Seville!

I never thought this blog would get to the point where I had people emailing me to update. I am sorry to those who have been awaiting this long overdue post, but your wish has been granted! I am currently in the city of Seville in the southwest corner of Spain so getting on the internet was not a top priority!

The festival of San Juan was as crazy as I thought it would be! The beach was overflowing with people in Barcelona but I was able to enjoy the night with some classmates and Danielle Moccia who has been travelling through Europe by herself for the last 5 weeks. That girl is crazy! We had a blast and spent the night listening to the relentless banging of fireworks and sitting on an outdoor beach terrace. The next morning, I saw Danielle off to the train station and was ready to head to the airport.

The start of trouble

A few of my friends

Allison finally arrived in Spain after her long awaited trip. She caught both flights and got all of her baggage here. Not bad for her first time flying internationally, or for her first time on a plane! Those small town folks... Andres took me to the airport and while we sat around waiting for her, I had a pickpocket scare. But it turns out my wallet had fallen out of my pants where we had sat down for a snack. How thankful was I to find it there! Once Alli got out of the terminal we headed to the car and then for my apartment. We got all the way back only to realize one of Alli’s suitcases was not in the car! Andres had pulled it out of the back seat to fix a seat belt and it never found its way back into the car. So we hoped back into the car and went screaming down the road. Andres called ahead to the airport security to have them go up and look for it in the garage. We arrived at the parking spot to find no suitcase! Alli was on the verge of being very upset but then we got a phone call saying they had the suitcase down in security! We picked it up, got back to the apartment, and said goodbye to Andres!

We spent the evening, or early portion of it, walking around Gracia. We had a very easy dinner, got some ice cream and had a drink. Too bad that was all for the night because Alli couldn’t keep her head up or eyes open! It was time for someone to get some sleep. The next day we naturally went to the beach. It was crowded as usually but who can really complain about that when it is 75 and sunny? The rest of the day was spent walking on Las Rambles and taking in some sites of the city.

Yum

Making friends

Yeah, I land my helicopter on my boat

Christopher Columbus

Sunday morning we got up after 4 hours of sleep and headed to the airport at 4:30 in the morning. We caught a 6:05 AM flight to Seville. By 8, we had taken a bus from the airport and were in a park in the city wondering if our hostel would let us check in yet. The last thing we wanted to do was to walk around the city with our bags! We walked ten minutes down the road and were able to check in and drop our bags off but our room had not been cleaned yet. So we headed out into the small, winding streets to see some of the sights.

Cathedral and Giralda

I was between living in Seville and Barcelona for the summer for those who do not know. There is something about this city that I really enjoy. I love walking around the old town sections and since Cole brought Sean and I here last summer, I knew I wanted to come back. The only downfall is the heat. The first day here it hit 41 degrees Celsius or 105-106 degrees Fahrenheit. So if there is anything you really want to do, get it down in the morning or evening because the city is empty during the day except for some tourists who dare venture out.

Since it was Sunday when we arrived there were not a lot of options to do. We went to the Giralda and the Cathedral which are both stunning. The Giralda has a miniature version of itself built down on the Country Club Plaza. It is the tower that is located across the street from the JC Nichols Fountain. Also, there is a smaller version of the fountain that is located here. Seville has one of their largest avenues named Kansas City Avenue just so you don’t think they forgot about us here. Back to what I was saying, we went into the Cathedral and were lucky to see a Mass in session. It was beautiful to see something I am so used to taking place in one of the oldest Cathedrals in Europe. The organ was also being played and its sound echoed throughout the building in an eerie sound. We then spent part of the afternoon in Flanherty’s, which is an Irish pub across from the Cathedral. After a few drinks, we met a man from England whose son currently lives in Kansas City and is a musician. Turns out, he plays one night a week at the Blue Moose, which is a bar no more than five minutes from my home! Crazy how small the world is!

Ken from England

Both are pints?

The next day we went on the official tour of the Cathedral and climbed to the top of the Giralda which gave a stunning 360 degree view of Seville! Following that, we walked along the river, ducked back into the room until the evening to avoid the heat, went to dinner, saw Plaza de Espana and walked much of the city over. It was a great second day.

Catholics are harsh 

The tomb of Christopher Columbus

Right before they rang

Best Mojito she has ever had

Plaza de Espana

Yesterday we walked about quite some distance to the see the old Roman city walls that surrounded the city. They were pretty cool to see but not as impressive as I had hoped for. Oh well, still got to walk through a different part of town. We then planned our trip to Cadiz which is coastal town about 2 hours away by train. A day at the beach in a different city sounds like a great plan! But that trip was pushed back until tomorrow (Thursday) because we did a pub crawl last night and did not make it home until 4:30 in the morning. But it was a great time with three bars and an outdoor club that had some great music.

What a wall

Boy band street performers

As for today, we have not done much and do not plan on doing anything in particular outside of cooking dinner for ourselves in the hostel’s kitchen and making some new friends. We did manage to walk to the train station which is only 15 mins walk from here.

Oh hey Kansas City

I hope everyone is doing well. We fly back to Barcelona Friday morning and Friday evening my roommate Tommy flies in from Switzerland for the weekend. It should be a wonderful time. I am also in the early stages of possibly flying to couple other places in Europe while I am here. I feel there are some things I should go out and see. What do I have to lose?

And in case you are wondering, I have only gone on one 2 mile run since being here. I’ll be sure to ratchet the training and diet back down once I return to Barcelona! I miss my routine.

Until next time…

Adios!