La lluvia en Sevilla es una maravilla

Friday morning I woke up bright and early to get on a coach bus to Sevilla with ISA.  As we entered the city, our program director was telling us about how when they had the world fair in 1929, a pavilion was built for each Spanish speaking country.  We got to see some of them from the bus, kind of interesting looking buildings that are now used for government services, offices, schools, and other such things.  Then we got out to see the one for Spain.  It was incredible.  It is very ornate, and circles about halfway around a really pretty plaza.  What made it even better was that the weather was nice.  They were saying that it was going to be really cold this weekend, but I think they have a very different idea of what really cold is than I do.

Then we all got back on the bus and finally arrived at our hotel, which was really luxurious.  It was the same brand as the hotel we stayed at in Madrid.  We had a few hours before our next scheduled activity, and I was eager to explore this beautiful city.  One of my friends had found out that there was an art museum close to where we were staying, so we went to check it out.  I think it's a rule that art museums have to be in really gorgeous buildings.  There were pretty courtyards, and one of the galleries looked like a church it was so big and fancy.  The artwork was interesting, too, and there was a lot more of it than I had been expecting.  It was mostly religious paintings, as well as some scenes typical of Seville.  

Later we met back up with the rest of the group for our activity. They had told us that we were going to see a flamenco show, which was exciting, because Seville is the capital of flamenco.  First the bus drove us around a bit, and we saw a bridge that is famous for looking like a horse, an amusement park, and some of the structures that were set up for the world expo in 1992.  Some people said that it reminded them of EPCOT, and that Seville is the Florida of Spain.

Then we arrived at a University building.  We walked through a cafeteria and were ushered into an auditorium.  Somebody was already speaking, and I thought we were late for the performance.  But I soon realized that this had nothing to do with flamenco.  The speaker was comparing social networks in Spain to those in his home country of Norway.  Then it was the next speaker's turn.  She discussed online shopping in China.  It turned out to be some sort of intercultural forum.  When they were done, they told us that the flamenco show was going to start in five minutes, but we had to leave the auditorium so they could prepare the stage.  

When we were back in the atrium, some other people from our group asked us if we had seen the flamenco show.  Apparently they were pulled into a separate room to watch a documentary about Nicaragua.  Yeah, this whole situation was weird.  But then we finally filed back into the auditorium for the flamenco show, and it was really good.  Afterwards I went out for tapas with some friends, and then turned in early for a luxurious, relaxing night in the hotel.

The next morning after breakfast we set out on our walking tours of Sevilla.  First we went to Alcázar, which was the Muslim fortress of Sevilla.  It is comparable to the Alhambra of Granada, but I think it is even more interesting because of the mix of completely different time periods and styles of architecture.  We learned a lot of things that we already knew, but also some new things too.  

For example, in all of the courtyards there is some type of water, usually a fountain or a reflecting pond.  This was important to keep the buildings cool in the summer.  The way the water reflects the building surrounding it is really pretty, but it is also symbolic too.  It is a reminder that all of the buildings are a reflection of man. They might look really cool now, but they cannot last forever.  But the reflection of the sky in the water is a reflection of God's work, and that is eternal.  Also, the orange trees are planted on a level that is lower than the walking level.  This is because the idea is that life in paradise is so easy, you don't even need to climb up to pick fruit off of treetops.  I thought that was kind of cool.

 

 

I got really camera happy during this tour, but I am ok with that because everything was just so cool looking. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so.  There was a couple taking wedding photos here, and I took a snapshot of them, because it just looked so pretty.

 

 

Next we went to the Cathedral.  It's really big.  Almost too big.  It was actually kind of hard to orient yourself in there because it was just so massive.  But I got to see Christopher Columbus's coffin, so that was cool.  There are a lot of places that claim to have his remains, but this one actually has DNA evidence.  They don't have his whole body, though, so the other places might be right, too.

Then we climbed up to the top of the Giralda, which is the big tower.  It was a really pretty view of the city from the top, but it was kind of hard to see it, because the place was just so crowded with people, and you had to actually step up into these little alcoves in order to look out and enjoy the view.

 

After that is was lunch time.  My friends and I went to an Italian restaurant and had pizza, which was nice because I hadn't had Italian food since coming here.  The restaurant actually turned out to be part of a really fancy hotel, with pretty courtyards and terraces, and a really interesting bathroom, so we explored for a bit. At this point my friends were splitting up to go do different things, but I was being indecisive and ended up separated from everybody.  

It didn't even concern me that I was wandering around by myself in a big city I was completely unfamiliar with.  I just wanted to explore.  I stumbled upon the shopping district, which worked out well, because I had forgotten to pack something nice to wear to Los Miserables that night, so I bought a few presents for myself. 

I found my way back to the hotel with enough time to chill for a bit and get ready to go out.  My friends and I took a taxi to where the theater was and found a place to eat around there.  It was kind of funny, because none of us were really sure what it was we were ordering, but it all turned out really good.  I had a dish that was kind of like scrambled eggs with potatoes, and chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  It was yummy.

Then we walked over to the theater for Los Miserables.  ¡It was fantástico!  The performance was really amazing.  The set design was the best I had ever seen. All of the songs and everything were translated into Spanish, so that was cool to see how they did that.  I'm glad I was already familiar with the story and the music, though, because otherwise I would have been pretty lost. It is a long show, and we were all getting pretty tired by the time it ended at 1 am, but it didn't seem to drag on too long at all.  I would have gladly watched it again right away.