I Left My Heart in Seville (or Sevilla as they say in Spain)

The loveliness of Paris
Seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome
Is of another day
I've been terribly alone
And forgotten in Manhattan
I'm going home to my city in Andalusia

I left my heart in Seville
Surrounded by orange tree-lined streets, it calls to me. 
To be where the Giralda and Alcazar
Climb halfway to the stars! 
The morning fog may chill the air 
but "Sevillanos" are so nice and truly care! 
My love waits there in Seville 
Above the turquoise blue Guadalquivir river
When I come home to you, Seville,
Your golden sun will shine for me!

As you can tell from the lyrics of this song (from "I Left My heart in San Francisco"), I left my heart in Seville (located in Southern Spain) this past weekend. I absolutely fell in love with the ambiance, weather, culture, and history. It's an absolute gem and I am so happy I got the chance to explore it during my time here in Spain. 

Since I'm getting so bad with my posts ( I promise the other two are half way done! I've just been so busy with school, traveling and my internship, I'm short on time!) , I'm going to do little day summaries for you all and include more pictures. 

FRIDAY

I arrived early in the morning with my friend Jessica (from Wake Forest) and her friend Laurel (who is studying abroad in London). We took a taxi to the center, checked in to our hostel,signed up for the free Sunset tour and got lunch at a local restaurant. In the meantime, we explored the local neighborhood and met up with Jessica's other friend Carolyn (who is studying abroad in Madrid,Spain). We tried to do the cathedral first, but ended up at Plaza Espanya (which may look familiar to those movie fans out there...apparently this plaza has been featured in movies like Star Wars, Lawrence of Arabia, and Borat). Isn't it beautiful? It's an absolute masterpiece in person. 

Jess and I at Placa Espana!

Horse carriage in Placa Espana

Some tourists out for a boat ride in Placa Espana.

Placa Espana

Afterwards we headed back to the hostel for our afternoon tour with a dutch, 6'7, and merry tourguide named Gerome from Pancho Tours He gave us all kinds of interesting historical tidbits on various sites. We honestly visited so many places I can't possibly do in depth descriptions of every site but we visited the following: Cathedral, Alcazar, Barrio S.ta Cruz (Jewish Quarter), Alfalfa, El Salvador, and Plaza Nueva. We essentially got lost in the maze of the Old City. We didn't go into the sites, just stood outside and got some history on them and tips for when to go free/for a reduced price. Here are some photos from my 3 hour tour. 

Beautiful Seville

Restaurant in Seville

Restaurant in Seville (surrounded by orange trees!)

View of the Giralda

Jess and I near the Giralda and its fountain

Gorgeous architecture and orange trees in Seville

How could I NOT include this little, well rather big, guy in this post??! He's so CUTE!

Another placa in Seville

Typical Sevillano architecture

After our tour, Jess, Carolyn, Laurel, and I checked out the views from what the call the ¨"Mushroom". It was INCREDIBLE and such a great way to kick off our weekend in Seville. 

Absolutely gorgeous view from the "Mushroom"

I like this picture because you can see the mushroom structure on the left.

Picture of Mushroom structure (how cool is it?! fabulous architect!)

The Evening sky in Seville

Then, we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant. It was so cheap, compared to Barcelona that is. For 6.50 Euros, I got a fried egg (which i now like surprisingly), salad, grilled chicken, and patatas (Spanish potatoes with yummy sauce). We went back to the hostel and just hung out in the lobby area till we were ready for bed. I had trouble sleeping this entire weekend because I wasn´t sure whether or not I was going to Cordoba by myself or with someone and I´ve come to realize I have no faith in myself when it comes to traveling solo (even if I speak the language!). So I didn´t sleep too well Friday night. 


SATURDAY
I had planned on going to Cordoba, Spain (about 45 minutes by train from Seville) to visit the Mezquita on Saturday but when I found out Carolyn was planning on going Sunday on the way back to Madrid, I decided to join her. So, I stayed with the group most of today doing the morning tour of Seville (we´d done the afternoon tour the day before). Although we walked a tremendous amount and experienced history/information overload, it was certainly worthwhile to do the tour - it helped me orient myself and explore other parts of the city that I would have otherwise not seen. Here are some shots from my walking tour. 


Our tour ended later than expected, but our tour guide suggested we join him for lunch at a local tapas/flamenco place. So, for 7 euros, we had a decent lunch. The reason I say decent is because it included 2 plates, a drink, and coffee/tea for dessert. The first plate I ordered, tabbouleh, was pretty good. But the second plate...not so much. I ordered a crepe with cheese, spinach, and chicken. What did I get you may ask? I got a crepe with CHEESE, a few spinach leaves and shreds of chicken. I took two bites and pushed it away from me...I wasn´t going to eat something that I knew would give me an upset stomach. The waiter came by and kindly asked if I wanted another dish since I didn´t like it and he brought me some tortilla espanola (or Spanish omelet). It was okay, but I still prefer Mena´s tortilla espanola! It´s WAYY better and fluffier. I have the recipe now so I´ll be posting that soon,too. 


Our lunch ended at 3:30 and most of the sites closed at 5 pm, so we quickly paid for our lunch and went to visit the Cathedral. We all managed to get in for the student price of 2 euros, except for me who had to pay 8 euros. I had my passport with me and was trying to clearly show convince the admission lady that my visa is a student visa and is valid as student ID because the only criteria on the sign was students must be under 25, but since I didn´t have an official student ID, she would only let me in if I pay full price. Oh well. I got some spectacular views from the top of the Cathedral. Check it out!

View of the Cathedral

View from the top!

View from the top 2

View from the top 3

Beautiful interior

And of course you can't forget the  magnificent organs!

