One Long Day in Sevilla (Feb 7)

Andrew had an interesting night on the train with the worst roommates ever! They were 2 old guys, one who turned the light on in the middle of the night to look at his watch! Hello!! Then, early in the morning before the conductor came around to wake people up, he again turned the overhead light on, got up, folded up his bed and sat in the chair waiting to arrive. It was clear to Andrew there would be no more sleeping!!!

When we arrived in Sevilla, we had a hard time navigating the city. We did as we always do, and our first stop was the tourist information booth for a map. This map had no compass rose, and we finally found our room when we realized that the top of the map pointed West, not North! Who puts West at the top of the map??

We settled in and headed out to the bullfighting ring and museum. For 4 Euros, we got a guided tour from a guide who spoke Spanish, English, French, and was able to communicate with people who spoke Italian. All this for a tourist group of 6 people! At this ring, only 3 matadors have been killed, and when they are, the bull and it's mother are killed out of superstition.

Next we went to Santa Maria de la Sede, the third largest cathedral in Europe and the largest Gothic cathedral in the world! Amazing! It has the largest cedar altarpiece ever made, of course, coated in gold. It tells the story of the entire New Testament. Another reason this cathedral is well known is that it houses whatever is left of Christopher Columbus (after being shipped around the world). We had a great tour guide here, and we climbed the Giralda tower- no stairs, just winding ramps so they could ride a horse to the top to ring the bells. This is a must see if you are ever in Sevilla!

That night we went to Flamenco Los Gallos. Each song/dance was about 15 min long and each had different dancers and musicians. The Flamenco started very calm and built to something loud with stomping and clapping and strong, sharp movements. We had a great time! then returned home and climbed into bed.