Advertisement
Published: August 15th 2014
Edit Blog Post
Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Seville, Spain after spending four beautiful nights in Portugal. After leaving Lisbon, we stopped off in Evora for the day to explore the city & to check out the Chapel of the Bones (Photos included in previous entry). Although a bit morbid, I found it to be absolutely fascinating. As the story goes, the city of Evora had too many cemeteries during the 16th century--taking up way too much land in the city. It was decided by a Franciscan monk to tear up the cemeteries and therefore the buried corpses were exhumed in an effort to save their souls from condemnation. The chapel's walls & ceilings are covered and decorated with the bones of over 5,000 people. in the entryway there is a famous warning that reads: "We bones that here are, for yours await." It is meant to provoke contemplation of our own existence and about the transitory nature of life. Inside the chapel also hangs the corpse of an adult man and a young boy and it is said to be that they were cursed by the boy's mother and the man's wife.
After our day trip to Evora we arrived
by bus to the Algarve Coast where we explored the many beaches and a few of us took a small boat out to see the caves and incredible rock formations. This was absolutely breathtaking. The arches are covered in fossils and the way the light shines through the openings creates a rich jade color in the water. On our last night, we all returned from our beach explorations exhausted and sunburned and had a lovely picnic on the roof of our hotel.
We left Portugal early yesterday morning and arrived in Seville in the early afternoon. It's been incredibly hot here and yesterday we roasted as we took an orientation walk around the city. I can safely say I'm about four shades darker than I was when I began this trip the first week in July. After sightseeing around town, our group headed to a tiny and intimate spot for a live flamenco show. I cannot express what it is about the flamenco guitar that moves me so much but I absolutely love it. The guitarist was incredible as were the singer and the dancer. The singer sung gypsy ballads that resonated from deep inside and the
synchronicity of his vocals with the guitarist was beautiful. My evening was off to a great start when I left the show and the evening only got better as I finally was able to enjoy a glass of wine after being sick and a variety of tapas at dinner which were amazing. we ended the night at a local bar dancing until about 2 am.
Tomorrow morning I'm off to Cordoba for the day and will end up back in Granada in the evening. Perhaps I'll pop in and pay a visit to Pablo---who by the way I saw on my last night in Granada. Just as I had suspected, he had gone on vacation with his family and returned with a sunburn and a new ear piercing! We exchanged skype information and our emails and promised to write. This time while in Granada, I will finally visit he Alhambra which I've dreamed about and then will meet up with my friend Josh for dinner. He and I are going to catch a train to Madrid where we'll visit a bunch of the museums and eat amazing food at a hidden tapas bar he knows about. There
I'll eventually meet up with my group to finish off the trip in Valencia and finally Barcelona!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.24s; Tpl: 0.044s; cc: 17; qc: 80; dbt: 0.1484s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Mom
non-member comment
Happy to hear from you!
Hi darling. So happy to hear from you and to hear that you're feeling better and having a blast in Spain. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the pictures! You look good and healthy! Can't believe the time is winding down and you only have a 1 1/2 weeks left of your adventure. Can't wait to hear about your visit to the Alhambra and I think you'll enjoy Madrid and Valencia. Valencia will give you another opportunity to visit the beach and take in the coastal views. Madrid is full of history and gorgeous architecture and museums. And BTW, I wonder what made Pablo go out and get his ear pierced? Can't wait to read your next entry! xoxo.