Wow… a lot has happened in one week, and there are some cool things that I will share later. However, this entry I must dedicate to my fantastic weekend excursion to Sevilla, Spain.
Shenning, Sarah Kolb (my fellow teacher-friend), Alejandra (my Colombian roommate), and I left from a Madrid bus station at midnight on Thursday. This was the first time I’ve seen Shenning since I helped her move out to Alcalá de Henares on September 30, and it was a joyful reunion to see my dear Furman friend. Alejandra met the two Sarah’s with a big smile and besos for both. We all gelled instantly, and I think we have formed our own little traveling troupe.
Thanks to the large Spanish man snoring incredibly loudly in the seat directly behind me, another man across the aisle whose music competed with Mr. Snoring Train, and a somewhat uncomfortable chair, we arrived in Sevilla at 6:00 AM very sleep deprived but relieved to have made it to our weekend destination. Sarah Kolb (whom I will now refer to as SK) studied abroad in Sevilla a couple of years ago, and she was our tour guide and program director. SK led us through the dark narrow streets to the Ole Backpacker Hostel; we rang the door bell and waited anxiously for someone to answer. An old man opened the wooden door and proceeded to tell us that we couldn’t check in until noon. He let us put our packs down in a closet, and then basically kicked us back out on the streets. Sleep deprived, a little delirious, and hungry, we decided that the best thing for us to do at 6:45 AM was to have a seat at the Churros stand that stays open all night long. Of course, you can’t eat churros without chocolate, but unfortunately, the chocolate wasn’t ready when we ordered. Instead of risking falling asleep in our chairs, we took a stroll down the river walk. The Río Guadalquivir divides the city of Sevilla in half, and beautiful bridges stretch across the murky water. At 7:00 in the morning, the moonlight reflected off the darkness below and the stars still sparkled in the sky. A little while later, we returned to our churros stand, ordered a massive amount of greasy fried dough (aka churros) and small cups of warm gooey chocolate. The combination of chocolate and churros gave us an energy boost, which was a good thing since we still had 4 or 5 hours to kill before we could claim una cama (a bed).
El sol salió. As we started to stroll through Sevilla, the sun slowly made its way higher in the sky, and with its glorious emergence, the town was brought to life. People came out to open their shops and little by little the empty streets began to teem with activity, and we were able to witness that transformation. Sevilla is an ancient city, built without our modern day concept of city planning, and thus the streets twist and turn to create a confusing maze of crisscrossing calles y caminos that made my head spin. We wandered through La Judería, the Jewish quarter, where blossoming home gardens spill over their white-washed walls, and we walked through an enchanting park that elegantly displayed the Arabic influence so prominent in the south of Spain. In fact, that is what distinguishes Andalusia, Spain’s southernmost province, from the others. The Moorish Empire once expanded all the way into Spain, and it wasn’t until 1492 that Los Reyes Católicos, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela, were able to conquer the south and expel the Moors from the country. And although Islam and the Arabs were expelled from the country, their essence still lingers in the south, most apparent in the architecture—the decorative columns, the pointed arches, the towering spirals, the colorful tiles and mosaics, the intricate geometric designs and the lush tropical gardens. As Alejandra would say, “¡Qué linda! ¡Qué hermosa!”
One of Sevilla’s great landmarks is La Catedral, one of the largest cathedrals in the world. We toured this behemoth of a church in the early morning hours, and the light barely permeated through the enormous stained glass windows. The side chapels rested in silent darkness, but the echo of our footsteps conveyed through alternative senses the magnitude of this building. Christopher Columbus is buried here… so I got to say, “What’s up, Chris?” to the giant statue built in his honor at his tomb. After we exited the church, we found some steps to sit and rest. The temporary energy we had gained from our churros y chocolate had dissipated and we were fading fast. Finally, around 11:00 we decided to make our way back to the Olé Hostel and hope for an open bed.
Our prayers were answered and we climbed in bed around 11:30 to nap. After a couple of hours sleep and a warm shower, we felt refreshed and reenergized. However, before getting back out on the Sevillian streets, we were asked to move to a sister hostel due to booking issues. We complied, and we were astonished to find our new hostel, Seville Friends Hostel, to be even better than the first… upgrade! We threw our packs and bags in our lockers and SK led us to a hole in the wall tapas bar called El Patio. We ordered our tapas lunch of bocadillos, pepper salad, empanadas, and olives, and ate our finger food on the blue tiled terraced steps along the wall. Afterwards, we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the streets, the parks, and through other landmarks like the beautiful Plaza de España. After a lot of walking, we sat in an outdoor patio and shared a jar of sangria. I have come to the realization that I don’t like sangria very much, because the mixture of artificial and naturals sugars combined with the numerous forms of alcohol are simply too much for my taste buds and my stomach to handle. It’s a little unfortunate since sangria is a traditional Spanish drink and I now live in Spain, but try as I might, I can’t take more than one small glass.
