So Sevilla was pretty awesome. The city was beautiful. We left Thursday morning [April 2] at 11ish. The train ride ended up being 9 hours basically; it arrived late. There were SO many stops and at some we stayed as long as 30 minutes. The good news is that I slept for the majority of it [the small majority but still the majority].

We arrived at our hostal, Doña Pepa: http://www.dormirensevilla.com/pension-centro-sevilla.htm

and loved it. The four of us had our own room. The man at the desk was very nice and told us about a flamenco show we could see and a tour of the city, too. We were really tired so after settling in we walked around and found a place to eat dinner at. Our waiter was super cool and became our “friend” for the rest of the trip. After eating we went back to our hostel and went to sleep.

The next day we went to talk to José Luis at the front desk and bought a tour ticket and Flamenco tickets for that night. The tour was on a double-decker bus and had head phones so that you could change it to whatever station and language you wanted. It was a very popular tour, and pretty good. I think it was about 16euros each and your ticket was valid for two days. I believe there were two buses and therefore two different routes you could take. There was so much to see and you could get off at different stops which we did.

One of the stops we got off at was by the Torre de Oro [“Tower of Gold”- even though just the tippy top of it is actually made of gold]. We walked around and found the cathedral. We also ended up getting ice cream later.

We went home real quick before dinner so I could get my camera charger and charge my camera for a little and then went to dinner. For dinner we stopped at a random little place. I asked the waiter to charge my camera while we were eating and he did! Dinner was quite… interesting. For once I didn’t regret not liking seafood too much! The 3 other girls ordered a seafood dish and received many whole fish. Haha. I would never know what to do with those.

Then we went to the Flamenco show. It was AMAZING. I took a bunch of pictures but what they say, about the completely different ambiance, is true. I loved watching the ladies dance most of all. The men were good but the dresses were gorgeous and the way the ladies move and their expressions are just so focused and intriguing. I took way too many videos but you will enjoy them all!! During the show we ended up ordering two pitchers of sangria [It was really good.] so towards the end we were definitely a bit tipsy. We decided to go to our lil restaurant with our lil friend where there were 1euro beers. I don’t really dig beers too much but who can pass up a 1euro beer?

Here are pictures from the first part:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029316&id=139902062&l=5a4b1bff27

Flamenco videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BhlCTn-3us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osBCBly0ES4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVADZQ-M_LA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvpyVPzzvd0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjrQ1su_Yls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epiwvR7FO4k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhLhVbdgShw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcftCOfWjbM

The next day we got a late start and were all super tired. We walked around more of the city, starting with Plaza de España. I took tons of pictures there.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029325&id=139902062&l=bc83019272

I really loved the place. Lots of neat stuff to explore. Later on I went to this huge park and walked around. Part of the horse-drawn carriage rides went there and there were tons of cool trees and it was just a nice area to relax. At that point I decided to put away my map and walk down whatever street I wanted. The city really isn’t all that big so I think this is a good way to get to know it a little better. I wound up near the cathedral and decided to continue on to the back roads behind the cathedral. I walked and walked and walked and saw all kinds of cool little shops and streets and band members getting ready. [It was close to Semana Santa.] I left the touristy part of Sevilla and wound up in a more residential area and then more of a shopping district. I went into a bunch of the little shops and found great deals. I bought a dress, a shirt, and a couple other little things and made friends with one the girls working there. We talked for a bit and then I continued just walking around. I got ice cream [when don’t I get ice cream] and decided to find myself on the map. I asked a nut salesman on the side of the street and he helped me find myself… at the VERY bottom corner of the map! Our hostel was at the top! I had really walked far! So I decided to head back to my neighborhood. As I was walking I met this nice lil old lady and we chatted a bit and she told me where I could find a super cheap grocery store that ended up being 1 minute away from my hostel. I bought a bunch of waters there for the train ride back, some snacks, and chocolate ice cream.

After a rather busy weekend I took my chocolate ice cream, my Spanish Cosmo magazine and went to the lil bar by my hostel and sat in the window, sipping red wine, eating chocolate ice cream, and reading Cosmo. It was a rather nice way to end the weekend.