Maravilla en Sevilla

Gran Via, Madrid

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Gran Via, Madrid

Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:34:07 -0500

Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Sevilla metro stop in Madrid

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Sevilla metro stop in Madrid

This is one of the coolest pictures I’ve taken, and of...

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

This is one of the coolest pictures I’ve taken, and of course, it was a complete accident. Didn’t even realize it had happened until two days later.

I could just hear John Green in my head saying, “Spanish...

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:00:06 -0500

I could just hear John Green in my head saying, “Spanish babies are so badass, they ride lions!”

Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid

Reales Alcazares

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:00:06 -0500

Reales Alcazares

View of Edinburgh from the Castle

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

View of Edinburgh from the Castle

Trinity College, Dublin

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Trinity College, Dublin

Palacios Nazaries La Alhambra, Granada, España

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Palacios Nazaries

La Alhambra, Granada, España

Happy Valentine’s Day! Athough I’m obviously not in...

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:45:04 -0500

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Athough I’m obviously not in Finland, in this post I’ll be following the Finnish tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day by celebrating my friends.

I may sometimes complain about the food, or the stores, or the weather, or whatever, but without a doubt the hardest thing about study abroad has been being away from my friends. It’s been so hard to have all these wonderful experiences and not be able to share them with all of you, and it’s been equally hard having to miss out on so much time, both the happy and the sad moments in your lives.

So I’m posting this video because I listen to it quite a lot, and think of all of you, and how lucky I am to have you as friends, and how I can’t wait to see you, in just a few short months.

I love you all to pieces!

Sunset over the Cathedral

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:00:06 -0500

Sunset over the Cathedral

So true.

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 12:00:06 -0500

So true.

Me in the Palacios Nazaries La Alhambra, Granada, España

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Me in the Palacios Nazaries

La Alhambra, Granada, España

View of Granada from the Alcazaba in the Alhambra

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

View of Granada from the Alcazaba in the Alhambra

Sevilla en 40 Horas

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:35:00 -0500

Thought I’d throw up a quick note and picture for my readers who know me from my Strath Haven days, and who will undoubtedly also recognize my special guest above, none other than the phenomenal Caroline Malamut.

This past weekend, Caroline visited Sevilla with her friend, Erin, who I had never met but found to be quite encantadora. I went to pick them up at the airport on Friday night and Caroline and I ran barreling into a hug, all but screaming our heads off. It was so wonderful seeing Caroline, because I haven’t seen anyone I know from home other than my mom, for five months. It was very surreal to be sitting in a restaurant in Sevilla eating tapas and talking about Strath Haven and our friends from home and the water treatment plant. (Yes, mom, even Caroline and I talk about that jodido thing.) If anything, I’m amazed that Erin managed to listen to us for two days without going crazy.

More to the point…Caroline and Erin only had the weekend for their trip, a side excursion from their study abroad in London. So they were in Sevilla for all of 40 hours in total. They had not come with any previous plans, but were just relying on me as a guide.

I’d say I did pretty well for myself, although I will say that my experience with my dad gave me lots of valuable insights for my second experience as Guía Turística de Sevilla. After picking Caroline and Erin up at the airport, we had a traditional Spanish dinner involving Rioja (red wine), caña de lomo, manchego cheese, tortilla de patatas con salmorejo, and chicken in mustard sauce. They really liked it, which allowed me a huge sigh of relief.

Saturday turned out to be quite a marathon. We visited the Reales Alcazares (the Muslim/Christian palace and gardens), where I almost got run over by a peacock. We snacked on Cien Montaditos. We visited the Cathedral and climbed the Giralda. We looked in stores on the Calle Tetuan and Sierpes and in the Corte Ingles. We had churros and chocolate in a small bar near my house. We sat and watched the sunset by the river. We had dinner at Dos de Mayo. And then we went to a flamenco show at the Carboneria.

I spent the whole day sweating over whether they were interested in what we were doing, if they liked the food, if they were getting exhausted (because I think we walked about 6 miles that day). But they seemed to genuinely like everything and I was super happy. Not only were they enchanted by the Alcazar and the Cathedral, but they absolutely fell for the churros y chocolate and they seemed to really enjoy Dos de Mayo. To explain, Dos de Mayo is a restaurant near my house which is exquisite, and as such is almost always packed with people. Despite the constant overcrowding, the staff is super professional and efficient, and eating there really is an experience. We got there right when they were opening and there were already several groups waiting outside. As Erin observed, “You know it’s good when there are little old Spanish ladies banging on the door.” I felt proud to be able to bring them to a very good place that was definitely off the beaten path of most tourists, and was happy that they really enjoyed everything we had there (espinacas con garbanzo, pan con pata negro y salmorejo, croquetas de bacalao, solomillo a la mostaza). In fact, that night, Erin retracted something she had said to me the previous night about not eating pork. Apparently, she just hadn’t ever had pork she liked before, but then she had Spanish pork. I answed, “Si, los españoles comen muy bien.” The whole day left me echo polvo as they say here, but it was one of the best days I’ve had in Sevilla.

Sunday we only had a bit of time before they had to get on the airport bus (and we were still exhausted from Saturday), but we popped over to the Plaza de España and marvelled over it, as well as the Parque Maria Luisa and the Spanish ducks. Then we sat down for some more churros across the street from the University (and these were the best churros I’ve ever had — so the fact that they’re across the street from the University means I will aprovechar). Caroline and Erin were thanking me profusely for my tour guiding when Erin told me that, in reality, she wouldn’t have put Spain on her travel list (and if she had it would have been Barcelona — which is only kinda Spain) and that she probably wouldn’t have been in Sevilla if Caroline hadn’t wanted to visit me. But, she said, she had been pleasantly surprised by her visit — it seemed that the maravilla that is Sevilla really did enchant her, and Caroline as well. And that made me happier than any mountain of churros, or the really good salmorejo bread from Dos de Mayo, ever could.

So, all in all, the Sevilla in 40 hours tour was a success. Now I just need to find some more eager visitors, with lots of stamina and some cash to spare…

North Tower of the Plaza de España

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:07:06 -0500

North Tower of the Plaza de España

Sign outside the Burberry flagship store

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:00:06 -0500

Sign outside the Burberry flagship store

Flags atop a tower in the Alcazaba, the military fort inside the...

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Flags atop a tower in the Alcazaba, the military fort inside the Alhambra

Room in which Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet ran much of...

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Room in which Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet ran much of WWII

Part of the Cabinet War Rooms, a large underground bunker in London

Ruins of a Roman hall, used for funeral celebrations Carmona,...

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:51:05 -0500

Ruins of a Roman hall, used for funeral celebrations

Carmona, Provincia de Sevilla