August 29, white hill towns

I went to a castle today! But that was later in the day.

After breakfast we took a taxi to the train station and picked up our rental car there. For the next few days we will be driving through southern Spain on our way to Granada through the pueblos blancos that means the white houses. They are very pretty little hill towns mostly on the top of hills where all the houses are white with the same red tile roofs and steep winding streets. Some on the streets only go up the hill and some only go down, and our tires actually ended up spinning quite a bit trying to get to the top of one hill.

The view along the drive today was absolutely beautiful. Rolling hills along all of it turning into small mountains with the majority being fallow farmland lots of olive trees in long rows in a patchwork pattern all along the hills. I’m pretty sure that my dad took about 500 pictures out the windows today just holding down the rapid-fire button at anything and everything that looked even a little bit pretty.

The town we finally stopped in for lunch was called Zahara and had a small castle at the top. It was just declared a national monument. A previous small river that had been dammed into a reservoir sat below it and from the top of the hill it had a fantastic view. It was a very cute town that we wandered around a bit then sat down at a restaurant that had quite a few locals and food that looked good. About the same time two people from Canada sat down at the table next to ours so Dad invited them to eat with us which made the lunch a lot more fun. From there we ventured in the heat of the day when everyone else is resting up the steep incline to the castle at the very top. Passing by roman ruins on the way up the sign in Spanish told us how it used to belong to the Moors who had it as one of their last strongholds and then it fell into Christian hands who then used it for themselves. It was tough to get there but the view from the three story stone castle with little stairways and many rooms was definitely worth it.

Mom and I in front of Zahara

After returning once the Zahara thinking that we left a camera charger on a wall in the parking lot we had to make one more stop at a little restaurant and order drinks in order to get final directions to our hotel after the rented gps and directions from the hotel just didn’t quite get us there.

This hotel has a pool though which is really nice in this heat. It is a pretty new hotel but is built into what we guess to be an old ranch since it was first used about 150 years ago. It definitely kept the feel of the old ranch in how it was built and the buildings here. The decorations throughout keep the same theme and it is just a fun place to explore.

In the pool Dad started talking to a family from Sevilla who is also here for two nights. The mom is from Spain and the dad from Italy, and we ended up having quite an extensive conversation with the dad who had okay English so quite a bit of the conversation involved me translating between him and my parents in Spanish with my dad trying really hard to speak in Spanish but still needing a lot of help.

Late dinner at the hotel followed by resting, writing and then off to bed to prepare for an exciting adventure the next day!

August 28, Sevilla

The alarm worked this morning! After waking up at about 9 am we went out in search of a breakfast/pastry shop that we had seen walking around before. Twenty minutes later we decided to give up, walking around streets and through squares that were familiar in the beginning and then ventured into new territory about half way in. We ended up with the traditional breakfast of toast with butter and jam and coffee for my parents (water for me).

From there we stopped back at our hotel to make reservations for tickets to a flamenco show tonight and went off to the palace and gardens. The palace Alcazar at least used it be if it is not still, the palace where the king and queen stay when they are in Sevilla. It is also gorgeous with different parts decorated at different time periods. There is lots of painted tile, intricately carved plaster molds, and paintings by some famous and not so famous artists. There are secret rooms and passageways for the king only and there is a lot of history and important events that have happened in that building.

inside the palace

The gardens were a lot more interesting to me though. Again there were many different parts created in different time periods which were really interesting and fun to walk around. Fountains and small areas with shrubs and flowering bushes, more open areas with tall trees to walk around in, ivy covering the towering walls, a maze we had fun wandering and getting lost in, long ponds or pools with walkways along the sides and medium sized plants nicely spread out for wandering about. It was quite extensive and I would love to live near a place like that where I could walk around in a nice park every night or so often and just relax and really enjoy it. They even have a fountain that plays music on an organ at the top of every hour but it isn’t working right now so we didn’t get to hear it.

gardens and seating for the concert the night before

For lunch we again had tapas at an inexpensive local favorite that did not disappoint. I really enjoy tapas because then we get to try a little bit of a few things for not that much, and we don’t get too much food that we either eat too much of or don’t know what to do with. Mainly it is just getting to sample and try a lot more dishes.

Post lunch, in the heat of the day we traveled to the museum of pirates that is air-conditioned and open to the public for free. They had about a fifteen-minute video and a lot of information available too, mostly in Spanish but with some print outs here and there in English of the main bulletin boards. To them pirates weren’t the idealized ones we think about in the movies, but the pirate ships from other countries that would attack and steal ships returning to Spain from the new world loaded down with silver, gold, and other very valuable merchandise. Interesting information and very nice atmosphere

Siesta time today brought relaxing and catching up on my blog/journal. After the later siesta we headed out to dinner about 7 pm to try and find food before the flamenco show. It started at 9, but in order to make sure to get front row seats we had to be in line by 8:15. Again we went in search of Las Theresas that we had been searching for before. No where was really serving dinner yet because it was so early, and unable to find our desired destination, we settled on a place in the more tourist area that had five surprise tapas for a low price so we ordered that and a paella. The food wasn’t really that great and we were a bit disappointed

The flamenco show was great though! There was a singer, a female dancer, a male dancer, and a flamenco guitar player who ran in a little late and started in the middle of song since they just started without him. First there was just singing which was loud and nice but a little more harsh and dissonant than I expected. There was also a lot of loud clapping with it too. The male flamenco dancer started the dances and was quite spectacular. The main part is the footwork that moves really fast and it is a little similar to tap dancing or riverdance with loud and fast banging of the special shoes on the wooden platform/stage for both the sound and appearance. He was definitely quite sweaty by the end of his section but impressed us all.

