Sevilla!!!

This weekend we went to sevilla, which is a small city in the south of spain. Katie went to Madrid with cea, a different group, because her parents are coming when our group goes, but me, Coley, Sam, and Grace and a lot of other people from Barca all went to sevilla. My friend Lindsay from berk is studying abroad there so I stayed with her which was so nice seeing her and meeting her friends and also not having to deal or pay for a hostel or hotel. It was nice that all of us were on the same flights there and back. When we got there I went with Sam and Grace to find their hostel, which was in a really good location near the big Cathedral. Sevilla is much smaller and more quaint than Barcelona. Barca had really big wide streets and highways with cars, taxis, and motorcycles everywhere, and sevilla had a much smaller town feel. There are orange trees on almost every street which is so cute. Apparently they are really sour to eat but are used to make marmalade. In the center of the city is where the cathedral is and there are horse and buggies that take people on tours, and it is where the main shopping is. We went to lunch at an adorable cafe with outdoor tables in Placa de San Francisco, which Lindsay and I both noticed for the name. Grace, Sam and I ordered sangria and chicken salad sandwhiches which were really good. Coley was staying with wisconsin people in a hotel, which was really far away so they had to cab to the center. After lunch we walked around the shopping area, and all of us got this really cute scarves for only 2 euros! We then went back to their hostel to check in, because I was waiting to meet up with lindsay.  It was off a cute street with so many little tapas bars and pretty cafes and restaurants. We got 2 euro beers at this place right there, which was near this pretty fountain near the cathedral which is where I was going to meet Lindsay. When she came, the four of us went inside a castel that was also right there, called Alcazar. It had beautiful architecture inside, a lot of arch ways and pillars, and sevilla is also known for the tiles and ceramic art. There is so much detail put into everything, its so fun and interesting to see. There was so many compartments and rooms, you could have spent all day there. We saw peacocks too which was cool. It was also gorgeous weather!! Sevilla is supposed to be hotter because its in the south, but barca had amazing weather this weekend too. But it was interesting after seeing all the orange trees and palm trees we kind of compared sevilla to la and barcelona to ny.  After Alcazar we walked along the river, which runs through the middle of the city and there are bridges you can walk across. One of the bridges was designed by Effiel. Lindsay lived in Triana, which was on the other side of the river, about a 15 minute walk from the cathedral. We were walking along the river and passed by a little hut that was a bar and was blasting techno music. People were all outside drinking and hanging out by the river because it was so nice out. We got mojitos and sat in the sun and tried to tan a little. We also passed by one of the original bull fighting arenas. It was painted yellow and white which was common on buildings around there. Then the 4 of us went to a churro stand, also along the river, and got the famous churros and chocolate. They have them in barca too, and they were nothing that special. The chocolate is more like hot chocolate than chocolate sauce. We met up with one of Lindsay's roommates, Nina, who is a DG at cal! She was sooo cool and I really liked getting to know her over the trip and its so nice to meet people I never knew who go to cal and I can be friends with when we go back! Then we went back to Lindsay and Nina's house. They are also doing cea, but got a really lucky and cool living situation. They live with another dg girl from cal named katie, that I have met, and then with 4 boys. They have a house mom that comes and cooks lunch and dinner for them, but doesnt live there. The house was really cute and spanish looking with tiles and a terrace on the top. The house mom told them not to have people over, so I had to be sneaky and come at times when she wasnt there. I told lindsay ide stay in the hostel but she wanted me to stay with her. I really liked all her roommates, and they are like a little family and its really nice for them. Lindsay and I went out for dinner and met up with another one of her friends Lara who I also really liked. We went tapas bar hoping! At the first place we got a potato cake thingy and each got a beer. At the second place we ordered things we didnt really know what they were, one was a fish on bread and the other were little fried cheesy fish stick things, and more beers. The third place we sat down and got sangria and then lindsay and her friend ordered chicken and calamarie, and this place wasnt really tapas, they were full ordered so it sucked because it ended up being expensive. I also by accident knocked over my glass and it shattered...ooops. After din we went back to her house and got ready and drank with her housemates in their kitchen. I really liked one of her roommates named Eli who goes to Vassar. He was such a nerdy little jew and i loved him. We all went out to their main bar area called Calle Betis, which is right along the river. Its just one bar after another. The main one they go to is called big ben. We had these shots that tasted like caramel which was cool, and this lady was walking around selling light up brings and wands and I got a ring for a euro, haha. After there we were supposed to go to another area, but somehow Lindsay and I ended up in a cab alone, and couldnt find anyone which sucked. I was exhausted from getting up so early and traveling so we ended up going home. The next morning we slept in, and when we got up their house mom was there making lunch, so I couldn’t leave! That was the only thing that sucked because I could’ve met up with my friends and done more site seeing, but I had to wait in her room while they all ate lunch. I was okay because I was still exhausted and a little sick, but kinda sucked I couldn’t go out and see more of the city in the day, but I still feel like I got a great experience there by staying with them and getting to know her friends. After me, Lindsay, Katie, Nina, Eli, Lara and their other roommate named Prentice, and their other friend Emily, walked around and went to a café on the river. We got a cheese platter and chicken nuggets for all of us and they both were so good. The beer there is called Cruz Campos and it is really good, way better than the cheap beer in Barcelona called estrella. After we walked along the river to the site that sevilla is most famous for which is Plaza de Espana. It is a huge building that curves and it so beautiful. There is a moat running along it and you can rent paddle boats, but the line was really long. A really pretty park Maria Luisa surrounds the whole square. Along the building there are tile benches for almost every city in spain, so I took a picture with the Barcelona one, which was beautiful. Im not sure what the building was or is, and Lindsay and her friends didn’t know either which is weird, but they have only been there for 2 weeks. After we walked through the shopping area and went into some cute stores, but everything there we have in barca. After I met up with Grace and Sam so Lindsay could go have dinner at their house. We hung out at their hostel and showered and then went to a bar that was having a free flamenco show! We met up with Coley, Maggie, and Alyssa. It was cool because I found the place by asking people in Spanish because it was on a small side street and I was really proud of myself for getting us there. The bar was cool because it was all locals. The flamenco show was so cool, it was this one lady dancing with one guy singing and one guy playing the guitar. It was really pretty, she made a lot of facial expressions. After I went back over to Lindsays and hung out with her and her roomates. We went to Betis again and then to an area called Alfalpha. There we went into a club and it was really fun, reminded me a lot of Barcelona. It was such a fun trip. Our flight was at 12pm the next day because everyone wanted to get back for the superbowl, which was stupid because it wasn’t on here until 12:30am!! So I had to wake up early and go across the river with all my stuff to meet up with the roomies and go to the airport. I was exhausted and ended up sleeping when we got home, which sucked because it was gorgeous out! For the superbowl we went to a bar on La Rambla called Sports Bar. We stayed for the first half but then went home.