Seville, Espana

Hola! So things in Spain are small. Well, I don't know about the entirety of Spain, but at least Seville, which lies in the heart of the Andalucia region of southern Spain. Specifically, the drinks (especially beer), the food (tapas), the roads, the people, the cars, and probably a lot more things. Many of you question my ability to travel to such foreign places on my own. I have to admit it's both nice and boring at the same time. I can do what I want, when I want, and at any time. I can see what I want to see and only I live the consequences if I make a bad choice. With all of that said, I let myself do a lot of relaxing this trip...something I don't usually let myself do. I spent some time sitting in the park reading a book or sitting at a coffee shop writing in my journal. That's right, I have an actual journal outside of my blog where I keep things that all of you can't read. During this trip I wrote about some of my experiences and I'm going to give you some excerpts of those entries in this blog, so it may be a little different than previous blogs. Oh, and I'm sorry for the length.

Pics Here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/SevilleSpain#

I arrived late on Friday night after heading straight to Stansted airport from work. Stansted is a huge hub for the budget airlines, but it's a major pain to get to and get back from. After catching the bus into town, and another bus to my hostel, I randomly walked around trying to get my bearings straight. I figured the printed map I had would get me to the right spot, but I had to ask two taxi drivers for directions before I finally made my way to the hostel. The hostel itself was very nice and I was in a room with 7 others. There was a bar on the street level and a outdoor terrace on the top with a kitchen. They also have nightly optional activities which I took part in the following nights. I unloaded my pack and decided to go for a walk around the area before heading to bed.

The next day my frustration with the city continued. I had thought about trying to do a walking tour that started at 10:30am, but got to the meeting place late because I was pretty much lost the hour prior. The streets of Seville are like a hamster on crack. If you got the hamster high and put it on a large piece of paper with a marker attached to it's tail and let it free, you would have a mess. If you then gave the piece of paper to a city planner and said "I want a city that looks like this," you would have Seville. To be fair, you would probably have a lot of European cities, but Seville is the craziest I have experienced. The streets, mostly made of cobblestone or large bricks, are only wide enough for the smallest of vehicles. One road seems like it may go north, west, south, and east all before you get to the next intersection. The sidewalks, if any, are about a yard wide. Although I got the hang of things after a while, to be completely efficient you have to have a map out at all times with your finger wherever you are. In my opinion, a lot of these roads "wouldn't count" on a normal map - they are far too small and insignificant in the scheme of things. However, I eventually changed my mind. It is fascinating that it's possible to get from point A to point B about 8 different ways, each taking the same amount of time. Every road has it's own characteristic and a number of shops, cafes and restaurants that you could so easily miss if you picked another. One minute you might be on your own on a darker street that actually never sees sunlight on the road, lined with doors that surely lead to people's flats. The next minute you are dodging tables and chairs from a tapas bar, smelling the fresh aroma of one of the orange trees that line many streets, or snapping pics of one of the dozens and dozens of churches scattered throughout the city. And then there are the places invisible to the passerby that are the heart of the city, places like the Flamenco bar that you will read about later.

After missing the walking tour, I decided to explore the city's sights on my own. The first stop was the Caterdral y Giralda, which is the Cathedral and the Giralda tower. The Seville cathedral is the third largest in the world, just behind St. Peters in Rome and St. Pauls in London. It's style, however, is very different. Built in the 12th century, it was built by the Morrish Almohad rulers and is apparently very similar to architecture in Morroco. The Giralda tower, connected to the cathedral, is a huge tower taller than any other building in town. The views from the top were excellent! I continued exploring the area, finding a lot of things by accident while lost, and ended up at a tapas bar for lunch in the Barrio de Santa Cruz area of town. This was my first dining experience in Spain and I was a bit nervous about it. I ended up ordering a tapas sized Paella and a baguette sandwich with roast pork and a spicy sauce. It was excellent! On a full stomach I decided to head toward the river and the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, which is the famous bullring in town. The fighting season ended in September and they offer tours of the bullring which is widely known as the finest in the world. The tour guide told us how the fights work and explained many items found in the museum as well. I really enjoyed the bullring and thought it was beautiful. The sand was finely manicured and the building so simple. I was a little bummed we had to stay with the tour guide and couldn't explore more on our own. I also spent a large portion of the afternoon at Plaza de Espana and Parque de Maria Luisa. The park of Maria Luisa was an outstanding escape in the middle of the city filled with huge trees, towering palm trees, and open lawns and fountains. I read in the grass for a while and finally headed back to the hostel before dusk. The hostel was about a 10 minutes walk to the river which had a pathway that followed it's length. I decided to go for a run and it was an excellent choice. The temperature was perfect and the sun was setting. A great way to start a long night.

Since it was Saturday, the busiest night in the hostel, one of the workers led a tapas and Flamenco tour for anyone who wanted to join. Our first stop was a traditional tapas bar where we all ordered tons of food and enjoyed some fine Spanish cerveca. There were about 12 of us in the group, most all of us from either the US or Australia. I ordered breaded eggplant with a queso sauce and chorizo sausage on bread. We then followed our host to a local Flamenco bar.

