la bella sevilla

On Friday morning Maya and I groggily dragged ourselves out of bed at 7am to make our way to the Atocha Renfe train station where our program was meeting for our trip to Sevilla. Though I slept the majority of the three hour journey I did catch some sights of the Spanish countryside whizzing by my window when I would open my eyes momentarily to adjust my sleeping posture. We arrived in Sevilla and were greeted by 70 degree weather complete with a shining sun and blue skies. We abandoned our jackets and grabbed our sunnies as all ninety of us made our way towards the hotel. After dropping our bags off we formed a snake-like trail of American tourists as we "zig-zaggy-ando-ed" our way through skinny streets, attempting to balancing ourselves on even skinnier sidewalks. Our directors set us free to wander and grab lunch before meeting up to tour the La Giralda and La Catedral. The cathedral was built on top of a Muslim Mosque from the 12th century and thus retains lots of its Muslim heritage in its layout and architecture. At the time of its completion it was the largest cathedral in the world but has since fallen to third (still impressive!). The exhausting walk to the top of the cathedral's minaret was well worth the resulting views of the city.

La Giralda and the view from its top!
(notice the shadow that it casts on the city)

After the cathedral we made our ways towards the entrance to La Alcazar, the royal palace of Sevilla and one of the best examples of mudejar architecture (the mixing of Muslim and Christian art forms). Walking through the main gates is like entering a completely different world. The gardens surrounding the palace are the most impressive I've seen; they're filled with flowers, orange trees, fountains, and even chirping birds (!). The palace itself is equally as impressive, consisting of a series of courtyards complete with arcos de herradura (the traditional Muslim arches) and countless examples of azulejo (Muslim tiles). After our tour we frolicked around the gardens and almost got lost in the hedge maze, which made Vera very angry.

pretty plant and azulejo

gotta love our azulejo pictures

playing in the hedge maze!!

view from one of the courtyards

the room where the throne used to be

Amalia summons some ducks | I found a bunny!

Tired and cranky from too much walking, Jess and I hunted down some gelato on our way back to the hotel before taking baby re-charge naps. Jess, Maya, Vera, Greta, Steffi, and I went to dinner together and later forced a cab driver to take five of us to Calle Betis where we met up with other people from the program at a few bars. Jess and I retired to our room early and slept like babies. :)

The next morning our group went to Museo de Bellas Artes where we saw lots of works by El Greco and Velazquez. The museum was followed by a walk along the river from Puente de Isabel II to Puente de San Telmo. We were again released by the directors to spend the rest of the day as we pleased. Jess, Maya, Vera, Anoop, and I walked across the bridge to explore Triana. We sat outside right by the water for a drink before wandering through Triana in search of gelato and ceramics. Unfortunately we were unable to find an open ceramics store (siesta time) but we made up for it with amazing gelato. We followed our dessert with a middle eastern lunch by the river where I satisfied my craving for hummus before heading in the general direction of our hotel, stopping to shop on Calle Sierpes. We reunited with our group in the hotel lobby and once again made the trek through the city towards the train station to head home to Madrid. I was once again happy to return home to Maria Rosa but Sevilla left quite an impression on me and I can't wait to return.

a bling bling horsie and a very yellow section of town



the foursome by the river : )



a trip would not be complete without jumping pictures



pretty buildings by the water and an orange tree

I got to talk to Nils and Nais on the phone last night and skype with Bretty which made me miss my cuddly Columbians quite a bit but it was great to hear their voices. After an unsuccessful trip to the Prado (2 hour lines just aren't my thing) it looks like today will be a pretty lazy day other than mine and Jess's outing to a Bikram Yoga center later this evening to try it out. My Monday morning class at Autonoma has also been canceled for tomorrow so I'm happy girl. : )