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Published: November 23rd 2006
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A Spontaneous End to a Plodding Sort of Day
Well folks, I - Kel - have shirked my blog writing duties for the last fortnight so here I am. I am the maestro of tonight’s blog, the night before Thanksgiving. Hopefully everyone at home is catching up with that crazy relative they forget the other 364 days of the year, maybe seeing some high school friends - and the people you run into every year, whether you want to or not - and trying their elastic waist pants on for size. Enjoy Turkey Day, one and all! We’ll toss back an extra plate of tapas for the occasion.
We buckle down to do some “work” One of the things that has surprised me is how much work & planning it takes to relax and enjoy this much. From hotel reservations - most of Europe isn’t into online reservations, so that means a lot of awkwardly worded emails and replies - to deciding where to eat, sightsee and how to get there, it takes a lot of research and planning. You can skip both, but there’s a direct relationship between knowledge and fun. No research
equals standing on street corners saying “should we just follow that Japanese tour group?” The answer is always no and never good. Thus, the planning of today.
We rolled out this morning and headed for a coffee shop that we read had Wi Fi internet access. Sevilla is doing serious construction on its roads and plazas right now (it looks like they’re adding more pedestrian areas and maybe a train system for the city) so we strolled past jackhammers and hacksaws and Bobcats, oh my! The coffee shop was nice and I ended up camping out there for about 2 hours, reading online about some possible next stops on our trip and trying to nail down logistics for each one.
The Expo may have failed, but the building remains After the two hours, I got a bit stir crazy from too much smoke and dead end Internet leads. Today’s sights were the main park in Sevilla, Parque de Maria Lucia, and the grand building that was erected for (failed) Expo 1929. I’ll get to that in a minute.
The park was really nice, lots of trees and tiled sidewalk areas with fountains and benches.
One thing I really enjoy about a planned city - especially in Europe - is their consideration of pedestrian enjoyment in urban layout. None of these spaces make tax dollars for the city, but they’re lovely and enjoyable on a stroll with your beau.
Capitania General is the building erected for the 1929 Expo, to be hosted in Sevilla. Sevilla went all out in building lovely structures dedicated to the regions of Spain and its remote territories (Chile, Uruguay, etc) to be able to show the world the glory of Spain. CG has individual sections along the front of the building with mosaic & murals highlighting the beauty of each region. Sadly, before the Expo was to start, the Stock Market Crash in the USA sent the world into a tailspin and the Expo was cancelled. Sevilla benefited from the beautiful buildings, but their moment in the sun crashed like the fortunes and dreams of Americans everywhere. We wandered around the Capitania General for a bit, exploring the tilework and architecture. They use it now for local and state government, so as you peer eagerly at the colorful tiles you end up staring at a bored civil servant or
two through the windows as a bonus. Funny contrast.
Comfort food is King After wandering, we felt buoyed enough to slog back through the Internet research to make some plans again. Back to the internet café we went and back on the Web. Mike read some while I researched and cross referenced books, reviews and hotel web sites. Internet research is one of the things I usually do well, but it gets mucky after a while. We made some decisions about next destinations - no reservations yet, but a step in the right direction - and enjoyed the café atmosphere. Sitting in a café with tea and music looking at my laptop always beats sitting in my wee lil’ cube or gray-on-gray conference room looking at a laptop. Always.
We headed back to the hotel to rest and read some before dinner. True to Spanish custom, we’ve been waiting until 8pm at the earliest to eat which is different and fun. Tonight, we had Italian pizza & pasta at a place called the Plaza San Marco instead of Spanish cuisine, totally at my wish. I have a deep love of two major food types: Chinese
Hams in Tapas Restaurant
Getting up close and personal with your soon-to-be meat and Italian. I can try just about anything else for extended periods of time as long as I can recalibrate myself with a comfort food every so often. Tonight was that recalibration and it was good. Red wine and good pasta make a very happy Kel.
Marvin Gaye rocks the Kasbah While walking home after dinner, I heard music coming from around the corner. We walked toward it and found in an open square, a brass band (named Banda de la Maria) playing for a very appreciative crowd. People were climbing onto curbs, dancing around to the music and sitting wherever they could to listen and watch. We snagged a seat on some steps at the foot of a statue in the square - definitely one of the best seats in the house. This band was awesome! Made up of about 6 guys with horns, one girl with a horn and a guy with a drum/cymbal set up, they rocked out and the crowd ate it up. They pulled out everything from “When the Saints Go Marching In” to “Let’s Get It On” and did it well. You haven’t truly lived until you hear a little
Kel with the Banda de la Maria
Can't miss the redhead in the crowd! Marvin Gaye on a tuba and saxophone. . . funny and great all at the same time. Towards the end, they encouraged people to come down and dance with them in a circle so I - never one to miss a chance to dance - joined in the fray. The band would push the crowd in one direction and everyone would scurry backwards (to avoid getting stomped) and then they’d turn around and the circle would contract again. It was great fun and a complete surprise. These kinds of moments can’t be planned or created, and it’s for these kind of moments that we are on this trip.
(Quick note from Mike for my horn playing friends: While the band in general was good the guy on trombone was completely awesome. He had mad skills which made me, of course, think of Haines and Willis slogging it out with the marching band in college. Mad props to my trombone friends, without you I never would have know this guy was good.)
A great end to a good day. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Katie
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Happy Thanksgiving
Congrats on your safe arrival in Sevilla. I completely agree with your comment that a little planning and research go a long way to making a trip more enjoyable. I remember travelling with a friend and looking at each other ("What do you want to do?" "I dunno, how about you?") and getting trapped in a state of complete inertia. Arghhhh. We're very happy to be home this Thanksgiving. Last year we were sitting in a hotel room in China, admiring our new little daughter that we had just met. During her nap, we huddled up in the bathroom to call home and eat some weird Chinese food as our Thanksgiving feast (it was knuckle of something in a broth...far cry from turkey and cranberries). Enjoy your memorable Thanksgiving away from home - cheers to both of you on your big adventure!