Then the guitarist had his solo section. Flamenco guitar uses both the left and right hand very intricately and quickly which, while a little out of tune perhaps, was a great thing to watch. He played a few songs, which I enjoyed more than just the singing and it was a lot of fun. The female dancer actually got up and did a costume change before her part of the show into something that was more pastel colors with a long train behind it with lots of ruffles stacked on top of each other. Her dance had a bit more of the body and larger movements as part of it but still was a lot of footwork. Some of it we could just hear and see part of by seeing her legs move under her dress, but for other parts she lifted up her floor length dress to about knee height and we could watch how fast her feet were moving. In addition to that, when she was moving around the small square stage she had to use her feet and other movements to swing her train around with her and work off of that so it wouldn’t get in her way.

The singer even came up and danced a little bit which surprised me a lot because she had very tall heels on without much of a heel in the back width wise but she was a lot of fun to watch too. My favorite part, probably along with many of the tourists was the less traditional where the man and woman danced together. We were only allowed to take pictures in the last five minutes so I took a few pictures trying to get a good shot but then handed the camera back to my dad. I had already known it, but I was surprised my how much more I enjoyed the dancing and how much better they seemed to me when I was just watching it instead of trying to get a good picture of it too.

The previous night we had made arrangements to meet up with Chris, Sally, and Will (from our original tour group) at about 11 pm to hang out again before we all headed off our separate ways. It was actually meant to be more of a younger person thing but my parents were at the flamenco too so they stayed us for a bit then went back to the hotel. Unexpectedly we saw Sally and Will at the flamenco and then went with them to our hotel to pick up Chris who is also staying there with his mom since we weren’t sure what square he meant for us to be meeting at.

The first place we all headed off to was a bar on top of a hotel just under the tower of the cathedral for a great view of the lit up church and a few nice drinks. We had a pitcher of sangria and then Agua de Sevilla, which has a pineapple taste to it along with, come people ordering their own drinks. My parents treated against the objections of the others in our group but they pulled their seniority and then headed back to the hotel at about 1 am.

After they left we hung out there for a while longer then went back to Will and Sally’s hotel for Sally to find her wallet that was thankfully in their room. Then we headed to a bar where Sally and Will had seen flamenco the night before that had a more local feel to it. We were there for a while until they kicked us out probably about 3 am for them to close. For hearing about how all the people in Spain stay up so late there were very few people out and about at that time on a Saturday night and it was pretty much an empty city except for the garbage collectors and us. Leaving there we went in search of one more place just to stay out a while longer. Sally asked a local couple probably going home if there was anywhere else open and they pointed us to a bar about fifteen minutes away. We didn’t find it so headed back to the one place we had seen open. I finally got back to the hotel about 4 am expecting to quietly sneak in brush my teeth and go to bed, but when I opened the door all the lights were on and there were my parents sitting on the bed waiting for me. I didn’t do anything wrong they were just getting worried and didn’t want anything to happen to me.

A long and eventful but very fun day.

Aug 27, Sevilla

I failed at setting my alarm for this morning. Mom luckily woke up at 10:20, looked at her watch, and then jumped out of bed because we had a tour we were meeting at 10:30 that morning. We quickly got dressed and ready to go then ran out the door. Our arrival was jut in time for the walking tour after their introductions. The guide, Concepción, was very good and knowledgeable about the city. We walked around parts we had walked yesterday and new areas we had not had time to explore yet. None of the maps they have here are exactly right and very few streets and names on them. There are lots of different squares roads and buildings that we just try to remember and then use the tall cathedral as a marker to find our ways back to places. It was a very good mix of the history, culture and information about the city and I’m really glad that we did it and got a feel for the place we will be staying for the next few days.

inside of the cathedral

Very hungry at the end of the tour, we had about half an hour until the tour with the same guide for the cathedral/church started, Mom and I went off to find some quick food or tapas while Dad listened to a very good street musician playing the guitar and singing. The two of us stopped at a tapas place recommended by the guide as very quick, good, and a favorite of the locals. It was delicious! We got a small plate of a couple of bites of chicken in a wine sauce and a cake type thing with potatoes and cheese. Eating standing up at the bar in the traditional way was really a lot of fun. On the way out we bought an extra potato and cheese tapa for Dad supposing correctly that he hadn’t had time to find food yet.

