Many Little Trips

Since arriving in Sevilla, I've been to all sorts of historical sites (so many that they are beginning to look blend together). So, here is a brief compilation of these places, all of them very old. If you have any interest in more information than I will provide, I recommend Wikipedia.

Itálica. The first ancient Roman city in Spain. Game of Thrones (a very popular American TV series, that I've never seen) was filmed here. There is a massive amphitheater, one of biggest of the Roman empire, where gladiators used to do their thing. It was cool, and I would have liked more time to explore.

Real Alcazar de Sevilla. This is the royal palace that has changed hands over the centuries, and to this day includes architecture and design elements from both Muslim and Christian rule. So much tile work, and all in various period-specific styles, as the palace was continually expanded and redecorated. Very, very beautiful and unlike anything I'd ever seen; I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. The royal gardens behind the palace are massive and full of cool plants and peacocks, and it would make a lovely picnic ground except for the fact that you have to pay to enter. Fun fact: this is the oldest royal palace in Europe that is still in use. And Game of Thrones was also filmed here.

Catedral y Giralda. The Cathedral is the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world (do I know what Gothic means? Not entirely sure, but I think it's a style of decoration). It was built in the location of a mosque that was destroyed, but for the Giralda, the super tall tower. 

**Side note: that's how all the churches work here - they were built on top of mosques. Which were sometimes built on top of old churches. And one time we saw one that was a church built on a mosque built on a church built on a mosque.** 

The cathedral was very pretty, and even housed the remains of the lower half of Christopher Columbus' body. The Giralda is a tower that contains 34 ramps that wrap around in a square, and reaches a height of 17 stories; for centuries it was the tallest tower in ofSpain. We were quite sweaty by the time we reached the top, but the views of all of Sevilla from the bell tower were so cool.

Plaza de España. A really cool, massive plaza built for the 1929 Iberoamerican Exposition (not sure what that was about). It's a half circle, has a fountain in the middle, and even has a little river with rental row boats. It's beautifully decorated, with tiled alcoves representing each province of Spain. The buildings are now used for the government, I think. I visited with a friend, and unfortunately there are no signs providing any information at all.

Teatro Romano de Cádiz. When my friends and I spent the day in Cádiz, a beach town a few hours from Sevilla, we stumbled upon a Roman theater that was under excavation. We saw a sign announcing emergency works at the Roman theater, and were so confused as to where the ancient theater was and why it was an emergency, but later realized that the ruins were right next to us and that the emergency was to prevent the collapse of the buildings that been constructed on top of the ruins.

Catedral de Cádiz. Another cathedral. This one had a crypt, which was very humid and a bit eerie. Also the most recent burial in the crypt was from 2013. And we climbed the very tall bell tower.

Random Arab castle. Our program took us on a day trip to a park for hiking, and we stopped at an Arab castle on a hill, serving as fortification. I was a touch underwhelmed, and am still not sure where we were.

Ruinas Romanas de Mérida. Our program brought us on an overnight trip this weekend, and our first stop was to see Roman ruins in Merida. We saw the amphitheater and the theater. The amphitheater was smaller than Itálica (see above) and the theater was larger than Cádiz (also above), though this theater has been restored and is currently a functional outdoor theater. Game of Thrones might have been filmed here. We also visited the national museum of Roman ruins, where we learned that the statues don't have heads so that the Roman empire could easily swap new marble heads onto toga-clad marble bodies whenever  the king changed.

Ciudad vieja de Cáceres. Also this weekend, we went to the medieval city in Cáceres. It was really old and pretty, and full of massive palaces and churches and such. What somewhat affected the medieval mood was the fake Oktoberfest celebration that was occurring in the main plaza of the historic city center, full of beer and music. Also, lots of towers on the palaces were flat on top, because some queen would chop the tops off the towers of the families that were disloyal to the king. Very cool space though, really liked it. Game of Thrones was filmed here (you may be noticing a trend).

Trujillo. Our last stop this weekend was in the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro (the conqueror of Peru - yikes!). We walked around, saw his father's house, and also saw a convent that is completely closed off to the world. The monks (and maybe nuns, too?) make candies in the convent, and then people ring the bell and speak through the wall, and the monks place candies on a revolving shelf to sell them. We also visited a very cool Arab fortification castle on the hill overlooking the whole surrounding area. The views were great, and the walk on top of the castle walls was fun. We even went down into the old well area, where the water now appears to be quite stagnant. And yep, Game of Thrones was filmed in this castle.

So there's my not-so-short, but fairly vague summary. Lots of trips, lots of history. I'm starting to think that maybe I should watch Game of Thrones.

