Sevilla!! Our first weekend trip not school related at all! Sevilla was just as beautiful as it sounds. Sevilla is the third largest city in Spain, but you wouldn't get that feeling walking down it's quaint little streets. Before I really get into it, our trip had a bit of a rocky start. Friday was one of those rare Fridays where we had class (usually we only have class Monday-Thursday). We were assured by our program director, Toñi that our classes would be over by noon, so Kyra and I went ahead and bought tickets for the 1:30 bus to Sevilla. Class lasted til noon and we had to book it. We went home, packed, ran to the bus stop that would take us to the bus station. We got on the bus, met up with Laura and Maggie, two other girls on our trip, slowly drove to the bus station, and once we got to our stop, we sprinted with all our luggage to the station only to find that our bus was not there. Woo. So, the four of us bought tickets for the next bus, which would come in about 2 hours, and sat and ate our bocadillos (sandwiches) that our host moms had made for us. We were a little bummed out, but hey, we booked another bus, we have food, and each other, so we weren't going to let a missed bus get us down. We adopted a "no pasa nada" mentality, which is Spanish for "don't worry, be happy".
When we got to Sevilla, we struggled to find our hostel for a bit, but once we did, we dropped our stuff off, regrouped and went on our way. Everyone in our group went, but not all at the same time. So when we met back up with our group, we were all glad to see each other after a long trip.
Saturday was a long, but incredible day. Kyra and I started the day off by meeting up with Joi and Emily, two other girls from our trip, and grabbing breakfast at this little french bakery. After breakfast we walked to the Cathedral de Santa Maria to take a tour! It was beautiful. We ran into others from our group and toured together. We saw some pretty magnificent views from the top of the Giralda (bell tower), but I would have to say that my favorite part of the Cathedral was El Patio de Naranjos, or the patio of oranges. The sun perfectly lit up this little courtyard full of orange trees. We could not have asked for more perfect weather!
After the tour, we all split up for lunch, and the majority of the girls and I went to this little tapas place right off of the Plaza Nuevo. That's one of the things I love about Spain. Yelp is useless when you can just walk around, stumble into any tapas place, and not be disappointed in what you order. Since we were in Sevilla and Sevilla is known for sangria, we had to try it. It would be a sin not to. The sangria was lovely. Everything was! After tapas, we made sure to leave room for gelato. So, we each grabbed a cup or a cone and sat on the steps of the Cathedral to eat. We probably sat there for an hour and just talked and people-watched. This was probably my favorite part of the whole day. The sun was shining, but the temperature was perfect. Sun, friends, and gelato: what more do you need?
Now, the day could've ended right there and it would've been an awesome day, but it didn't. We all went back to our hostels or Airbnb and freshened up for the F.C. Sevilla v. S.D. Eibar fútbol game! This was my first experience with any professional soccer event. Honestly, if a soccer game was on TV, I would probably flip right on by and not think twice. But, we are in Spain! Soccer is THE sport to watch. We made our way down to the stadium a little early to find our seats and make sure we got their on time. Walking up and seeing the stadium for the first time was incredible. Not as incredible as walking up the steps and seeing Wrigley Field for the first time, but still amazing. As the game started, someone passed down some sunflower seeds and we munched on those during the game. All of us sat in a row, but in the middle of us was this sweet, old, Spanish man named Manuel. He was talking with us throughout the game and we even shared Oreos together. We discovered that he was from Sevilla and absolutely loves fútbol. At the end of game after Sevilla won, Laura and I got a pic with him and said our goodbyes.
After the game, we were all pretty hungry, so we ventured back closer to where our hostels were to grab some food. We grabbed a quick dinner and decided that most of us were too tired to do much else, so we headed back to our hostels. Those of us who were in the same hostel, hung out outside our rooms and talked for an hour or two. This is a luxury that we don't have in Cáceres, since hanging out with friends in your house is much of a concept here. If you want to hang out with friends, you go out somewhere to do so.
The next morning, we checked out of our hostel and still had a little time to explore before heading back to Cáceres. We grabbed some coffee and watched the Sevilla marathon runners pass us by. We had no idea this was going on, so it was a welcomed surprise! After refueling we walked to Plaza de España and spent a good amount of time there since it was so beautiful.
All in all, Sevilla is a beautiful city and for anyone making the trip to Spain, I would highly recommend making it one of your stops! I can't wait to go back with my parents when they come over (p.s only majorly excited to have them come).
Love you all!
Adventure Awaits,
Maddie
