Sevilla (Part I)

After the numerous requests/suggestions/demands that I post on the blog, I have decided to make my Spain blogging debut detailing our first mini-vacation to Sevilla (Seville for the Americans reading the blog), Spain’s fourth largest city. The Pioners had our first bye week of the season, and the three of us booked a very cheap flight to the southern city of Sevilla, known for its tapas, flamenco dancing, bullfighting, warm weather, and festive attitude.

Our flight departed early on Friday morning, which meant we had to be up and ready to go around 5:30am. With our current sleeping patterns, I managed a solid 1 hour of sleep, and I don’t think the other guys managed much more. Paul seemed to be the most out-of-it, considering he came within inches of being hit by a bus, paid for the wrong ticket after he managed to stumble onto the bus, and neglected to take off his belt while passing through the security gate at the airport, resulting in a pat-down in which he claims he was sexually assaulted by the female security personnel. Despite these mishaps, we managed to not miss our flight, and all of us slept through the 2 hour flight to Sevilla.
Paul, looking extra chipper post pat-down

Upon our arrival, we hailed a cab and headed to the city center where our hostal was located. The weather was awesome. It was sunny, clear blue skies for as far as we could see, and 75 degrees. We dropped our bags off at the hostal, and since it was not time for check-in, we headed out for some exploring. Sheff (John) had been to Sevilla once before, so he knew his way around fairly well. We walked from our hostal to “La Cathedral”, the world’s largest Gothic church, with Christopher Columbus’ tomb, a treasury, and the Giralda Bell Tower, featuring the best views of the city. The church was absolutely enormous, really a little bit too big, practically speaking. See pics below.
Inside the Cathedral Colombus' Tomb (supposedly) being carried by 4 statues.

Views of the city from atop the Tower

After we were finished with La Cathedral, we headed back to the hostal where we met my pseudo cousin/ 3rd sister, Rachel, who teaches English outside of nearby Malaga. She decided to meet us for a day, and then continue on a trip with her friends to Extremadura. It was there we learned that “the French guy” messed up our booking, and we had to switch hostals for the night. So we schlepped our bags to the other hostal, then went out for some more exploring.

Our “exploring” consisted of one, long tapas crawl. Tapas, for those who don’t know, are small portions, like appetizers, of seafood, salads, meat-filled pastries, deep-fried morsels, and so on, served at cafes, bars, and restaurants. We managed to find more than a few crowed ones, inhabited by mainly locals, serving very good tapas and very cold beer. After bouncing around for a few hours, we headed back to the hostal for a late afternoon siesta…. More to follow…

Myself, John, Paul, and Rachel

-Andrew