History and jogging (and ice cream)

My mom told me that I should write a blog post about trying to buy train tickets for a day at the beach. And while I don't think I'm going to write an entire post about it, here's a somewhat shortened version of the story. My friends and I spent an extended period of time looking into the best way to get to Cadiz, for a day trip to a cool beach city, and ultimately decided that we'd take the train. After class we tried buying tickets through the national train website, but the site wasn't working. So we each downloaded a third party ticket app and bought our train tickets. We then found out that if we purchased our tickets through the train company directly, we could save 20%, so we cancelled our original tickets. We also wanted to make sure we could sit together, so I spent the next two hours on both my computer and my phone trying to purchase these four train tickets, with sites crashing left and right, oftentimes when I entered my credit card information. It was a bit stressful. Finally, I gave up and walked the 35 minutes to the train station, stood in line for 10 minutes, and after two minutes at the counter, had all four of our tickets in my hand. I later looked up information about the train website and found out that in general no one is able to successfully purchase train tickets. Moral of the story: walk to the train station, buy tickets.

In other news, classes are happening and life is happening. I've eaten more ice cream in the last week than I have in months, purely because it's  literally anywhere and everywhere. And it's delicious; flavors thus far have included almond, kinder bueno, coffee, hazelnut, and chocolate mousse.

A pretty typical plaza, that just seems to announce "history."

I am quickly realizing how little I knew and understood about Europe before coming here, in the sense that I really know nothing about the history or politics of any piece of the continent. More than anything, I'm learning that history is on every corner; Spanish culture has so many centuries on the United States, and I'm starting to see what that looks like. Many buildings in the city center (where I live) have big plaques, announcing whichever historically famous person died in that building. This weekend at the beach in Cadiz we came upon an ancient Roman theater that is currently being excavated from under more contemporary construction. In a different town, before beginning a hike, our program brought us to a random Arab fortification castle on a hill. Last week I visited the royal palaces, and was blown away by the beauty of the tiled decoration that represented centuries of varied artistic style. Also in Cadiz, we visited the cathedral and its crypt, and walked to another random castle. Oh, and many of the streets here are still cobblestone. So basically there is a lot to take in. Maybe I'll write a blog post soon about all the little trips that I've done to places around Sevilla.

In terms of more current events, this morning Gillian, my wonderful roommate, and I found massive potted trees on the commercial pedestrian street that we walk on our way to school each day. This street is located in the city center, and is extremely popular among both tourists and locals; it's also a few blocks from where we live. The concrete-potted plants were spaced at intervals along the middle of the road. Gillian pointed out to me that perhaps they have been installed as obstacles against terrorism, and I think she's right.

The river, after my run. (Path sort of visible along the water.)

The weather is starting to cool down now (80s during the day). Since arriving here, I've been going on runs in the evening along the Guadalquivir river, and the cooler weather has made it unbelievably more bearable than it was last week. I'm much less smothered by the heat. Cooler weather also means more people on the beautiful pedestrian path that runs along the river bank. So though my runs have become easier climate-wise, they now consist of dodging bicyclists, walkers, families, joggers, dogs, dog poop, and random children. It keeps me on my toes.


P.S. Gillian and I discovered the "Gourmet Experience" floor of the biggest department store in town, and were amazed to find a product labeled "Minnesota maple-flavored syrup." It left us puzzled.

Beautiful! Hot!

I've spent the past six days attempting to relocate my Spanish, while sweating my way around Sevilla. While much of my Spanish is coming back, it can't yet compare with the fast-paced, heavily accented Andalusian Spanish that surrounds me. After being politely called out by a 17-year-old Spanish boy seated next to me on my first flight to Madrid, I've stopped saying mande? the Mexican slang used to ask someone to repeat something missed, and instead I have become quite okay with only understanding key points of conversations with Spaniards. All said, it's quite lovely to be speaking Spanish once again.

I tend to travel without many expectations of a place, and as such, am generally at least pleasantly surprised by whatever I may find. Sevilla is absolutely beautiful, to an extent that (having never really traveled in Europe) I could not have imagined. I live in the city center where the streets twist and turn, because, as I understand it, the Arab architects built tiny streets and close buildings to maximize shade in the Mediterranean heat. This means that no street goes in the direction that I anticipate, and I constantly end up in new places. I wouldn't say that I feel lost, but I also wouldn't say that I know where I'm going. 

Cafes and tapas bars line every street, and ice cream is sold on every block. I've been doing quite a bit of wandering and window shopping, and I love being able to explore this new city. It's hot, though, like Honduras hot with constant sweat, and temperatures in the 90s or 100s. The only fix has been the siesta time in the afternoon, during the hottest part of each day, when people rest at home for a few hours. One afternoon we had a class at 5pm (people usually don't leave their houses again until 5pm at the earliest,) and no one realized that the air conditioning in the classroom wasn't turned on; I thought I was going to faint. Other than that the heat is manageable and I definitely prefer extreme heat to extreme cold, so it's working out alright.

So far things feel good. I walked 15 miles yesterday, just exploring different parts of the city. Upon my return home for lunch, a wedding across from our apartment was just concluding, and the bride and groom emerged from the church to cheers and rose petals thrown by exquisitely dressed Spaniards. I'm trying to take it all in and get a sense of this place, and with all the walking I'm discovering sore muscles that I didn't know existed. I feel so lucky to spend the next few months here.

When my friends from home message me to ask about Spain, I've taken to responding simply: Beautiful! Hot! because I don't think I can yet express this city in any other way.