And gold altar...

Another angle from the interior

Aww love this Santa Clara girlies picture: Jessica, Alysse and I outside the Cathedral in the courtyard of orange trees

Aww this one's really cute too: Bonnie and I in the orange tree courtyard. Don't we look related in this picture?!

It was 5 pm and the others (Alysse, Bonnie, Bianca, Mike, and Jessica) had not seen the Jewish Quarter (Since i got in early the day before and managed to do the afternoon tour). So, I was tourguide Alexis for the day and showed them around the area and managed to do quite well considering it was only my second time through these cobbled stone streets. I also took them to the mushroom place from the night before so they could take in the views at Sunset. Meanwhile, I window-shopped and relished in the atmosphere and ambiance of Seville.

Seville at sunset

Another view of Seville at Sunset

Seville at night

Seville at night 2

Seville at night 3

Terrace restaurants in Seville

STUNNING fountain

We headed back to the hostel, rested for a bit, then I had tapas with Alysse, Jessica, and Carolyn at the same place we had lunch earlier that day. The tapas were pretty decent but I think eating so late messed up my sleeping schedule because I was too awake/energized from the meal to fall asleep. Once again, I slept like 4 or 5 hours. 


SUNDAY
I woke up not feeling very rested but nervous about doing Cordoba by myself. I´ve been traveling with friends most weekends but I´ve never traveled by myself before. Well, I mean I have, I´ve been to England solo, but airports aren´t that tricky to navigate. But new cities and public transit? yikes! 


My stomach was also feeling upset from the butterflies, dehydration, and lack of eating fruit all weekend. All the other girls in the group had bought their return ticket to Barcelona Sunday morning, so they left early. So, it was just me and Mike and we both wanted to tour the Alcazar ( a royal palace, formerly a Moorish fort). We managed to tour it in about an hour and a half, split the price of the audio guide tour, and thoroughly enjoyed the visit. We both agreed it was completely worth the extra cost of the return flight home. Check out pictures below (it was just as breathtaking as Granada..if not more I believe!)

Me at the Real Alcazar in Seville (or Royal Palace)

Me at the Alcazar

**I'm druling** Beautiful islamic architecture

Check out that roof mimicking the night sky in Seville!

Gardens

More gorgeous architecture

I'll let you think of a caption for this one :)

And this one...

Me at the "Jardines" of the Alcazar

There's peacocks, too!

Gorgeous. period.

Ahh, more beautiful garden shots!

Afterwards, Mike went to complete his agenda and I headed off to the train station to see if I could buy a ticket. I can't even tell you how nervous I was ...all I kept thinking about was "what if I get lost, what if I lose my return ticket, what if I miss the bus, what if i miss my flight, etc" all these "what ifs!", and if finally hit me how ironic it is that I have absolutely no fear of public speaking..but I'm scared to death of small, insignificant and hypothetical things. Then again, that's the whole point of studying abroad isn't? It's about being out of your comfort zone and doing things you don't normally do....and appreciating those experiences for the learning *and maturing!) opportunities they provide you. Anyways, so I managed to buy a ticket at 12:15 pm for a 12:35 pm departure. I managed to find my train and comfortably settled in. This was my 2nd time taking the AVE (the first was on the way to Toledo from Madrid...again, that post is coming this weekend!!!!so look out for it!), and i absolutely LOVE the train in Spain. It's super quiet, prompt (unlike other forms of transportation in Spain...they run on Spanish time, aka, always running late), clean, efficient, and just such a nice change from airplanes. I arrived to Cordoba at 2 pm and met up with Jess's friend, Carolyn (the one studying abroad in Madrid), and we toured the Mezquita together. The Mezquita (or "Mosque" in Spanish) is the official Cathedral of Cordoba, but it was built by Islamic architects and has a tremendous amount of history that goes with it. In fact, I read in a guidebook that it was the inspiration for the Alhambra in Granada, and then the Alcazar in Seville. It was absolutely stunning... I was lost for words while touring it with Carolyn. We split the cost of the audio guide and relished in the beautiful architecture, fascinating history, and overall ambiance in the Mezquita. Apparently, it's one of the top 10 sights in Spain according to DK Eyewitness. Do I agree? ABSOLUTELY! Check it out for yourself.

The Mezquita

The Interior

Interior

Interior

Such beautiful architecture...lots of themes relating to nature

I love this architecture

makes you feel like the roof is "floating" doesn't it?

Byzantine altar

Too stunning for words...

Me smiling from ear to ear that I got to see la Mezquita!!!

Catholic altar

Carolyn (Jess's friend) and I at the Alcazar

Me in the orange tree courtyard outside La Mezquita

I left the Mezquita promptly at 3:30 pm, took a bus to the train station, grabbed some lunch, and took the train back to Seville (about an hour and 20 minute ride). I then waited for a bus to the airport (but that was running late... or should I say on Spanish time), so to avoid losing a flight, I paid for a taxi to take me there in 10 minutes. I arrived to my flight an hour before leaving, chatted with my mom on the phone before i left (she called me just as I was lining up to board), and I stepped in to Isabel's apartment at 11 pm. It had been a super long, but extremely productive day. I couldn't help but give myself a little pat on the back for sticking to my plans and agenda (Mike said, "Oh I bet you're not going to do the Mezquita!" HAHA! In fact, when someone tells me I can't do it, it motivates me even MORE just to prove to them that I can), staying on time, and touring Spain solo.

 I hope this post gave you a "taste" of Southern Spain. But, i'm afraid that since I left my heart in Seville, I have to go back and reclaim it. Anyone up for a trip to Seville? Haha! Have a wonderful day everyone and thanks for reading :)