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Published: September 27th 2011
Hello all!
Goodness. Where do I begin?
Saturday morning we all got up and headed off to Sevllia. I was SO excited to get out of Cádiz for a few days and see more of Spain. Sevilla is actually very close to Cádiz; only about 2 hours by train. Immediately I could tell Sevilla had a different air about it than Cádiz; it has a kind of sophistication about it that Cádiz doesn’t. While Cádiz is a very tranquil town, the people in Cádiz are very loud and have huge personalities. In Sevilla, it is a town with a lot of history and also tourists, but the people are more tranquil, and laidback it seems. To put it in terms some of you may better understand, if I were to Skype you in Sevilla, my voice would not be drowned out by the background noise. I think Mom would prefer that I lived in Sevilla, Hahaha! 😊
The first sign of refuge was a Starbucks. I know, I know. “Devin you are in Spain, how could you still be so American as to like Starbucks?!” Well you know what? I love Starbucks, ok. I do. I’m not always
proud of it, but on a hot day there is nothing like a grande vanilla frapuccino, alright? I got one and it was heaven, but I only got ONE. I didn’t go back for seconds, thirds or fourths; I indulged on a little American relief and then I ate Spanish food the rest of the time, I swear.
Speaking of Spanish food, right after we got there Juan took us out to one of his favorite places to eat called “El Patio.” (Name is the same as the States.) When we first walked in it was PACKED, loud, and we could barely move. I was thinking, “You know we can look somewhere else, there are a ton of people here.” I’m like my Dad and I don’t have a very good tolerance of crowds and such, so I was pretty hesitant. However, Juan thought nothing of it.
It turned out to be kind of a neat restaurant. It doesn’t really have a lot of tables, but it does have these huge stairs at the back and you just sit on them and put your plate in your lap and eat it there. We were all looking through the
menu trying to decide what to order and I was going to go for a simple salad and then I saw what Juan got. It was called a Torte Vegetal. It’s like a cake but it has a layer of bread, a layer of tuna, a layer of bread, a layer of lettuce and tomato, and a final layer of bread. The frosting is a thin coating of mayonnaise with corn and carrots to top it off. Looked pretty interesting, so I got one. DELICIOUS!!! Oh my goodness, I will go back to Sevilla just to have another. The tuna was seasoned with something and it was the best tuna I have ever had, SO good. I am definitely going to try to make a Torte Vegetal when I get home. It sounds like something Leigh and Kate, or Heather would enjoy trying to make too! It’s a really neat idea!
Before lunch, Juan took us on a 3 hour bike ride around Sevilla. It sounds like a really long time, but I could have ridden around that city for another 3 hours, it is gorgeous! The bikes were a little nerve-wracking because, as I think I may
have mentioned before, Spaniards are not ones to really pay attention to what is going on around them. I think I finally figured it out. They look straight ahead. That’s it. They never look around, they really aren’t concerned, they just look at where they are going and go there, but they never go there very fast. It’s interesting, it’s like they are very set on where they are going but then they walk very slowly. It drives me nuts!! Another trait I probably inherited from my Dad. 😊
Anyhoo that made trying to maneuver around people on cobblestone roads very, very interesting. Finally we got to the bike path and were on that for most of the rest of the trip around the city. Juan is from Sevilla so he was able to explain what and where everything was as well as the history. My favorite part was the path next to the Guadalquivir River. There is an amazing river walk there that is very, very wide and has lots of space!! Also, a large section of the river is dammed so that there is no current, which makes it perfect for….you guessed it! Rowing!! There were so many
Rowers!
There were tons of rowers on the River!rowers! We passed two boathouses on our bike ride. If anyone on the crew team at Clemson is reading this: Spring Break? Eh? Eh? Haha! Yeah, probably won’t be in the funding, but that’s what stadium cleanups are for!! 😊
At the end of our bike ride we went to the Gardens of Maria Luisa, who was Queen of Spain, and after her death dedicated her gardens to the city. The Plaza de España is within the gardens and may very well be the most beautiful building I have ever seen. And for you Star Wars fans, if you watched Star Wars Episode 1 or 2, the Palace of Naboo – it’s the Plaza de España! I had no idea!!
