May 23rd - Sevilla

I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in so long! I’ve just been going going going! To be fair, I started this post while I was in Spain so the date of this post is the date I started it. **All the pictures for this post are at the bottom and I have a real treat, some videos!!!!**

I arrived in Sevilla on the 20^th, quickly found my hostel and headed out for some food. I found a place with a ton of people so I figured it had to be good and ordered something off the menu but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. It ended up being breaded chicken and wasn’t bad so it all worked out. I headed to the market for some snacks and found out that Amy and my favorite fish, bacalao, is cod fish not catfish! Good to know! The hostel I stayed at here is more of a party hostel and so I went back to partake in the free sangria and pub crawl.

The following day I did the day tour and learned a good amount but unfortunately the guide wasn’t great. He had a lot of really wonderful information but didn’t know how to edit himself and started loosing us pretty quickly. After, I got some tapas with a new friend and went for a siesta. That night I went to a legit Flamenco show in the city it was born! I have to say, I still don’t get it. It’s a lot of the same thing, clapping and stomping feet and isn’t that great but I’m happy I went to a good show. They had a bunch of different dancers and did a few different types of dances so even though I don’t love Flamenco it was a good show. I have a video below, I took more so I'll try and add them but they take awhile to upload. I noticed a few interesting things. The beat in Flamenco is not what we’re used to (1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4), he Samah (my new friend who went with me to the show) and I noticed that it was hard to get into the rhythm since it’s not at all what we’re used to. They did one dance to our type of music with the 1-2-3-4 beat and we both really enjoyed that dance, interesting! Also, their posture is very different then our classical dance posture and it makes all the women look fat even though they’re not! In our classical dance, which I’m considering as ballet, we are taught to have a straight back, hold your ribs in and pull your butt down. They arch their backs, opened up their ribs, and stick out their butts and with the dresses they wear they have some serious badunkadunks. After we headed for more tapas and beers and then went back to hostel.

I spent yesterday on my own and had a great day! I wish I had a GPS because I must have walked a serious amount of miles, I was pretty exhausted by the end. I first went to the Alcazar, originally a Moorish fort and now the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe. After 1492 the Alcazar also house several of the things including gold that was brought back from America. It’s a magnificent building with several interesting features. I was very lucky, in the courtyard they were setting up for a concert later that night and the orchestra was practicing while I was there! They were so talented and I sat and listened to the amazing music for a long time. I would have loved to go to the concert but that was a pretty cool surprise. I also have video of this so if I figure out how to add it in I will! One really interesting thing in the Alcazar is the first known painting of the discovery of America. It show’s the Virgin Mary with her arms outstretched over several people. Under her left arm is Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand, and Charles V on a cloud and if you look closely right under both arms are the indigenous people of America.

This palace had magnificent gardens that are extraordinarily beautiful and serene. I spent hours walking around the gardens in all the little paths. It’s the perfect place to sit and contemplate life.

After the Alcazar I went across the street to the cathedral. I asked people if I really had to go, so far most cathedrals are the same and I thought I wouldn’t miss anything but everyone said it’s AMAZING and I HAD to go. It’s the biggest cathedral in the world blah blah blah! So I went and let me tell you, it’s the same as all the others! So if you go to Sevilla, save some money, and don’t bother with the cathedral. However, there were two interesting parts. Christopher Columbus is supposedly buried there. According to my guide book they’ve done DNA tests and found that it is actually him but they’ve done DNA tests somewhere else as well that could also be him so who knows. Also, I walked up the tower, which used to be the minaret of the mosque they built the cathedral on; it was a bit of a hike but had nice views. There aren’t any steps in the tower; it was built only with ramps that wined the entire way up. Back in the day when whoever went up there five times a day to call for the daily prayer (back in Muslim times) he would ride a donkey hence the ramps. After the cathedral I headed back to the Plaza de Espana because it was pretty magnificent and I wanted to spend a bit more time there. I sat and read my book for a while and walked around a bit.

Where Susona hung herself and the skull is
a reminder of what happened

I guess I still wasn’t done walking because then I went on a night walk tour! This one was pretty different, more on the culture and legends of Sevilla. We spent a bit of time in the Jewish quarter where the real estate is very expensive only for the history factor. The streets are extremely narrow and there is no way to drive there and it’s impossible not to get lost. They built the narrow streets to help with air flow and shade in the hot summers and the maze was to help the Jews hide from the Christians. There was one interesting story about a young girl named Susona. Her father was setting up a rebellion against the Christians but she fell in love with a Christian soldier who was actually a spy. She told him when her father planned on attacking so he could get away but instead they attacked the Jewish quarter and killed a bunch of people. Susona hung herself ashamed of what she had done and left a note asking for her head to be chopped off and kept in the window for 100 years as a reminder to those who were left not to betray their own. That street is now named for her and but it used to be called Street of the Dead (calle de los muertos) and the sign is still there. We got some pretty good tips on eating in Sevilla which didn’t help me much because I left the following day but still very interesting. Always find the dirty places that need a lot of dusting, where people are all standing and there are no tables, and make sure it doesn’t open before 5pm. Last we learned about the motto of Sevilla that is all over, on all drain pipes, parking meters, etc. It’s No8Do developed by Alfonso X, and is popularly believed to stand for “No me ha dejado” meaning, “It [Sevilla] has not abandoned me”. The 8 represents medeja or a skein of wool, also meaning the infinity sign.

That sign explains what happened to Susona
and the window is where they kept her head for
100 hears, no I didn't ask about decaying

Plaza de Espana

Paza de Espana from a different angle

There are four bridges representing the four pillars of
Spain, Aragon (also the flat of Catalonia), Castile,
Leon, and Navarre

Bell Tower/ Minaret, I walked up to the top

One of the many doors to the cathedral
and a replica of the weather vane that's
on top of the bell tower

Cathedral of Sevilla

Restoration work being done in the cathedral

In the bell tower

Views from the bell tower

Christopher Columbus is buried in there (maybe see above)

Inside the bell tower/minaret

View from the bell tower of the Bull Flighting Arena

The center painting is the first known painting
depicting America

Under Mary's left arm is Christopher Columbus,
Ferdinand, and Charles V, under both in the background
the indigenous people of America are depicted 

Pictures of the boats taken to America

The room where Isabella gave birth
to her first son

Some of the magnificent gardens at the Alcazer

Found this beautiful creature!

The Baths in the Alcazar

Later during my stroll through the gardens I found him/her again!

My final views on Spain... I really loved it there and felt sad to leave. I got used to the culture and really enjoyed practicing my Spanish and felt like I was getting better everyday. I could definitely see myself going back to spend more time.