An Educational Experience
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2007
1
74
180
Trip End
Dec 29, 2009
Seville, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
Monday, June 23, 2008
I came to Seville from Granada by bus. Buses are how I got around to every city in Spain. I found them to be easy to figure out and cheaper than taking the train.
I stayed for three nights at Triana Backpackers. It was one the nicest hostels I've stayed in. Took me a while to find, I just had a crude map that I drew in my notebook. I found it though. It was close the river.
At the hostel I met Mark, who I ended spending most of the time with and we got along really well, it felt as if we had already known each for years and were good friends
View From the Bell Tower
. Only we weren't. But it felt that way! In Seville I feel like a I learned a big history lesson.
While in Seville I visited Plaza de España. I don't really know what its purpose was, it seemed rather empty. Supposedly it was used in the filming of some Star Wars scenes. I went in the Torre de Oro, I remember it costing only one Euro. I spent hours at the Real Alcázar, which reminded of the Alhambra in Granada because of it's similar Moorish architecture. There were so many rooms and courtyards, this place was massive, although not as large as the Alhambra. I stood in the room where Ferdinand and Isabella discussed Columbus' plans for sailing to India or wherever it he thought he was going. I also visited the Cathedral of Seville, where the tomb of Christopher Columbus is now. I climbed to the top of the bell tower of the cathedral, called La Giralda.
I remember going out for tapas, which are Spanish appetizers and are at almost every restaurant. The Spanish have such interesting days. The daily siesta, or nap, was odd. Most businesses would open in the morning, close from around one p.m. to five p.m., and then open up again
In the Alcazar
. Dinner is served starting around 8 or 9 p.m. until midnight. Before dinner people will bar hop, they will go from bar to bar eating tapas. I particularly like patatas bravas. Probably because they remind me of french fries. Oh, how American of me. They are fried potato wedges served with salsa brava, which is a spicy tomato sauce. The sauce really just reminds me of "fry sauce," which is a Utah thing...ketchup and mayo mixed together. Mmm. I know, you are probably not thinking the same thing. It's good though. It just be me but fry sauce and salsa brava seem similar.
I never saw any flamenco performances, but I know they are popular in Seville.
I know that people aren't supposed to swim in the river, but this guy from Ireland I met tried to jump into the river from the bridge with me. We made sure there weren't any kayaks/boats in the river (they went by frequently). Timing was good. We didn't want to get in trouble, so we walked about to the middle of the bridge fully clothed, hurried and took off everything but our swimsuits, stepped over the railing and we were just about to jump when this local man came over and grabbed this guy that was going to jump with me. That's so scary! If he had jumped at that moment, he could have really hurt him! Just don't do that, anyone. Seriously. That man made it much more dangerous. Then he started dialing the police, so we gave up on that attempt. It wasn't that high, only about 25 ft, and we watched tons of people already jump it at that spot. I'm not dumb, a person can get hurt jumping off a bridge, but it's a calculated risk. It's not even jumping out of an airplane. Oh well. I'm over it.
