Sevilla

This past weekend Margaret, Anita and I traveled to Sevilla in southern Spain. We were told that when people think of Spain, the images they are thinking of originate from Sevilla. Which we understood very soon after arriving. Sevilla is the home of flamenco, bullfighting, whitewashed houses, tapas, cobblestone streets, and leisurely siestas. It was such a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Barcelona. Friday we flew in and quickly set about exploring the city. It was such a nice day, almost downright hot! As we were walking by the Cathedral in the middle of the town, I was approached by a Spanish woman with an olive branch in her hand. She grabbed my hand and proceeded to read my palm, in Spanish of course. I didn't really know was she was saying, but I caught onto the words love and strong (which see repeated a lot) and just nodded my head and smiled. It wasn't until she abruptly stopped talking and thrust out her hand that I realized I was caught in the most novice tourist trap. I gave the woman a 1 euro coin and she shook her head and said no five! Heck no! Thank goodness Margaret and Anita pushed me along and got me out of my state of shock before that woman started to yell at me.

It's all fun and games until...

View of the river where we ate lunch

After walking around some more, we headed back to the hostel where we sat for hours on our rooftop terrace. It was nice to relax in the sun and chat before it was time to go out for the night. That night we went to a flamenco bar that had a free flamenco show while we were there. It was definitely interesting. The dancer and guitar player would kind of hiss at the audience to be quiet and all that did was cause me to laugh and be louder. I learned that flamenco was all about the sound the dancer was making with her feet along with the Spanish guitar and singer. She sure did move her feet fast!

I think she could have smiled a bit more

Margaret had a friend she  worked with the previous summer studying in Seville. He met up with us at the flamenco show and then took us out to the bars. There was a great bar scene along Calle Betis on the river. We hopped from bar to bar and found a new favorite drink called tinto verano. It is like a red wine spritzer, more refreshing than sangria. I have to learn how to make it for the summer!
Found via Pinterest

Saturday we woke up to another warm and beautiful day. I was so excited to wear a dress without tights or a coat! We checked off more sights on our list and just had a great time getting lost in the Barrio Santa Cruz and taking in all that Sevilla had to offer. We knew that Sevilla was in preparation for all of their spring festivals (Semana Santa, Las Ferras), so there was a lot going on while we were there. As we were walking down the street we heard a marching band playing so naturally we followed them. The band ended up in what looked like a church square off some back alley. We had found a local festival of some sort. There was a stage where different bands took their turn to play and there was beer and tapas for 1 euro! Even though we weren't hungry we had to indulge because it was so cheap and authentic. I loved how we could just assimilate into the crowd and not really get any strange looks for once.

Not the best picture, but you can see the band on the stage

After a day of wandering we decided to go to this park and rest/ take a nap. That is something I have really enjoyed doing while over here in Europe. There is a park right near our apartment in Barcelona and it is perfect to just go lie down on a blanket on a nice day. We did the same thing in Sevilla. Its the perfect ending to a long day of walking. That night we decided to take it easy because we had to get up extremely early (like always) to catch our flight home. We went to a restaurant and got tapas. We have been told that in Barcelona, our tapas aren't authentic because its usually just a piece of bread with a toothpick holding it together with cheese or sausage. Well in Sevilla we ordered three rounds of delicious small portions of Spanish food-no toothpicks or bread! They are just like mini-entrees and it gives you a chance to eat a lot of different things without feeling like you have to be rolled out of the restaurant. Tapas are the way to go in my eyes because I can never make a decision about what I want to eat and I love to try other people's food.

All the colors of the buildings were so bright and cheery.

 Another great weekend of travel. I am really happy that I got to see another part of Spain. Each region is so different from the rest. We don't have class this Friday which means off to Dublin. I'm going to have to pull my coat back out of the closet, but it will be a great weekend! This is our last weekend trip until spring break ahhh!

Hasta Luego,
Langley

Another pretty picture from Sevilla (photo cred: Anita)