need a paella pan and I would totally make it again. He taught us how to debone a chicken in the process. I got to do a lot of the mixing and cooking of the paella. Of course in the whole process we were drinking Sangria, having fun and enjoying because it was vacation! I continue to try olives when I travel to these places, but still don't like them. The whole experience was fun and relaxing and 'm really glad I decided to do it.
After the class, we ran back to the hostel so I could change and went directly to a flamenco show. I can't express how amazing this show was. There was a guitarist, singer and two dancers, male and female. The guitarist was fantastic. During his solo I was in shock as to how he could strum so many strings so quickly. I think he was strumming and plucking at the same time. I was amazed. The singer was fantastic and the dancers were the best. Although their couple dance was good, each of their individual acts were the most impressive. They moved so fast and put so much passion into their dance. I was really impressed and enjoyed it very much. Today was a great and very cultural day.
Sunday, April 19th 2015
This morning, I walked back to the place where I first arrived, the bus stop, to meet Aaron. Today, we were going on an adventure to the city of Ronda. We climbed on the bus and both went to sleep right away. Partway through the bus ride my eyes peaked open, and I saw a glimpse of the incredible Spanish countryside. I actually forced my eyes open and did all I could to stay awake so I could enjoy the incredible scenery. The bus rode around beautiful cliffs. In the distance you could see gorgeous mountains. I had no idea how beautiful the Spanish countryside was.
When we arrived, we got off the bus and headed towards the center of town. On the way we found a park and walked to the edge. From the park you could see into the valley surrounding the city. The view was fabulous.
We continued to walk and stumbled upon the bull fighting ring. I was curious about the history, so we decided to go into it. We got to see the stables and then we actually went into the ring. It is one of the oldest in Spain, so it was a great site to see. The museum inside the ring was very interesting. We learned a lot about this history of and culture around bullfighting. There were some amazing costumes from the bullfighters. Although I was initially very excited to learn about it, I realized how sad and terrible the sport is. The sport is all about how fancily they can kill a bull. They actually kill the animal during the event. It of course is engrained in their culture, but the idea of killing an animal as a show is quite sad.
After the museum, we went to find a place for lunch. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful scenery, so we found a restaurant with a patio overlooking the valley. The view was fantastic. I enjoyed a lovely glass of wine (why not, it was the same price as water!) with our tapas and salad. These Spanish tapas were incredible. It seems in Andalucia the tapas are more like little dishes where in Catalunya they were more like snacks. I have to say, I love the Andalucian food. It has been incredibly good and so enjoyable. We also had a salad with it. The whole meal was delicious, I had nice company and was surrounded by an incredible view. We then wanted to climb down into the canyon. To describe a bit about Ronda, Ronda is split into two parts by this canyon that runs through it. A beautiful old bridge stretches the gap to connect the two halves. So, as we climbed down into this beautiful nature, we were technically in the middle of a city! We first walked down to get a great view of the bridge and see some Roman arches. Then, it was adventure time.
We first followed a path underneath the bridge. We made it to the river and the water was gorgeous. It was a pretty blue green color. There were quite a few people down there also enjoying the beautiful area. We took some great pictures, saw a frog and jumped across some rocks. Just before the bridge, the water actually goes down a large waterfall. Since we were now on the upper side of it, we made a goal to climb to the bottom of it. We found a winding path to bring us down. It was a beautiful walk with pretty trees and a nice path. We then reached the river and our nice walk became a lot more challenging. Big rocks separated us from where we wanted to get to. We then started hiking across, under, around and above the large rocks through the river. It was crazy intense. I will say there is a few moments that I saw my life flash before my eyes. Not exactly the way I prefer to hike, but it was a blast. We found so many picturesque spots and often had to stop to just enjoy the view or take a picture of each other. I truly felt like we were on an adventure. We eventually reached a place where we felt it would be unsafe to continue. So, we never made it to the waterfall but got quite close. It was a great experience for me. I loved the hiking, I saw some amazing scenery, and I got to enjoy some nature, which I think can often be the best part of traveling. After a stop for some amazing Spanish cookies, we got back on the bus and headed home to Sevilla.
After the most glorious shower, Aaron met me at the hostel to walk to dinner. We went to a place he had always noticed was busy, called Carmela. I ordered three traditional Spanish tapas, Oxtail lasagna, Octopus with black rice and vegetables with tomato sauce and goat cheese .I have to say, this was my favorite meal of the trip. The oxtail was yummy and I appreciated the way they made the lasagna. The most amazing thing was the cheese and vegetable dish. The cheese was fantastic and the sauce had a sweet and sour note, it was fabulous. I scrapped the plate as much as I could. I declared this meal as my favorite meal in my entire three week trip. I was so happy with everything I ordered and truly felt the Spanish cooking come out, and it was fantastic. We finished the night with some delicious gelato. It was a fantastic evening to end an incredible day.
Monday, April 20th 2015
Today, I spent the day exploring and walking around the city. I went shopping for my outfit for the festival that night! Tonight was La Feria! Which is a huge celebration in Sevilla. There is a huge area of the city that is not used during the year other than during La Feria. I found a pink flower for my hair and a shawl for my shoulders. The girls wear these incredible dresses for the week, but I couldn’t afford to get a very very expensive dress just for the night. So, I fortunately had the dress that I bought in Barcelona and decided to wear that! I wandered around Triana and the shopping areas of Sevilla to look at the dresses and take in the pre La Feria excitement.
After getting all dressed up, I met up with Aaron and his parents, who had come to visit, and climbed on what had been my landmark for the last few days, the mushroom! From the roof, we had an incredible view of the city that was unforgettable. We wandered around the uneven top and took lots of pictures! We enjoyed a lovely before dinner glass of wine at the mushroom before heading off to have a delicious local meal. After the great meal, we stopped only for the required post-dinner gelato, before beginning the long walk across the city to the huge festival grounds.
After getting all dressed up, I met up with Aaron and his parents, who had come to visit, and climbed on what had been my landmark for the last few days, the mushroom! From the roof, we had an incredible view of the city that was unforgettable. We wandered around the uneven top and took lots of pictures! We enjoyed a lovely before dinner glass of wine at the mushroom before heading off to have a delicious local meal. After the great meal, we stopped only for the required post-dinner gelato, before beginning the long walk across the city to the huge festival grounds.
The festival started by the lighting of the gate. To find this gate we just followed the packed crowds of people who were all making their way there. When we finally arrived, we stood packed in the crowd, pushing our way forward and watched as the gate lit up at midnight. As soon as this happened, that means the festival begins and everyone charged through. On the other side were these amazing tents that people owned and held celebrations in. The rest of the year, these grounds are just plots, but during La Feria there are tents with excitement, drinking, food and dancing! Since we didn’t know anyone with a tent, we went to a public one. I was with Aaron and a few of his friends and they all had been studying the traditional dance. I picked up some of it, but it was pretty difficult! The environment was energetic and exciting. Everyone was looking forward to a week of celebration. The girls dresses were fabulous and I loved looking around and watching them all! |
There was also a huge carnival filled with food and rides. We went on roller coasters and these crazy upside down machines. I went on rides with some of Aarons friends and it was incredibly fun. We were there for a long time and really enjoyed ourselves. Around 5 in the morning, we had to walk back because I was on my way to the airport. I had to go home to return to classes the next day. It was a fantastic spring break, but everything has to come to an end at some point.