Seville has been one of the most relaxing spots I've been to so far. To get there I took a two hour fast train from Madrid and then took two buses to a park near my hostel in the center of the city. The trains are very modern and clean and spacious.. not at all what I thought they would be like. Every few carts or so there is a restaurant style food section where they serve sandwiches, drinks, and other snacks. It's a pretty nice set-up and a much better traveling option than buses or planes I think, when it comes to comfort.
I walked from the park to my hostel, Hostel Nuevo Suizo, and checked into the five story place. It looked pretty nice inside.. all white, with dark wood hand rails and ceiling boards. The place had wifi, AC, and an unlimited coffee, espresso, and cappuccino machine. Works for me! After I set my stuff down, me and a guy I met from Portland, Abe, walked around the city and got a barring on where everything was. The city is very cute, sort of reminds me of the Greek isles with their tall white buildings and narrow streets. The town has some history too, the 3rd largest church in the world is here and a few other things I'll mention later. When we got back to the hostel we met a guy from Australia, Chuck, who was traveling by himself too. The three of us grouped together and headed to a free flamenco show just around the corner.
The restaurant/bar would be impossible to find if you did not know exactly where to go. And even when you get to it, it's hard to tell if you're at the right place. We looked inside and just saw a long white hallway, but once you walk through it and take a turn to the left, you walk into a dark room with wood ceilings and wine leaves draped all around the inside. It had a very intimate feeling and we knew the show was going to be good. We each had 1.50 Euro tinto de verano (which is like sangria, but with a bit of lemon soda in it... really good!) and sat for the show. Three people get together to perform each night, a dancer, singer, and guitarist... and I think every other night they rotate with another group of three. They were very good and the flamenco dancer was very passionate and serious with her dancing.. stomping about and jumping and spinning in the air.. it was great. After the show we had some late night tapas and called it a night.
The next day, Saturday, Chuck and I walked around town to the main sights, the Cathedral of Seville and the Alcazar. The Cathedral is huge and gorgeous. Supposedly Christopher Columbus' tomb is inside, but regardless, it was quite an elaborate church. Afterwards we stopped for some amazing tapas and then walked over to the Alcazar. The Alcazar is a huge palace and garden attraction here which dates back to the 1300's. The Admiral's room was founded after the discovery of America, to supervise trade between the new world and the Spanish territories. Magellan and Elcano planned their first trip around the world here. The garden outside was huge with fountains, flowers, tons of foliage, and a maze of hedges which was created in 1914 to replace an earlier labyrinth. It was pretty fun to walk though and duck through secret holes and passageways and also VERY easy to get lost.
The next day was a Sunday and everything pretty much closes down on Sundays so Chuck and I took a train and a bus to a beach town called Cadiz. Cadiz is where a lot of people who live in the south of Spain go for a beach weekend. It was a cute little town with beaches that go on forever and tons of little fresh fish restaurants and tapas stops. After touring around land-locked cities for so long, it was really nice to get away and lay on the beach for a few hours. When we got back in to Seville we met up with some backpackers and all went to the supermarket to grab some food for dinner and some drinks. We came back to our hostel and chatted for a bit before heading out to the free flamenco show again. This time there was a different group playing and it was nice to see the difference in the performances. This flamenco dancer wasn't as fierce, but she was a bit easier on the eyes and about 80 pounds lighter. We all stayed out on the terrace for a few hours afterwards talking and then eventually headed back to our hostel.
On Monday our new group of 7 toured around the city a bit, had lunch together, and then walked over the bridge to the river. We stopped for some tapas and sangria's (of course) and then eventually made our way back to the supermarket first and then our Nuevo Suizo. Originally I had planned to check out Malaga and Alicante before making my way up to Ibiza and Valencia. But this new group of 7 were all going to Portugal, and after speaking to many people about my previous choices, they all agreed that Portugal was a much wiser decision. Chuck was leaving Tuesday morning so we made arrangement together to catch a bus there and meet up with his two friends who he met back in Barcelona. None of us had made accommodations yet.. but, we figured we'd figure it out once we got to Portugal.. I mean, there has to be at least one hostel with vacancy, right?
Speak to you soon from Lagos!
xoxo
Link to pictures from Seville:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2856568&id=2006596&l=bcfb5fd06c
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