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Published: June 14th 2009
While planning to study abroad I made a list in my head of the major places I wanted to visit, and this past Saturday I was able to check one off! The whole gang of WSU students and myself went on a one day, planned excursion to the city of Seville.
As my host Mom was planning our lunches to pack, she kept saying, it is going to be VERY hot on Saturday... VERY HOT.... LOTS of sun....
Well as we pulled into Seville (about a 3 hour bus ride) a bank thermometer read 44 C. That converts to about 111 F!! Explains why the whole day I was sweating like mad while simply standing still. Nonetheless, the day was remarkable and full of great sightseeing!
The one great thing about planned excursions is the information! This tour guide we had, named MarieCarmen, was FULL of all these cool facts and extensive knowledge about the places we visited. I found it very helpful!
Our first stop was the Plaza de Espana! This actually was my favorite stop all day! It was a gorgeous plaza that stretched out in a massive semi-circle, centered around a fountain. (Spain sure loves their fountains!)
MarieCarmen
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La Plaza de Espanatold us the design was to symbolize arms wrapping around, or hugging, America. The building part of the plaza was FULL of ceramic tile with all sorts of detail!
Our next stop was the cathedral! I learned this is the 3rd largest Church in the world!! And IS the largest Gothic Cathedral, however I am not sure what constitutes it as Gothic....
This was an unexplainable sort of building! The architecture, the details, the square footage in general, just everything was of perfection. Some cool parts: the 36 (that is an exact number) flights we walked up to get to the bell tower and look out at the city, the tomb of Christopher Columbus (although this only has PART of his body... little strange.) and the Orange Tree Courtyard. The Cathedral was SO big we saw a wedding going on in one part, AND a baptism going on in another! I felt bad, as we were touring through a fire alarm started to go off!!! I would be a LITTLE upset if I were that bride.... hopefully it was not during the "I DOs...."
We then split off and had 2 hours of free time for lunch! I had a
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By the central fountain packed Bocadillo (sandwich) which was a bit toasted from the days heat! We walked through the streets at all the little shops, and then met back together for our last stop.
It was the Roman Ruins from Italy. I did not pick up on why they were Roman, but that did not hinder my appreciation! We entered the ruins through an amazing garden. The variety of vegetation in Spain blows my mind, we have palms next to pines.. millions of flowers next to what seems like an Oak tree, and then there are random orange trees next to trees that look like they are from Beauty and the Beast! But when there is a garden, there is ALWAYS a fountain! 😊
We walked through and through MANY different structures/buildings; one was a room where Magellan planned his first excursion around the world! Now if that is not another wake up call to where I am in the world...I don't know what is!
I felt like the day flew, even in the heat! We saw some major parts, but there was still SO much more! Seville is about 4 times as big as Granada and was equally beautiful! Odin will have
quite an adventure when he has his semester studying abroad there! 😊
Besos!
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SJ y AJ
non-member comment
Que bonita!
Bear, glad to see that you went to and enjoyed Sevilla! Your pics are awesome and you saw the real important things in Sevilla. To clear up some of your quetions. GOTHIC is a art style of the 17th and 18th century. The architecture of the gothic period is recognized by fine details like what you saw. ROMAN RUINS: Spain (actually Hispania at that time) was part of the Roman Empire. Remember that the Roman Empire streatched at times from what is now Portugal to the Middle East and North Africa. Spain was a very powerful province of the Roman Empire and has some of the very best Roman ruins in all of Europe ... such as what you have seen and also the aqueducts of Segovia and the theater at Merida. Hope this helps! PS Can you tell Andy is in teacher mode? PSS Cliff jumping??? You CRAZY girl.... glad I didn´t know that beforehand!!!!!!!!!!!