Spain - Transport woes in Sevilla

In Spain, most touristy sights don't open till 9:30 or even 10:00am. Which was just as well, since it gave us a little more time to sleep in. We walked to the cathedral to take some touristy shots before heading to Plaza Nueva, where we met up with some of our hostel friends Steph and Jonathan, Eva and Bobby. The hostel had advertised a free walking tour that would commence at 11am. Either the Spanish went by Spanish time (i.e. very late) or perhaps it was a Sunday and the guide decided to take the day off, we didn't know. The walking tour never happened. In any case, our group took it upon ourselves to do some sightseeing of our own. We initially wanted to check out the Hospital de la Caridad because it closed at 12:30pm today, but walked past the Royal Alcazar (royal palace) on our way. Michaela, Sarah and I decided to hop in line to see the palace over the hospital. Due to hiccups in our travel plans, we had only half a day left in Sevilla, so we had time for just ONE tourist attraction. And c'mon, of course it had to be the palace. The palace over the hospital any day. Sevilla definitely deserves a visit of 2 or more days, but oh well,  it is what it is. Jonathan and Steph parted ways with the rest of us, while we got our tickets to see the Alcazar. Built in the 10th century for the governors of the Moorish state, it was extensively rebuilt in the 14th century under the rule of the Christian king Pedro I. The palace was elaborately decorated in the Mudejar style, which is a mix of Islamic and Christian elements, complete with colorful ceramic tiles, lush gardens, open courtyards and watery pools. We didn't regret picking this as our main sightseeing, only that we didn't have more time to stroll through the gardens on this beautiful day.

We rushed back to the hostel to collect our belongings before hopping into a taxi to head to the airport. Here, our troubles with transportation resumed. When changing our travel itinerary, all rebookings were done hastily, on websites that were fully in Spanish. Michaela and I had spent a lot of time and frustration cutting and pasting sections of the websites to Google Translate. Somewhere along the way, we had booked our flights out of Jerez, a different city one hour away, instead of Sevilla. And there was no way to change our flights as the next flight out of Jerez was two days later, and all flights out of Sevilla were booked solid. This meant we would miss at least a day or even two in Barcelona, which was to be our next destination. Us girls sat down in much defeat, typing furious on our various devices, trying to figure out the next best plan. In the end, we decided to reverse our itinerary, which was to catch a train to see Madrid first before going to Barcelona. Actually this worked out really well for me, as I eventually fly out of Barcelona anyway. But it meant changing train tickets, rebooking hostel reservations and coughing up more Euros. In any case, we were finally on our way again.

Spain - Sangrias in Sevilla

Michaela partied all night, so I woke up early this morning to visit Malaga's cathedral and tour the Carmen-Thyssen museum by myself. I got hopelessly lost trying to find my way back to the hostel but luckily I jumped into one of the museums to ask for directions, slightly embarrassed at my ineptitude with a regular old fashioned paper map.

Michaela and I met up again to leave for the Malaga airport to pick Sarah up. Even though her flight was delayed in Paris, we narrowly escaped missing our 4pm train to Sevilla, amidst high levels of stress and panic... However, it was a lovely 2hr train ride to the city of Sevilla, and in high spirits, we checked into the quaint and comfortable little hostel called the Triana Backpackers.

The Spanish have siestas between 2-5pm every afternoon. As a result, dinner time starts really late in the night. We strolled around the streets that night in search for a good place for dinner and chanced upon a pretty square surrounded by charming restaurants. We randomly picked out one for their sangria and Andalusian paella, and also had some really delicious starters - spinach, cod and oxtail croquettes and salmon salad with mango and pear.

We wanted to catch a flamenco performance but it was past midnight when we were done, so we strolled back towards our hostel. While crossing the bridge, we caught sight of a party cruise boat sailing down he river. We waited till they were under the bridge before we yelled Hola to all the guests on the boat, the sangrias definitely kicking in. The girls had some churros filled with Nutella for dessert, but I had to pass since I felt like Buddha with his big round belly. Sleeping horizontally proved to be a challenge for me that night.