Seville

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I catch the train down to Seville and arrive in the afternoon. From the train station, I catch the bus to the hostel. The entrance to the hostel (Oasis Backpackers Hostel) is actually hidden in an alley. I spend a good half hour looking for the hostel. It would be nice if there was a big sign saying, "The Hostel is Here" with a big arrow pointing at it.

The hostel is actually quite nice. It has a bar, roof top patio, a decent kitchen, and each dorm room (6 people to a room max) has it's own ensuite. After checking into the hostel, I go for a walk around the city. It's small, so you can walk almost everywhere. Great for travelers who enjoy walking. I thought about looking for the Barber of Seville like Norm suggested, but I think that would be a hopeless endeavor. Besides, I don't need a hair cut yet.

The next day is Sunday and to my surprise everything is closed. WTF? I thought I was in a modern country. Obviously the Catholic church still has too much control over society here. Either that or they have a good thing going that shouldn't be changed. I wonder if the rest of Europe closes down on Sunday?

Festival and Exhibition

When I came to the city, I didn't realize there was a festival (La Feria de Sevilla) starting in a few days. It's going to be interesting to see what the fuss is all about. A lot of people have come to the city just for this festival.

On the opening night of the festival, I head down to the fair grounds before midnight. The big ceremony is the lighting of the Archway at midnight. It's a big event and there are tons of people out waiting for the lights to come on. At the stroke of midnight, the lights are turned on and everyone cheers. It was a little anticlimactic, but good fun.

Besides the festival, the Body Worlds exhibition is in town as well. I missed the exhibition when it was in Vancouver. I'm definitely not missing it again. After walking around the exhibit for two hours, there were a few lingering questions I had about some of the exhibits: was that a real body? and if so, where did they get it from? who would actually authorize them to take a body like that? Keep in mind that some of the exhibits were quite disturbing; but overall, the exhibit is one of the best ones I've seen in my life.

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