Hurrying back to the meeting place for the cathedral tour, we saw a large portion of our previous tour group there. I was very glad that we had a guide for the church because there was so much in it that we would know very little about if it weren’t for her. A lot of it had been built or added on at different times, originally starting as a mosque then being converted into a very large and ornate church. Based on this, many different areas had very different decorations and styles of building and painting, but all was very detailed and beautiful, mainly baroque and renaissance. Christopher Columbus’s bones are even buried there, where he wanted them, after being buried at at least five different places or countries. Another great person buried there is Saint Ferdinand and his body can be viewed four times a year, and we missed by only a week.

After the tour we decided to climb the tall bell tower in the church that consisted of thirty-four ramps leading up but getting less steep as we went up. There were little windows all along the way up too so we get little glimpses of the city as we ascended. The view from the top was magnificent and definitely worth the short trek to get there. This city is such a wonderful place and it was great to get to see it from that angle.

our hotel from the top of the tower

It was very hot after that and siesta time so we headed back to the room to rest. It is the off season here because it is so hot so no one in their right mind will travel here, but at the same time we are in the middle of a heat wave so it is extra hot even for the locals. It is so nice to have air conditioning.

For lunch we ate at a place near by and ordered five surprise tapas for a fixed low price. We didn’t know exactly what all of them were but they were again delicious. I don’t think I have had anything here yet that I did not thing was good.

Mom and I walked around a bit more after that and I bought some very pretty earrings in a 2 euro store- an excellent find. Dinner was at the favorite restaurant of the lady at the front desk with two people from our tour who were also staying in the same hotel as us surprisingly. It was a mom and son who just finished college and is starting a certification program here then will be teaching English or doing something similar for about a year here. While we were waiting for them two others from Vienna who were also in our tour group were looking at menus nearby so Dad went up to them and invited them to join us. It was a delightful meal for the seven of us.

Part way through dinner, about 9 pm after meeting about 8:30, the men left to go buy tickets to a show that night. We had no idea what the show would be, but they have a program where they have a music show in the gardens of the palace every night with a different group performing for only 4 euros so we all decided to go. It was medieval music on traditional instruments, all in Spanish, but I wasn’t trying very hard to understand everything they were saying.

Walking back to the hotel the city was alive at night with locals and quite fun to see all the sights and sounds around. A great first full day in the city.

Sevilla, Spain, August 26, 2010

I’m finally here! Well, sort of. I'm traveling around a bit with my parents before starting my semester abroad in Madrid, Spain. On the way over I traveled to Philadelphia with my parents and brother to drop him off for his first year of college at Haverford College. We had two extra days at the beginning to get the last of the stuff he needed and be tourists for just a little bit. His school seems really nice and challenging academically, but I think he was just really glad to finally get there and was quite ready for all of us to leave him so he could start his adventures on his own.

After driving half way across the country in two days, these 5 and 7 hour flights just don’t feel that long to me. I attempted to get some sleep on the flight over since we would be landing at 7:30 in the morning. The first flight went well and we landed with no problem except for the fact that our baggage never showed up. We went up to information counter and were informed that our bags were checked through to Sevilla our next stop. Somehow I ended up in business class in the first row while my parents were back in coach- I didn’t complain.

A taxi took us as close as it could to our hotel, Hotel Alminar, since the road we had to go down was only wide enough for pedestrians. It is a pretty small hotel with 2 floors of rooms but there are beds for three of us and extremely nice and helpful people at the front desk. The location is also amazing. Less then a block to the main cathedral and right in the middle of the city.

Sevilla is a wonderful place! A city rich with history, and one of my favorite parts is how easily accessible everything is by just walking around. Most of it feels like a pedestrian town with horse drawn carriages for the tourists and taxis only along the roads large enough for them. The architecture and how the city was built up over the years was influenced by the Romans, Moors, then Christians each building on top on each other and what was already there. There is a Jewish quarters too with lots small winding streets because they were confined to within a small walled area.

After arriving in the hotel, we asked for recommendations from the lady at the front desk and went out to get tapas. We stopped at a place very close to our hotel that looked good. The menu had a lot of options, but we decided on ordering a three cold tapa sampler plate and 2 other small tapas. However, when Dad was trying to order in his broken Spanish (or words he thought were probably Spanish) along with me trying to make it make more sense to the waiter, we were only able to order the first thing before he walked away. Then he walked back with three plates of the cold tapas sampler so we ended up just having that for lunch and it was very good.

One-hour power nap time after we returned to the hotel since Dad hadn’t been able to any sleep and the rest of us got very little. After that we wandered around the city quite a bit finding the major shopping area, which actually had covers at the top of the buildings to provide shade. We wandered around to other parts, along the river, and then to the bull-fighting arena. It was a large circular arena like the traditional ones with an entrance for the bull fighters, an entrance for the bull, and the “prince’s entrance” which was only opened for a bull fighter one they won three trophies (such as ears or a tail) They had a tour available that we took and I really like the fact that I could listen to and understand the first part of each room in Spanish and then did not have to listen to the English part.

After that we attempted yet again to find tapas for dinner, but at the place we ended up going to, they weren’t serving tapas at that time, so we ordered and shared two half-plate servings of couscous with lamb and raisins and a chicken dish. All very good. We returned to the hotel and went to bed around ten, all very ready to just collapse.