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Published: September 27th 2009
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Los "Bicis"
Sevici bicycles in all their glory. Welllll, surprise! The kayaking thing didn't really work out. While walking to meet Kate for a pre-kayak picnic, bocadillo (sandwich) and juicebox in tow, I noticed something different about the water... buoys? They appeared to be set up for some sort of race. Apparently there was a regatta that day, and Kate and I, looking on the bright side, decided watching it could be an acceptable alternative to taking boats of our own, as it was clear we would probably not be allowed on the water. What we ended up doing was eating our sandwiches next to the river, slowly realizing as the afternoon wore on that they were actually tearing down the course, and that the race must have occurred earlier. Ha. We did, however, find a pastry shop with a deliciously large selection, which almost made up for all of the letdowns of the day.
And then... this is the important part. Then, I discovered Sevici. It's not that I didn't know it was there before, but I finally took advantage of it, and it has been the best 5 euros I spent the entire trip thus far. What is Sevici? I'm so glad you asked.
Basically, it's a bike rental system. It costs 5 euros for a week subscription, or 10 for a year, which I'm currently in the process of applying for. I sent in my subscription, now I just have to wait for the magic card to come in the mail. And so, in the meantime, I'm trying it out for a week, and it has been glorious. They have over 250 stations located around the city, and all you have to do is type in your code, take the bike, and return it to any other station within 30 minutes and there is no extra charge. Walking around Sevilla, Sevici stations are everywhere, so it's quite convenient, usually.
I would now like to rave about how clever the name is. The Spanish don't pronounce the "V" sound, it's more like "B", so when you say "Sevici" it sounds like "Sebici." The first part, "Sev" is clearly the beginning of "Sevilla" and then the last part "vici" sounds like "bici" which is short for "bicicleta" which means BICYCLE... I mean must I go on? Seriously, I really hope someone got a bonus for that.
And so, I officially began love affair with Sevici on Saturday afternoon, and we've had a bumpy but good ride so far. There have been highs and lows, and sometimes the bikes and I get into arguments, but overall we've been getting along quite well. I suppose in general I would compare riding a Sevici bike in Sevilla like taking a Huffy on a mountain bike course. Or, slightly less of an exaggeration, like riding a horse that has a basket instead of a head. It's not that the terrain is hilly, in fact it's quite flat, but the streets can be treacherous. Seriously, the very first bike I took made clopping noises, and this coupled with the cobblestone streets made me feel like I was riding... well maybe more like a donkey. Some sort of equine creature. In any case, donkey and I made it back to the apartment in no time flat, and I was elated to discover a Sevici station right behind my apartment. Hooray!
This morning Sevici and I got together again, and had an uneventful ride up to the Museo de Bellas Artes where there was an Art Market. After parking my noble steed and then perusing the wares of the local artists, I got my heart set on trying one of the "Delicias de Coco" that my roommate had described eating at the Feria de las Naciones last night. I hopped on a vike (haha, initially that was a typo, but I think I'll keep it) and headed in that direction. This time, I was NOT happy with my decision of bicycle. Choosing a bike is almost like picking fruit. Sometimes everything looks right on the outside, but in the end it just does not work out. This was an example of such a case. I'm not up on my bicycle terminology, but I can tell you that the gears were not working. I had to pedal as quickly as I could to get up to the speed of a child on a tricycle, and I think at one point such a child passed me. Just kidding, but it would have been possible. That relationship was short lived, and I switched out as soon as I could. After that I successfully located my Coconut Delight, headed home for lunch, and am now looking forward to pedaling on over to the Plaza de los Toros to watch someone mercilessly stab a bull in a costume. Er, watch someone in a costume mercilessly stab a bull. Either way, it should be... interesting.
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