Sevilla, Continuación...

We spent the most days out of our two week trip in Sevilla. Since it was Semana Santa, I knew that there would be a lot to see and that it would be harder to see everything, too. Easter is a really big deal in Andalucia, and people come from all around to see all of the processions of the incredibly ornate Virgins and of Jesus. Most of them are covered in gold and I'm sure some of them are more than 150 years old. Most of the important processions begin on Thursday night and run until Friday morning. (But there are processions every day of Semana Santa) Some of the routes last about 8 hours, and after seeing how they maneuver the floats through the itsy bitsy winding roads, I understand why. Tons of money, time, and hard work goes into the realization of this festival.

Besides that, we visited all of the amazing gardens in town, all of which are very lush and smell, like the rest of the city, AAAaammmmaaaazzzzinnng! There are orange trees planted all over because they have foliage year-round so that when the temperature rises to 100 in the summer, you can take cover under a yummy smelling tree.

One of my favorite places was the Alcazar, an old Moorish fortress/palace. I absolutely fell in love with the interior fountains, tiles, wood carvings, huge gardens....okay, well everything. We strolled around the entire grounds for about 5 hours, then it was time to eat.

Which leads me to favorite place number two: a tapas bar called Las Columnas. It took me forever to figure out where it was, even with a map (small streets that turn in every which way, and that change names every two blocks= dizzy and lost, not to mention hungry and hot) BUT it was well worth it. This place is always crazy crowded, and at lunchtime during semana santa it's insane so you gotta just get those elbows out, make a dive for the bar and yell your order as loud as you can in your best Andalusian accent. I had just as much fun ordering everything as I did eating it all. My parents had no idea what to get so I just ordered a whole bunch of stuff that my friend Maria, a Sevilla native, had recommended. First on the menu, Beer! Then some delicious "pringas", small sandwiches with shredded beef in a tomato sauce, fried eggplant with honey-sooo good!-, fried calamari, fried bacalao, patatas bravas, more beer, and round two of everything all over again. (ps sevilla has a reputation of frying lots of food, especially seafood)

This place has mostly standing room only but, luckily by the time we had gotten our first tapas, we spotted a small table in the corner open up so we hauled ass and sat down to watch the madness inside this place. When I went back to the counter for round two, the guy was staring at me like I did something wrong, but I just went ahead and ordered. When he got back with the food, he broke a smile and said "tienes unos ojos preciosos". It was so weird because he had been looking at me like he wanted to kill me! Maybe he was trying to look seductive?? All of the men that worked in this place were such characters! They were cracking jokes, dancing, singing, yelling out orders to the kitchen, filling up glasses of beer; it was like watching a play they had rehearsed all their lives, and they fit the roles perfectly. Even if the food wasn't amazing, which it was, I would have come just for the atmosphere.

Since we had rented a car for our whole stay, we spent one of the days in the town of Carmona, about 15 miles outside of Sevilla. (I posted some of the pictures in my last entry) The city has a higher elevation than the surrounding area, so it has amazing views of just about everything. It was nice to get away from the crowded streets of Sevilla for a day, and for a second I felt like I was back in Canet; small town of 15,000 where just about everyone knows each other and says hello and goodbye as they pass. I love it.

This same night, we went to go see a flamenco show at La Carboneria back in Sevilla. It's a really cool bar that has free flamenco shows almost every night, and its half-hidden on another one of the small winding streets. All I got in terms of directions from my friend was the name of the place-which isn't posted outside- and the helpful fact that at the entrance I would see a big, red, wooden door. Somehow this place was easier for me to find than Las Columnas, where we had eaten. Go figure.

We did just about every touristy thing my parents wanted to do during our stay. Since I had successfully made an effort at getting them on the Spanish schedule of life, stayed out every night until 2 or 3 am, took full advantage of every day we had, and in the end we even had time to just wander and purposely get lost. It was absolutely amazing, and I want to go back....I just don't know if ill be able to handle 100 degree weather. I don't even know what that feels like! I suppose thats why they're famous for their abanicos...

Love, Love, Love.