Feeling Sevilla

We arrived in Sevilla around 10pm on Sunday and enjoyed traditional Spanish tapas for dinner. Prices were low, with each plate costing less than 1.50 euro and each beer only 0.40 euro. Along the way I found a shop with soft serve ice cream. To my delight it was their grand opening, and all ice cream was free for the day as part of a promotion!

Dinner in Spain starts late. 10pm is generally the earliest time dinner is served. With consistently high temperatures, siesta's are particularly important in Sevilla. Restaurants stop serving meals or shut down from around 2pm until dinner time in order to eliminate the heat from the ovens. After a tasty dinner, we returned to our hostel. Taylor and I sat down for a game of chess before bed and ended up playing until 2am!

On Monday, we woke up to meet Carolyn Remmey, one of Madison's best friends, and my friend since Hokie Camp. Carolyn is studying abroad in Sevilla and kindly showed us around the city. We started at the Alcázar de Seville, a palace reminiscent of Versailles. The grounds were overwhelming. There was so much to see. The gardens appear to be incredibly difficult to main. While dozens of gardeners were hard at work, one of the main attractions within the grounds was a peacock that was screaming at the top of its lungs.

A girl and her sister taking photos for her quinceañera at Alcázar de Seville.

Our next stop was the Plaza de España. The plaza was built in 1929 within la Parque de María Luisa for the World's Fair. It is now home to government buildings. A few scenes from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace were filmed here as well.

Carolyn took us downtown for tapas. This was one of my favorite meals of the ten day break. I enjoyed Spanish peppers, patatas bravas, fried zucchini, and tinto de verano. Tinto de verano is a delicious mix of red wine and sparkling lemonade.

As with most cities we visited, Sevilla offers an attraction with a panoramic view of the city. The Metropol Parasol is a strange building located in the middle of town said to resemble a mushroom from aerial view. The building was completed in 2011 and claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. We took the elevator to the top and saw Sevilla in all its beauty.

Metropol Parasol

The Crew (from Left): Me, Dana, Trip, Jenny, Justine, Taylor

Taylor and I went to the bus station to purchase tickets for our trip to Gibraltar while the rest of the gang made their way to the river. We planned to meet back up in an hour and a half, but Taylor and I managed to return to our meeting point within thirty minutes. Knowing that the others were laying out along the river, we decided to rent a paddle boat instead of walking across to meet them. With a pitcher of sangria by our side, we floated down the river. As expected we spotted them about a quarter of a mile down the river as we paddled along. They were shocked. As we pulled up to the shore, Trip jumped on and we met the girls back at the dock. Dana joined our boat, and we all enjoyed an evening on the river.

Paddle boating with Taylor and Trip

It is evident that the people of Sevilla are very proud of their city. Everywhere in the town the motto "NO8DO" is displayed. The motto means "It (Sevilla) Has Not Abandoned Me."

We had an early dinner by Spanish standards and were in bed before midnight for our early morning bus ride to Gibraltar. Hasta luego!