On Friday night, SK led us to another great tapas restaurant where we shared croquetes de jamón, spinach tortilla, fried artichokes, and patatas bravas. We spent the rest of the night at a famous flamenco bar. Hundreds of people were crammed into this large, low-ceilinged room filled with bench seats and small tables. Along part of one wall was a small wooden stage where the flamenco performers sat. A guitar player who looked a little like Johnny Depp, a flautist, a singer whose singing sounded more like a Native American chant, and a beautiful woman wearing a striking red outfit all sat playing their instruments, clapping their hands, and stomping their feet to create a strange and hypnotic rhythm. The flamenco dancer rose from her chair and worked her magic on the stage. Her feet moved like lightening and produced the sound of thunder. Her hands spun around her head and her body turned in calculated motions. It was incredible to see the real deal—a real Spanish flamenco show—right in front of me (I was literally standing 5 feet away from the stage). Eventually, a man joined the woman and the two moved together in a passionate display of dancing that made the movie Center Stage look sexy as the Nutcracker.
On Saturday morning, a light rain dampened the city, but it did not dampen our spirits. Shenning, Alejandra, and I toured the Alcazar Palace, and we were in awe of the enchanting gardens and stunning architecture, again a testament of the Moorish influence. Of all the palaces and beautiful buildings that I’ve seen in my life’s travels, the Alcazar of Sevilla was perhaps the most impressive and most pleasant. Apparently, the thing to do in Sevilla is get married on Saturday in the fall and then go to the Alcazar to take your wedding pictures. We saw at least 7 or 8 wedding couples in the gardens alone! Later that day, we noticed that two different weddings were being held in the cathedral at the same time. Yeah… maybe that will help give you an idea of just how big La Catedral really is.
Saturday afternoon we were treated to a free lunch on the rooftop of our hostel. Blue sky replaced the rain clouds, and we enjoyed a delicious “home-cooked” meal of Andalusian vegetable soup and a bottle of fino (their typical sherry white wine). Afterwards, we took a tour of the Plaza de Torros and sat in the oval stadium where the matadors take on the bulls in the spring and summer months. An informative tour of the grounds and a small museum explained the history, the rules, the methods, and the traditions of bull fighting in Spain. It seems quite gruesome and I doubt I would enjoy it, but I think I’ll have to go to a bull fight at least once while I’m in Spain.
Saturday night was the big finale to our weekend in Sevilla. SK took us to another famous and wonderful tapas restaurant called Taberna Coloniales, which is in a less touristy part of town. While we waited, we had a glass of wine and practiced Spanish and English tongue twisters. [Side note: I’m so glad that Alejandra came with us for the weekend, because with her there, we spoke in Spanish almost the entire weekend. I was right to mention in my previous post about her being my saving grace when it comes to practicing my Spanish. Already after living with Alejandra for two weeks, my Spanish speaking capabilities have probably doubled and maybe even tripled from where it was one month ago.] That night, we had the best meal that I’ve had since arriving in Spain. We ordered a goat cheese plate that came with a blackberry jam, spinach croquetes, shrimp fritters, chicken & potatoes with an alfredo sauce, and stuffed eggplant (my favorite dish since arriving in Spain). We also made friends that night with four Italian guys. They sent us drinks at dinner, introduced themselves, and we all toasted “salut!” As it turned out, they had plans to go to the same flamenco bar SK was going to take us to, and the eight of us all made our way across the river to find it. SK was a great guide and we found the bar with no problem, but it was so full that at first, we could go no further than the doorway. This flamenco joint was different than before; it was more local and the ones running the show were older Sevillians who do this kind of thing out of traditional fun and celebration. It was cool to get a different aspect of how and who can perform the flamenco. After a spending enough time in cramped quarters and finishing off our vino del verano, compliments of the Italians, we moved on to another bar down by the river walk. We chatted with our Italian friends in Spanish and hung out for a while until we decided to actually take our little party to the small path next to the river for a while. Sometime after 4:00 AM, we started walking back towards our hostels, and we parted with invitations to and from Madrid and Lecce, Italy.
As if the night wasn’t long enough, we decided to check out the loud bar on the street directly in front of our hostel. It was close to 5:00 AM, but the music was pumping out and there were people still hanging out. Finally, around 6:00 AM, we crawled into our beds and slept for a couple of hours before we had to pack up, get breakfast, and walk to the bus station to catch our 10:00 AM bus departing for Madrid. I did manage to get a little more sleep on this bus ride than before, but needless to say, getting into my bed Sunday night back in Madrid was a beautifully blessed thing. It was a fantastic weekend, and I am so glad to have experienced a little bit of southern Spain and to have shared it with mis amigas. Sevilla wouldn’t be complete without our list of C’s: churros, chocolate, café, cama, caminando, la Catedral, Cristóbal Colon, las calles y caminos, cerveza, chicos.
For pictures, please check out my Facebook Album!!
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