Weekend to Sevilla

This past weekend (Nov 5-7), my study abroad group had a trip to Sevilla, in the south of Spain. We took a 7:30 (am! eek!) train from Barcelona, which ended up being about a 6 hour train ride. I tried to take some video of the countryside, but the train was moving too fast to get a good video. It is really too bad that train travel is not as cost-effective or efficient anymore, because it was really an enjoyable way to travel - and comforting knowing that I would not need to use an oxygen mask (my terrifying smartwings flight)! We got in early enough in the afternoon to enjoy some lunch and a few hours of sunshine before the sun set - the days are definitely feeling shorter!

Although still a big city, Sevilla definitely has more of a "small town" feel to it. It is also more traditionally (or perhaps stereotypically) Spanish than Barcelona.

Dining underneath the umbrellas of our first lunch spot - although we are spoiled by sunny weather here in BCN, I was not prepared for the 80 degree days we had that weekend!

Empty plates - and full stomachs - after a delicious meal of fresh tapas. The food in Sevilla was definitely better than the bar fare that is more typical in Barcelona.

I thought these nuns were too precious - I couldn't help snapping a foto!

After a little walking to work off our large lunch, we arrived at the Plaza de España.

There is a big "moat" area out front where you can pay a few euros to row around.

One of my favorite parts of Sevilla was how colorful everything was - from the mustard colored facades of buildings, to the vibrant green of the parks, to all of the intricate decorative tile work that seemed to appear in every corner of the city.

More tile work around the base of the building - each alcove representing a different province in Spain.

In honor of my Don Quijote philosophy of the 20th century class! (Sorry, I just had to).

After the Plaza de España came a little meandering through the Parque de María Luisa, right outside of the Plaza.

The parks were almost jungle-like they were so lush. Still hard to believe it's almost Thanksgiving.

These flowered trellises reminded me of Santa Catalina a bit... and Scripps College as well

After an early wake-up and a full afternoon walking around, I was definitely ready for a relaxing night in and a good nights sleep - with no alarm clock. The next day we did some more exploring.

A square we stopped in to enjoy some gelato

There were citrus trees everywhere. My roommates tried one of the oranges, but were surprised when the orange was more sour than a lemon.

La Catedral de Santa María de la Sede

El Torre de Oro

Another full day of sight seeing meant another late afternoon siesta. After, we tried to navigate the crooked streets (they are not on the grid system... at least where we were staying) and found a really fun tapas bar where we enjoyed another wide array of different foods. The great part about the tapas bars here is that we got to share a lot of different dishes for pretty cheap - we never had to spend over 10 euro a person. It was the first place I can say that I actually got legitimately good patatas bravas (basically the fries and ketchup of Spain... except sometimes that's pretty much what you actually get)! Saturday night we went out with some American students studying in Sevilla to get a taste of the night life. We went to hang out in a square and met some Spaniards, but ended up heading in pretty early as we were tired from the travel and sightseeing.

Sunday, we woke up in time to get some churros con chocolate (a traditional Spanish breakfast) at a famous chocolatería before our train ride, only to find that they were just closing up for the afternoon when we got there. We should have known, it is very typical "Spain" to have a hard time finding anything open on Sunday! Still, it was a beautiful morning and it was fun to see all of the citizens of Sevilla wearing their Sunday best. We found that la gente, or people, in general dressed very well here and a bit more formally - men wore button downs with sweaters, children were wearing dresses or colorful shorts with cute little knee socks, and the women looked effortlessly elegant. Anyway, after our failed mission into the heart of Sevilla for a chocolate fix, we found ourselves already making our way back to the train. A quick trip, but a perfect and relaxing weekend excursion from the hustle and bustle here in Barcelona.

Another square - and yes, those green awnings are Starbucks'.

 

Hasta luego Sevilla!