Seville has my heart

Our second 10-day break started in wonderful Seville. It took a little bit of travel to get there though.

We left Saturday morning on the worst airline quite possibly ever, the scum of the Earth, the Ryan Air. I had to pay $60 to check my CARRY-ON backpack. It was worse for Lauren and Olivia who had already paid about $30 to carry on their bags and once they got to the gate were forced to pay $50 more to check them. The nerve of Ryan Air. We flew from Prague to Madrid. Once landing in Madrid, we had a few hour layover before our train. We ubered to the train station and walked to a lunch spot nearby. Tracey and I split a yummy cheese board with jam (I don’t like jam though). I also got a small plate of curry chicken. It was like a seasoned grilled chicken in curry flavor. Everyone else got sangria, but I’m not a huge fan of sangria. It’s too sweet for me. I ordered two glasses of red wine instead. The waiter warned me that it was quite strong, but I said it was ok. He was right. It made the train ride later on fly by though. After lunch, we scurried to the train station. I was in a different train car than the others, but it’s ok. I was really enjoying the people watching in my car. There was a bougee couple who fell asleep. A college age girl who spent the few hours just putting on makeup. There was also a really well behaved dog.

That was pretty much my first time on a train. I really enjoyed it, because we got to watch the hills roll past us. It was beautiful.

When we got there, we realized we needed to take the bus to our AirBnB. There were no ticket machines anywhere for the bus. I found some people who spoke broken English who explained you buy the tickets on the bus. We hopped on the bus to buy our tickets to come to the realization that they only took cash. We quickly hopped back off. We scrounged together all of the coins we had to pull together just enough.

Once on the next bus, it was packed. We were literally like sardines. Its remarkable how population public transportation is in Europe. In Nashville, we only have buses for public transportation. Given I have never rode them, they do not traverse the city well and never seem that busy. I accidentally fell on someone with my backpack on while riding the bus. Brady caught me a little bit, and I said “I’m sorry” in my best broken Spanish from 5th grade that I could. An elderly lady was watching our debacle of me falling, Brady hitting someone with his backpack, and our constant laughing and she was quite amused by us.

We arrived to our AirBnb and talked for a little bit with our host. She had her son and husband bring us a little welcome present of some red wine and these little cork looking crackers. The cork looking crackers were so bland, but weirdly enough almost every restaurant in Seville gave them to us. We enjoyed speaking to her, and we thought she did too. We later learned she did not. She posted on our airbnb review there was communication issues with us? Huh? Rude.

It was decently late so we decided to get ready and head out for the night. We got some wine at a local market. I thought this creepy guy was following us, so we quickly scurried back to our AirBnb. I got pork rinds for the first time all semester at the market, which was exhilarating for me. Our night began at the bar beneath our AirBnb. Once again, I tried my broken spanish. Lillian used her good Spanish (she was almost fluent) to tell the bartenders that I was muy stupido, which became my favorite Spanish phrase for the rest of Spain. The bartenders were amused, especially because they had no idea what I had been trying to say. Soon later, they ended up being quite rude to Brady so we left.

We tried to go to another club to find there was a strict dress code. This was the first time we really experienced dress codes so strict. We found a different place around the corner we stayed out for a while. I became buddies with the bouncer before leaving. After this, Olivia refused to continue walking unless she got a treat so we got her gelato. After, Lauren and I decided since Olivia got a treat we deserved one too. So, we stopped at Burger King! Lauren followed my guidance and tried the jalepino-cheese nuggets burger kings have in the EU. She was as obsessed with them as I am. While eating, Lauren accidently squirted ketchup ALL OVER Brady. He got really really upset and mad, because he thought she did it on purpose. You can only imagine the events that followed. Olivia was confused by the scene as well, so her input in the fight did not go well either. After, Olivia and Tracey went home. Lillian and I took Brady’s pants to the girls one-stall bathroom to clean the ketchup for him. Well, Lillian and I forgot to lock the door. So, a poor bystander had to open the door to see Brady in his boxers and Lillian and I holding them under the hand dryer. We yelled “OCCUPODO” and locked the door.