Flamenco originates in Andalucia, and Seville is known as the heart of this awesome tradition. The bar itself was on a quiet, lonely street. We stopped outside a double door; the building was non-descript and there was no sign of anything worthwhile around. It was just like any other set of doors on any other building on any other street. After telling us the "rules," he opened the door and we entered. To our astonishment we entered a room greeted by a small, burning fireplace. The walls were white stucco and the ceilings very high. As we walked through the white room framed by exposed wooden beams, we saw that it opened into another room in the back. This room was lined with rows of tables and benches. A small, almost hidden stage sat against the front wall, and was only raised a foot or two. A long bar was against another wall and bartenders were busy mixing drinks, pouring cerveca and making sangria while flipping ice cubes in the air with tongs. Clay pots hung from the ceiling filled with greenery. We grabbed one of the last tables in the corner and got some drinks. I decided I had to try some real Spanish Sangria, which is red wine mixed with fruit and lemonade. Since the drink sizes are small, I decided to order an entire jug. When he gave it to me, he asked how many glasses I wanted with it. I looked surprised, grabbed a straw sitting on the bar, and put it in the jug. He looked completely shocked but smiled and took my money. Fortunately I wasn't the only one in our group that did the same, but we were probably the only one in the entire bar that did.

The show was absolutely incredible. Flamenco is more than an art. The beginning of the show starts with music; usually flute, then guitar and finally singing - each getting their chance to have priority. It sounds as if there is a method and plan behind the whole thing, but I'm not sure how much there really is. Either way, they are amazing improvisers or talented musicians able to keep a raw and genuine sound. As the rhythm increases and the music becomes more intense, the clapping and stomping play a larger role in the sound. The singers voice is gentle, yet loud and powerful. When the show started the crowd fell silent, yet the singers voice could pierce through all of them. Eventually the dancer stands, her elaborate dress falling to the floor. She starts slow, clapping and tapping to the beat. She uses her entire body to clap - chest, stomach, thighs - and is able to stomp and tap while keeping composure. The show isn't just about the dance. It's about contributing to the music in different ways. It's about keeping in beat. Most important it's about an invisible line of communication between all performers. Each musician playing as one to achieve Flamenco. The music becomes more intense and the dancing more involved. She twirls, jumps and taps amazingly fast. All while keeping a steady upper body, moving her arms and floating around the stage. Her hair whips around with her dress and her face glows with sweat. The music only pauses for short periods of time - long enough for the audience to clap - and then fall silent again. The show ends on a high, the dancer using the entire stage moving her feet incredibly. Not knowing whether to focus on her or the music it stops and it's over. After a short intermission, the same group comes back and does it again. The dancer in a new dress and this time with a Spanish hand fan. For over an hour you are literally engulfed by Spanish culture. Moving your head and tapping your feet with the beat without even noticing.

On Sunday I decided to take a bus to a small white village in the mountains about 2 hours southeast. The mountain countryside is filled with small white villages and Rondo is one of the more well known villages. The village sits atop a huge cliff that is severed by a deep gorge cutting the town in half. An incredible old bridge, Puente Nuevo, crosses the gorge at it's highest point creating a dramatic sight, especially from below. I explored the streets of Rondo and eventually took a short hike to the bottom of the gorge for an excellent view of the bridge. I also visited Plaza de Toros, the bullring which is recognized as one of the oldest and most monumental in the world. This bullring was great because you were able to roam freely inside, including on the sand itself! Eventually I decided I needed some lunch, so I stopped in a small shop that sold meats, cheeses and breads. I noticed that throughout Italy and Spain they sell whole boar's legs that are smoked or dried or something. So I decided that it was time to try some. I went into the shop and saw one hoisted on the counter, so I asked the shopkeeper for some. He cut the skin off of a portion of the leg and tossed it in the trash. Then he started cutting thin slices of meat off of the leg. At one point a fly landed on the meat that he smashed with his knife and then continued to cut meat from the leg. I also got some cheese and bread and headed to the large park that sits atop the edge of the cliff in town. Randomly, there was a helicopter show going on with 5 helicopters doing tricks that it seemed like helicopters shouldn't do. It was really cool because we were on top of a huge cliff so the helicopters were literally at eye level.

Sunday night was Paella night in the hostel and it was excellent! I talked with some people in the bar as we ate and then I went to the Flamenco bar again, joined by the two guys that live down the road from me in London. It was another excellent show and I managed to get us there and back with only a couple wrong turns. I decided to stay in Seville on Monday and explore all of the stores and shops and chill in the park. I spent a lot of time walking around visiting tons of shops and plazas. I also read in the park and even stopped at Starbucks for some chai. I felt like I owed them some patronage since I had used their bathrooms all weekend without buying anything. Finally I stopped for one last tapas dinner and enjoyed 3 wonderful dishes and some churros! I eventually made my way back to the airport and got my late flight back to London, getting back to my flat at 2am.

Despite my original hesitation, I really ended up liking Seville. It made me think that sometimes you just need to spend some time in a place getting used to how things work. You have to be ok with stepping out of your comfort zone, especially if you're by yourself, and take some chances. For all of you that are jealous of my adventures (which I often hear), you really should think about doing your own. For some reason, us Americans forget about the huge continent of South America that is so close. Looking back, I'm completely shocked that I've never been anywhere but Mexico and can't wait to explore South America more whenever I return. If anything, let me motivate you to do the same!