Seville - Bulls, Palaces and an overpriced Church
Trip Start
Jun 08, 2008
1
62
65
Trip End
Dec 08, 2008
Seville,
Andalusia,
Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, November 28, 2008
I took the train from Granada to Seville which was pretty easy. One train, no changes, direct and simple. I got to Seville about 3 hours later and got off the train. You would think by now my navigational skills would be great. I would be able to read a map and get around a strange new town in no time, well, you would be wrong. If their is a TI (tourist Information) at the train station I always stop by bet the directions to my hostel and then hit the streets and hope that things go well.
TI is usually really good, except in Spain. I have now been to 17 countries and the language barrier has not been a problem. Western Europe, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, all with no problems. Spain has defiantly been a struggle. I guess I was getting spoiled when it came to people speaking English, everyone does, so I haven't had a problem. Spain, on the other hand is not as easy as every other country in Europe. I mean, I understand that I am in foreign territory and that English is not their first language but you would think that people at TI would have a little base to go on.
I asked the lady where abouts my hostel was even though I had directions, I just wanted to double check and make sure I was headed on the right path. NOT A WORD OF ENGLISH. I asked in English and she responded in Spanish. Now I am not an arrogant person but you would think, if a guy could speak Spanish he would. And if he cant speak the language then that means he probably doesn't understand it either!!!!! She gave me a map and told me where to go. Her instructions weren't even close to the ones that I had but I decided to follow hers anyways, BIG MISTAKE. I turned where I shouldn't have turned, I crossed streets that I didn't recognize the names of. I was headed the opposite way for about half an hour before I realized that things weren't right. I turned around and headed back to the train station. I decided to scrap her directions and head out on my own. I did and after an hour of wandering the streets I finally found my hostel.
HOSTELS:
Hotels are something that can make or break you experience in a city. You get a good one and you fluke out, you get a crappy one and you can be stuck for a while in a really crappy place. Now, I do have to admit that I have been very fortunate with hostels on my trip. Most have been great and now after spending nights in close to 45 hostels I have become a pro. The little things can make you happy, or can make it really bad. A crappy kitchen can cause for extra money spent, and a bad bed can can make for very long nights. In Europe you basically have two types of hostels, THE PARTY HOSTEL, and THE CHILLED OUT HOSTEL. As the start of my trip, I was all about having a good time and staying out to 5 and 6 in the morning and feeling good about it. Now close to 6 months into it, I have lost the energy and the motivation to stay out all night long. Just call me old. Unfortunately I was about to check into a hostel that I was OVERLY chilled out.
The hostel could hold about 100 guests and I was guest number 5 to check in for the day. A total number 5 people were staying there and I couldn't even believe it. If you didn't like the people around you, you were going to have a hard time trying to find someone else to talk to. Lucky enough I was rooming with the other guest, All of them, they put us all in the same room, less to clean I guess. Jada, Lisa, and Aaron were great and easy to chat with. Lisa and Aaron studying in Seville and Jada, an Aussie, traveling the world!!!
Seville, is quite a great town. The third biggest city in Spain, next to Barcelona and Madrid. As you travel the country, the culture changes. San Sebastian is known for their food, Barcelona, for their history and architecture and Madrid, their football. Seville is known for Bull fighting and Flamenco Dancing. Bull fighting was out of season so I would not have the chance to see some poor Bull get speared with swords.
The first day was chilled out, I like my chilled out days, walking, taking pictures and just looking a things. They have one huge Cathedral in the center of town which I thought would be nice to see. It was huge so it had to be a sight to see from the inside. When I arrived at the door and noticed the entry fee was 7.50 Euro I decided I was just going to imagine what it looked like. I did head over to the Palace though, the gardens themselves supposedly would be worth the price of admission. It was only 7 Euros, 7.50 for a freakin church and 7 for a Palace. I was thinking I was missing something about that Cathedral. Either way I made my way into the Palace and took the tour. A place once ruled by the Moorish and later taken over by the Catholics, it was quite an impressive building. The grounds were stunning and the facade of the rooms were over the top with classic Spanish style tile work and carvings. The rest of the day I just hung around and took in the shops on the tiny alley ways. Oh ya, I had STARBUCKS, haven't had one since Germany so it was so good to have that familiar classic taste of my Tazo Chai Tea Latte. ummmmmmmmmmm.
That night i was chatting with the other 4 guests and realized we had one other person join our happy little hostel family. An Asian that didn't speak a word of English. Now, if I find it hard to communicate in the foreign language I cant even think for one moment how the Asians do it. If they don't speak English they defiantly don't speak the the foreign tongue of the countries they visit. I give them a lot of credit for traveling, especially if they are doing it by themselves. I couldn't imagine traveling Europe and not having English. GOOD ON EM!!!!
We got to chatting that night and Aaron was telling me that it was well worth the 7.50 Euros for the Church. He had been traveling for quite some time and had seen just as many churches as I had so I took his word for it. The next day I entered the church and paid my 7.50 and hoped I wouldn't be disappointed. WELL, I was a bit. Nothing totally out of the ordinary about the building except for the fact that it was really big. The alter was lined with Gold which was quite fantastic. The only thing that made it worth the cost was the hike to the top of the tower. The overwhelming views of the city was amazing. A beautiful sunny day, so it was really nice.
After the Church I headed over to the bull ring. I knew that I wasn't able to see any fights but I thought I could go in a see where it all took place. A Oval arena that housed seating for 14 000 people, the tour took us through the under ground area where the bulls were kept, where the Matadors got ready and the chapel that they used when one of the men died, it was interesting.
My time in Seville was coming to an end which meant that the time to return home was creeping up quickly. At his point I had less then 2 weeks to go on my trip and had so many mixed emotions about the return. I knew that I still had a good chunk to go, and not to waste any precious time. I was done with Spain and on to another Country, Culture and oh my god, another freakin language. OLA, LAGOS, PORTUGAL.....................