We continued on our adventure afterwards. We met some people on our adventure after as well. Once arriving at the final club of the night, there was another dress code and none of us could get in so we went home.

The next morning we slept in a little bit. After waking up, we wandered our way to breakfast. We saw the coolest square trees. I wondered how they were kept so pristine, because it seemed like a government building. For breakfast, I ordered a bao bun (obvi) and what I thought was scrambled eggs and ham. It was not. It was a skillet with thin potatoes, Iberian type ham, and fried eggs. Despite my love for scrambled eggs, I cannot stand fried eggs. So, I just called it a day with my bao bun. Also, I ordered cinnamon for my cappuccino. The waiter gave everyone cinnamon on theirs. I felt badly, but they didn’t care. I was surprised he added it to everyone’s. I’m not sure why it happened still to this day. Afterwards, we wandered by some street performers and trinket shops to the Royal Alcazar. We wanted to see if we could buy tickets in person, because they were sold out online. We ended up passing the cathedral on the way, which we had already bought tickets for the next day to see. The Alcazar man said we would have to wait in the ginormous line tomorrow morning for the tickets.

We continued on to the the Plaza de Espana. We passed a flamenco street dancer and other monuments along the way. There was so much to discover. Every time we passed one, I would pull up google maps and tell everyone what they were. Seville seemed like a fairy tale village. There weren’t many cars, but horse and carriage. Everyone seemed so content too.

Upon arrival at the Plaza, we realized there was a month long festival going on. It was called the Festival de las Naciones from September 27 to November 3rd. We entered the Plaza and were all amazed by the beauty of it. The intricate tiles lining every aspect of this plaza were nothing like I have ever seen. There were seating areas dedicated to each city in Spain. No one seems to build anything of this grandeur size and beauty anymore it feels like because of how expensive it must be. There were some bands performing for flamenco dancers too. Also, there was a little pond running through it where one could rent row boats. Lauren, Olivia, and Brady rented one. They said it was impossible to row. While exploring, one of my friends from high school responded to my snapchat story and she was at the international food festival nearby. We were going there next too!

The international food festival was huge. It had more than just food too, but markets from countries all over the world with products of the according country. We all wandered around and tried foods and looked at goods from each. I saw my friend Franny Ford and we caught up! She was on a week break too, and heading to Morocco next. I was so jealous, because I wanted to go to Morocco so badly.

After bopping around the festival, we went back to our airbnb to quickly change. We ubered to the soccer game afterwards. I overshared with the uber driver about my excema, but he found it funny. We were a few minutes late, so we missed the opening. There was a slight issue with scanning our tickets, but it worked out. Once we got to our seats, we realized they had been taken. It was frustrating trying to figure out where to sit. The issue was that there were not other seats for the people to move to, for some reason. Looking around the stadium, pretty much every seat was taken. We didn’t realize it at the time but SevilleFC was ranked #1. The energy and intensity in the stadium was similar to Hockey Stanley Cup games. We had to separate some with where we sat, but Olivia and I sat together. We kept yelling Vamanos and Allez-Y (which is French), and cracking up at ourselves. SevilleFC ended up winning!! I loved the game and it quickly became a favorite memory of mine.

Afterwards, we walked to a tapas spot for dinner. I ordered croquettes and a filet dish. The beef dish was sorta a tartar, which I didn’t realize. These were some of my favorite tapas that I had all of Spain. As we were finishing up, one of the lemons from the tree above us SMASHED on to the table. I screamed like I had seen a ghost, and the others jumped back as well. Very quickly, the waiters came running to see what was wrong. The guitar player trying to get money from us and the waiters died laughing once they realized the commotion.

We paid for our tapas and quickly walked to our flamenco show. The flamenco show was not what I was expecting. It was quite formal, and they performed for us. I thought we might be able to take a whirl at dancing, but not the case. The dancers were so talented. They were all much older than you would have assumed too. I imagine they have been doing this style of dancing since they were infants with the type of energy, passion, and focus they had. Olivia was so focused and baby clapping the entire time that the band was giggling at her and communicating with me about her.

When we left, Olivia and I flemenco danced all the way back to the AirBnB afterwards.

