Sevilla!

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MERCI BEAUCOUP!

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Glee is the only word that I can find to describe how I felt when my bus pulled into the Sevilla bus station 2 days ago.  This city holds so many fond memories for me from the time I studied here for 3 1/2 months as a junior in college and  from the last time I visited 2 years ago.  I love the spirit and beauty of this city. It is a place that I like to think I will always come back to.

It is Sunday in Sevilla.  I forgot that NOTHING is open on Sundays in Spain....and that includes grocery stores.  It is a little bit like torture walking Calle Sierpes with all its beautiful store windows and not being able to go into one.  The restaurants and tapas bars, however, are wide open for business...so this morning I took multiple breaks during my walk for cafe, tapas and pastries. I am now back in my little, single hotel room for a siesta and blog catch-up break :).

Sevilla at night is spectacular. 

This is one of Sevilla's most famous and important landmarks, La Giralda.  It is the bell tower of the Catedral de Sevilla, the 3rd largest church in the world and the largest Gothic cathedral.  It was once the mineret of the city's mosque when the Moors ruled Sevilla (700 - mid 13th Century). The bell tower was added to the top when the cathedral was constructed (between 1401 - 1519).  The base of La Giralda is built on Roman ruins, so the structure is phenomal not only for its beauty and architecture but also for the fact that it represents 3 different populations that inhabited Sevilla over the last 2000 years.

Ole! My first night in Sevilla I went to a flamenco show...of course!

This woman was an incredible dancer.  I think here she is dancing the Sevillana...and has a big smile on her face, but her first dance was much more intense.  With a furrowed brow and ferocity, she stomped her heels to the music of the guitar and lyrics of the folk song sung by the woman in black.  Her movements were filled with so much passion that she danced out her tightly pulled back hair...and even ended up flinging her pretty flamenco hair comb into the audience with one of her twirls.  The dresses she wore were soooooooo pretty...almost made me want to learn flamenco so I had an excuse to buy one :).  I guess I could always come to Semana Santa and just wear one during that week long fiesta.

After the flamenco show, I unwittingly crashed a wedding party! :)  I was assured by these 2 espanoles that I could stay, and spent the rest of the evening talking with them.  Javier and Aitor are from Pamplona. Javi is a doctor of chemisty and Aitor is an engineer.  Being from the north, they had a much easier accent for me to understand (oh the accent in Andulcia is soooooo thick sometimes!!).  It was nice not having to ask them to repeat sentences :). These two called me "Jennifer La Valiente" (Jennifer the Brave) after I told them about my recent travels to Africa and future destinations...it was kinda cute. They also introduced me to the bride and groom that evening... the groom even bought ME a drink...perhaps it should have been the other way around :)!

Sevillanos have quite a zest for nightlife.  Bars are always packed and overflowing with patrons.  The beer of choice in the south of Spain is Cruz Campo...and usually just costs about 1.5 or 2 euros for a glass.  Wine is cheaper (thank goodness!).  Typical night out usually means starting around 11 - midnight and not getting home until 4am or quite later.  The night I was with the wedding party I got home by 1am...kinda a slacker per Sevilla standards, but I did better last night and stayed out to 2:30am :).

It was so gloomy and cloudy yesterday when I took a little walking tour of Sevilla led by an English friend of mine who owns a tour company here in the city...it even rained some, but I enjoyed the refresh of the history, architecture and structures that make Sevilla an important artistic and historic center in Europe.   This is the Torre de Oro, and for reasons I can't explain,  it has always been one of my favorite landmarks in Sevilla.  When I spent my semester in college in Sevilla, I would frequently gaze at it (usually coming home late from being out!) and marvel at how beautiful it would be at night all lit up and reflecting off the Quadalquivir river...and I think that has just stuck.  It is such a simple structure but was an important gateway into the port during its time.  As an importante note too, it was from the port of Sevilla that Christopher Columbus set sail for America in 1492....did you know that? :)

These padlocks are put on the bridges in Sevilla by lovers! :)

Each one is either engraved or handwritten with the names of the couple and include the date when they were locked into place.  As adorable I thought this was, apparently it is a nightmare for the Ayuntamiento de Sevilla as they have to take big wire cutters and remove them on a consistant basis :).  Lets hope that the love still lasts even after city workers take the broken padlock and fling it into the trash!

Last night I went out for tapas and drinks with my English friend, David, who owns the tour company here in Sevilla.  He has lived here for more than 5 years and has incredible knowledge of all things Sevillano.  It was a treat going to all the different tapas bars with him...most comping our food and drink because of his relationship with the owners.  It was so fun and so fabulous...and the tapas were amazing. On the way home we got caught in torrential rains!  OMG! David said he hadn't seen rain like that in Sevilla EVER!  It was amazing...and we became soaked in a matter of seconds.  I took this picture of the Giralda as we were trying to wait out the rain under an overhang supported by columns.

This is undoubtedly my favorite tapa, salmorejo.  Oh, it is sooooo yummy!

It is a thick, cold soup made from fresh tomatoes, bread, garlic, oil and vinegar and is garnished with serrano ham and diced hard boilded onions.  This one had tuna on top too.  It looks a bit like gazpacho but is dramatically more thicker....to me it is just heavenly.  I ate this for lunch today while standing at the bar with my Coca Cola light and the staple mini-breadsticks that are served with all tapas orders.  I think I am going to head out soon for another little bowl...I really can't get enough of it :).

One more picture of the catedral at night...it really is a "must see" in person.

I am going to go take it all in one more time tonight before I leave in the morning for Northern Spain.

My plan for this evening is to go to the Arabic baths that are located in the Santa Cruz neighborhood (close to my hotel).  I became such an addict for hammams in Algeria, that I thought I would give these a try.  They will be more touristy, but they have the traditional 3 thermal baths (hot, warm and cold). The idea of 90 minutes of sitting in the therapeutic water sounds quite lovely...especially before my all day tren ride to Santiago de Compostela tomorrow.  Need to find my swim suit....

Oh, geez...I just remembered it is Halloween today (probably my most dreaded holiday)....hmmmm, should be interesting tonight in the streets :)....especially since tomorrow is a Spanish holiday, All Saint's Day.