The last program excursion: Sevilla!

The last weekend in May, we went to visit Seville (Sevilla). It was a great mix between Malaga and Madrid--mid-sized, fewer pickpockets, it maintained a homey feel but in a much larger and more commercial space. I would never trade Malaga for it, considering it was beachless, but I can easily see why it's the capital of Andalusia (Andalucia).

The whole two days was honestly one huge blur, but very enjoyable. We spent a few hours wandering the streets and seeing Sevillan architecture before heading off to the Alcazar gardens. They were beautiful (not surprisingly), and had belonged to a royal family before being bestowed upon the city. They included a number of structures with detailed tiling, reminiscent of the Moorish influence that had played a role in the development of Andalusia as a whole.

Afterwards, we headed off for the cathedral--one of the largest and most impressive cathedrals in Europe, following only a select few, like St. Peter's Basilica. They also have a bell tower from which you can get a great view of the city, so the group walked the 34 ramp staircase up to see. Although I got some great pictures of the view from the top, when I went back down into the cathedral they were kicking people out and I had to leave as well.

We also stopped by the Hospital de los Venerables, which was a cute little church-type thing with more Moorish tiling and a neat hideaway spot on the second level, and the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Beautiful Art), where pictures weren't allowed.

We had the night free and managed to wander into the main part of the city where Seville has their own version of Botellon, but didn't stay for long and headed home as we were all exhausted from being at the bus station at 6:30 in the morning.

The second day, we visited Italica, a grouping of Roman ruins out close to Sevilla. Sadly, after visiting Pompeii, I think all Roman ruins will pale in comparison. However, they were still fun to explore, and we had a great time walking around and taking in the scenery. We also stopped by a little monastery (Monasterio de San Isidoro del Campo), where we wandered through and enjoyed the decorations (again, no pictures) and I picked up a shirt for 3 Euro.

On our way back to the bus station, we stopped in another group of gardens (Maria Luisa) and stopped by the Plaza de Espana. Sadly, these were just things we passed through--I think they were two of my favorite things from the trip. The gardens had an albino peacock in them that I got a great picture of, and the Plaza de Espana contained tiled murals for all of the different provinces. Malaga's was under construction and we couldn't get to it, but I got a good picture of another one as an example.

Then it was back to the bus and a sleepy trip home!

Sorry this update is so very late in coming, I've had exams the last few weeks and am just now getting around to putting pictures and stuff up. Tomorrow I head off to Athens, so hopefully I'll get those pictures up in good time as well, and then I'm back home in a couple of weeks!

---

---