The plaza is very cool, because all around its base are depictions of all of the major cities in Spain. Even Cádiz was there!!
On our way out of the Plaza there was a man playing Spanish guitar. To go along with the most beautiful building was the most beautiful music. If I could learn an instrument it would be the Spanish guitar. It was so great. I took a video and I wish I could have made
it longer but we had to move on! I added the video for your listening pleasure. 😊
After the bike ride we walked over to the Cathedral of Sevilla where we met our super awesome tour guide for the weekend, Pilar. It is the third largest cathedral in the world and the largest in Spain and it took 105 years to build. It is built completely in the Gothic style and the stain glass windows cover the floor in mosaics of color. It is really beautiful. The altar is 16 meters high and completely made of gold. The altar is all depictions of the life of Christ beginning with His birth at the bottom and His crucifixion at the top. They did this because when the Cathedral was built many people were illiterate so it was the easiest way to teach them about the life of Jesus.
The Cathedral also has the Geralda which is a tower with an amazing 360 view of the whole city as well as a good view of the top of the Cathedral. However, the most interesting thing for me in the Cathedral was that it holds the “official” tomb of Christopher Columbus.
API-Cadiz 2011
Sitting on Cadiz Apparently he has five tombs around the world, but Seville holds the
official one. In El Alcazar, the palace we toured the next day, we saw the room where Queen Isabel actually received Christopher Columbus after his second voyage to the new world.
El Alcazar is the oldest Palace is all of Spain. It was built by the Christian King however, it is completely in the Arabic style and because he was such a tolerant king, there are many Stars of David and Stars of Islam throughout the palace. The palace is so well preserved nearly everything in there is original from the 13th Century. The gardens of Alcazar completely surround the Palace so it is pretty much hidden from view if you are just walking by. There are plants and trees from all over the world including the United States! I got so excited to see a pine tree I took a photo! They also have a lot of fruits and aromatic plants in the gardens. There is a ton of mirth and some Jasmine. One of the girls in our group, Susan, gave the quote of the weekend. “Hey what is this flower?”
“It’s Jasmine.”
“Oh, good
The Altar
As I said, 16 meters tall and made of all gold. The figures at the bottom are smaller than the figures at the top,but from below they all appear to be the same size. call Susan.”
“Yeah, it’s my favorite scent. I eat it with my nose.”
Susan may be the funniest one on the trip. She is 22 and goes to UT-Knoxville, majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Spanish. We’ve been trying to hang out with her more because she is so much fun. She has a pretty dry sense of humor and a lot of times it’s not what she says, but how she says it. She’s not really sure what she wants to do when she graduates. When Jerica asked her if it was difficult to come to Spain with all her science classes she goes, “Well, I’m in my fifth year of college and I’ll probably take six to finish. I’d say my college experience has been pretty…lackadaisical.” She’s just very laid-back and not much bothers her. However, she is originally from Chattanooga!!! One of my favorite places!! I got so excited when she told me! She knows all about Chattanooga cupcakes and I could tell her about Kate and I’s plan to buy the Coldstone’s next to the river and turn it in to a better ice cream place than Coldstone’s and then build a super apartment above it
Being Artsy again!
All of the walls have these inscriptions on them. and she understood it all! Ah, it was like being home, almost. Well, probably more like being at Clemson…which is home in a way. 😊
Hayley and I also found a tree that looked like it was straight out of the Lord of the Rings, so of course we had to take a picture with it. The best part of the gardens though was the hedge maze…we felt like we were in the final task of the Triwizard Tournament! Jerica and I both have a love of Harry Potter, so we found some twigs and thought we would do a re-enactment…as you can see from the photos I clearly won. We hung out in the gardens for a while and then headed back towards the main part of the city to Honey Dukes to get some sustenance. Just kidding, Hahaha! But we did find a candy store that looked a lot like the Honey Dukes at Universal Studios, (more Harry Potter) and was expensive like it too.