The next morning, Olivia and I woke up super early to get in line for the Alcazar tickets. We got there at least 30 minutes before it opened, but still there was a long line. By the time the rest of the group arrived, we had realized if we waited in line we would miss the cathedral. A man was walking up and down the line offering a tour and entry right then if you did the tour. We decided we would risk it and try it. He said he only took cash, so we went to an ATM and got money. The tour ended up being worth our money. The Royal Alcazar was a castle type building in olden days. We got to hear cool facts about Christopher Columbus’s remains (in The Cathedral), GOT, and others. The gardens were the most beautiful part, I thought. Brady and I went through the garden maze only to realize there was a direct path to the middle the entire time.

We ran from Alcazar to The Cathedral for our tickets there. The Cathedral was the largest one to date I have seen on the inside. There were so many side chapels. I liked how The Cathedral was still having services. I feel like most of the churches and cathedrals I have seen this semester are just for looks, but this one actually stayed in use. There was a shrine for Christopher Columbus’s remains as well. However, we had heard earlier it was only about 30 grams of his knee bones. Connected to the Cathedral was La Giralda, a bell tower above the city. To get to the top, there were ramps in stead of stairs. It was still difficult, but I felt that it was easier than stairs. As soon as we arrived on the top, the bell started going crazy. As you predicted, I jumped and screamed. It’s ok though, the bell was so loud you couldn’t hear my scream (possibly because everyone’s ears were ringing too). Lillian and I peered out every side of the tower before making our way down the ramps. It was a breathtaking view of the city, and we could name some of the landmarks we saw too. I liked looking at the bells and the arches on the roof of The Cathedral the best.

We met back up at a restaurant nearby for lunch. It was tapas again, where I got octopus and croquettes. Not the best tapas I have had, but not all are great. After lunch, we rested for a little bit at the AirBnb before going to the Triana District. We explored the Triana District a little bit before going to our paella class. The paella class was in a market, but the market was closed.

We began by prepping our sangria, because it is supposed to sit for a while. Our chef told us about the history of paella, beginning in Valencia. He told us what is actually paella and sangria vs. what people sell now as it. For example, you are not supposed to use squishy vegetables like peppers in paella (the paella I had in Barcelona had peppers, so it was not authentic). Also, paella traditionally had rabbit and chicken. We only had chicken in ours. He taught us how to make the stock, and cut the bones off the chicken. When he let us debone some chickens, I happily declined and stepped outside because I was quite nauseous. When measuring how much chicken, vegetables, and stock per person and total you use the pain itself to tell. When putting the rice in, you put it in a line down the middle. It is important to smooth it out. This tells you the exact amount you need. When paella is done cooking, you can hold it up at an 180 degrees and it won’t spill AT ALL. While our paella finished, we made gazpacho. Apparently, it gets unbearably hot in the summer in Seville, and people chug the gazpacho. They gave us the cork crackers again (I didn’t mention it in the other places in the blog, but we literally got them everywhere we ate). We did devour them this time though because we were starved. However, the sous-chef laughed, because it was for our gazpacho (we ate it before the gazpacho). We devoured all of the other food too. The adults in our class did not finish theirs, so we got their leftovers – whoops. I would recommend that class to anyone. Our instructor is moving to Australia though to start a bakery with his wife using no refined sugar.

We strolled back over the river after the class to a bar. We hung out here and relaxed before heading back to the AirBnb. The bartender at that bar liked my Spanish better than any of the other bartenders.

The next and final morning in Seville, Lillian and I woke up and grabbed some breakfast at a bakery. I had some real scrambled eggs here, which were legit (unlike the nasty eggs the day before).

Lillian and I continued on to what I kept calling the space structure for some reason. It was really called “las setas de sevilla.” In all honesty, I just googled that because I still call it the space thing. Anyways, it was a remarkable structure. My favorite part of it was the fact that it looks like wood, but really it seemed to be steal. The structure also seemed to separate the city from a more touristy part and a more run down local area. Lillian and I discussed how sad it was that this part of the city existed unknown. If we hadn’t looked in that direction off of the space thing, then I wouldn’t have seen it either.

After the space thing, we collected our free post cards and headed to the airport. We ubered with Nattie and Caroline who were also in Seville.