Sevilla!

This past weekend I went to Sevilla, Spain with 6 of my friends and had such a wonderful time=))

We left right after our classes on Friday for our 3 hour bus ride. We got into Sevilla around 7 pm, and checked into our hostel. Walking through Sevilla was so beautiful. This was my first time staying in a hostel and was a little nervous. Our room had 8 beds in it with only 4 being my friends! It was pretty small and crammed, but i guess you get what you pay for. After getting settled we went out for dinner. Then we got lost. The streets in Sevilla are horrible and change names every 3 blocks. When we finally found our way we went to a cheap bar for drinks. After this we decided to go back because my one friend Nicki made us a jam packed itinerary and we wanted to be ready to see all of Sevilla!

Our first stop was the Bull Fighting Museum. We bought tickets for a show and we wanted to be knowledgeable on what was actually going on, so we went to the museum for information. It was really cool beacause we got to see the stadium and take pictures really close up when no one was there, and it was nice since our seats for the actual fight were on the top section. The museum was really neat. We especially liked it beacuse the tour guide did the tour all in spanish. She told us about all the stages of the bullfights, we got to see the clothing that they wear, see paintings and sculptures, and see where the horses stay before they are needed in the fight. I took tons of pictures because I thought it would be somehting cool that I can use in my classroom when i teach!

After this we went to the Flamenco Museum. It was very artsy and more hands on than he other one. In each room they had screens of flamenco dancing. We were all in awe just by the video, and it got us so excited for the show. This museum had paintings and actual shoes and clothing that is worn for flamenco dancing.

Our next stop was the Cathedral. It was absolutley amazing. It is the 3rd largest church in the world, and Christopher Columbus is buried there! I had no idea. Im honestly learning so many new things everyday=) I took tons of pictures, but they do not do it justice.

After the cathedral, we went to our hostal and got ready for the Flamenco show!! We went to a smaller show that held about 90 people. I enjoyed it so much more because it was a lot more personal, and we were super close to the stage! A guitar player and a singer to started the show. They were both so different and cool. After that the girl came out. She was INCREDIBLE. She was so intense and passionate about the dance it was amazing. I wish I could have taped it. The man went after her and he was just as great. I never wanted it to end! I really never expected to enjoy it that much.

Next we got tapas and wine! We then went on the bar crawl with our hostel. The bars were really cool. They were all outdoor and had weird decorations. It was fun to be outside and not crammed and hot inside of a bar. It was fun, but we are pretty sure that we went ended up at a gay club...

The next morning we went on a walking tour of Sevilla. The tour guide (who was also the owner of our hostel) explained to us not only all the buildings, but behind the scenes stories that we would never have been able to know. We saw different"neighborhoods", as well as the university of sevilla, and La plaza de espana. This plaza had a scene from star wars taped there! It is also in the shape of "open arms" that face the plaza americana. This is supposed to symbolize that spain will always have open arms to america, and that they are sorry for their past with christopher columbus.

We then got lunch,where I had really good salmon, and went on a tour of Alcazar. This is the governors palace in Spain. It was really beautiful, but sadly from walking around all day,while carrying our backpacks, we were so tired that we didnt really enjoy it as much as we could have.

Finally, it was time for the bull fight in La Plaza de Toros. We were all very excited, but we didnt know what we were in for. After going to the museum, we were aware that there were 6 bulls that were killed in each fight, but when the first one came out we were all REALLY sad. After the 3rd bull we were used to it, but it was hard to watch at times. I am glad that I got to experience it and take pictures for my classroom tho. Our tour guide said that it was really good that we went to one. She said now because of animal rights and everything that this tradtion could be completely stopped within the next couple of years. All in all it was really cool to be a part of their tradition. The pictures are pretty graphic so if you dont wanna see them, skip those ones!

I had such a great time and I learned a lot about the culture of Spain. Cannot wait to see more of spain and europe!