When we finally got some free time to roam around after all that Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings-ing, a few of us thought maybe we wanted to go see a bullfight. The
bullfights here are sort of a controversial topic. Just this weekend was the last bullfight ever in Cataluña because they are outlawing them due to animal cruelty. Sevilla has one of the oldest bullfighting arenas in Spain and there happened to be a bullfight that night at six. It was 5:50 and we were trying to decide what to do. Most of our group did not want to see it because the toreros (matadors) do actually kill the bull and it can be very hard to watch. Juan does not agree with the killing of the bulls, but he does appreciate the cultural significance and the beauty in the spectacle. Jerica, Meghan and I wanted to see it because we felt that it is something important to see while we are in Spain. We got there on time, but the tickets were kind of expensive so we decided that maybe we would try somewhere not as popular as Sevilla. Instead we went to Juan’s favorite dessert shop to try something out. Jerica and I split a chocolate torte thing and what we think might have been a marshmallow filled pastry? We aren’t really sure, but they were very delicious.
Our first night there I was really, really tired, so Meghan and I went and got dinner early and headed back to the hotel to get some rest. I actually wanted to go back because I had plans to take a VERY long shower, a very long, very hot shower. It was pretty much great. I took maybe a half-an-hour long shower and I think I was nearly broiled by the time I got out. So. Nice.
After my amazing shower being able to hang out in the room by myself and just watch some TV sounded really nice, so I turned it on and there were surprisingly few Spanish channels! There were all these Austrian channels and a few Spanish ones but there was nothing good on! So I found a soccer game and I started watching it and after a few seconds I was like, “This isn’t Spanish.” Nope. It was German. So I watched the German soccer game. I can’t tell you who was playing because I don’t understand the abbreviations, but it was entertaining, I suppose.
Since I apparently can’t seem to get on Spanish time like everyone else has easily done, I was the
first one up…again. I wake up every morning at 7:19, like clockwork. Except the past few days because I’m getting kind of sick, which I am very upset about because Natalie has been getting the whole family sick and I hadn’t gotten sick and I was thinking, “I live in the same room with her and I still haven’t gotten sick, maybe I have a super immune system!” Like the next day I woke up with a sore throat, but that’s all I have; no headaches or runny nose or anything, yet (knock on wood).
Anyhoo, I was up before everyone and I wanted to wait to go get breakfast, but I was really, really hungry so I headed down for the hotel breakfast. I was the ONLY person in the restaurant. I got up to refill my juice glass four times and every time the waiter would come out because he thought maybe someone else had showed up…nope, just me. Sorry. Eventually he just came outside and stared out the window for a good 15 or 20 minutes until I was done. I get the feeling maybe they don’t have a lot of people eat breakfast? So when someone
La Plaza de Toros
This is the Plaza where bullfights occur. does they get very excited? Not really sure, but he was a nice guy!
When I was finishing with breakfast all of the other kids were just waking up and going down to eat so I went back to the room to pack up. I turned on the TV and the German sport channel was showing the BMW Berlin Marathon! It was pretty fun to watch, but again I didn’t really know what was going on. I’m pretty sure the German guys won though. Don’t worry Team Flik Who, I bet you could take them.
I was very sad to leave Sevilla; I really, really loved it there. We are definitely planning day trips back to see more of the city and relax there. It is a super easy trip to make and we really, really liked it!
If anyone is planning a trip to Spain I highly recommend it!!
Finally, I need to let Kahleb and Kyler know that I am being very, very safe in the ocean. I am very careful to look out for los tiburones (sharks). I never go in the water alone and I keep an extra special eye out for
their dorsal fins!! I promise I will come back with all of my limbs and I will not get eaten!!
Also, Shawn Zaijeck!! Great Job on your first full marathon!! I am SO SO proud of you!! Keep it up! I wish I could have given you a hug afterward!!
Well, I suppose that’s all for today!
Love and miss everyone,
Love always,
Devin 😊
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Aunt Terri
non-member comment
STARBUCKS?!
Ugh. Starbucks. You have cut me to the quick. ;) Glad you liked Sevilla so much. Been a busy week, working, dog-sitting for friend, Ruth...now I have 4 dogs. Added Chihuahua, Sidney, to the pack. The little Spanish gal fits in well. Tomorrow is M2M...making spaghetti for supper. Making sandwiches for the runners. Collin Lindley is replacing John Matson. Love you Devin! Aunt T