Sevilla for the weekend!

This past weekend I went with Ingrid to Sevilla. We took a bus from granada at 6 am and arrived around 11. We drove through a bunch of small towns on the way which were cool to see (even though we slept through most of it). Unfortunately the weekend temps were below average but it was still in the 50s most of the weekend with constant sunshine!

Sunrise during the bus to sevilla

Metropol Parasol - Plaza de la Encarnacion

Friday: Right when we got to the bus station we realized that we forgot to get directions to the hostel and/or bring a map of sevilla. so it was a bit of an adventure trying to find our way to the hostel by asking around. When we finally arrived we got our room which we really liked - nice bathroom and very clean. The mattress was more comfortable than the one I sleep on in Granada every night. We went to the cathedral, climbed the giralda tower, took a nap, and went to the san slavador church. That night we went to a restaurant just down the street from the hostel and split a pizza and salad combo. Sevilla is such an international city. One table next to us was a group of 8 germans, another was 4 french people and another table was spanish. That night we met up with some people we knew and also met new friends. We went to a bar on calle betis which is one of the fun ones to be at! (along with calle alfalfa)

In Front of the Catedral

Inside the cathedral

La Giralda Tower

Saturday: We tried not to sleep the day away so we set our alarms to get up at a decent hour... Using my Rick Steve's tour book, we did a guided walking tour through part of the city.  After that we went to Plaza de Espana. It was windy but definitely warmer than the day before. We layed in the sun for awhile just relaxing in the plaza before we went back for our gourmet lunch (mcdonalds). After siesta at the hostal, we got ready for the night. On our way to dinner this guy approached us, talking in english, asking where the best bars in sevilla were. I thought he sounded like he was from germany but he claimed he was actually from spain and just used that question as an excuse to talk to us so he could practice english. That's one thing I've noticed here is that many people our are are so eager to learn english they end up 'using you' just for the experience with english. King of funny. We did get a little weirded out by the guy because he immediately asked us to come up to his apartment and have drinks (obviously we said no....).We went to a great italian restaurant on AlfAlfa plaza called la mia tana. I had a gorgonzola and pear salad. best. thing. ever. :) On our way back to the hostal guess who we ran into... again... in the exact same spot? you guessed it! This time me and Ingrid had most of our faces covered with our scarves because we were cold and he still recognized us "Same girls? same girls? hi!" it was very entertaining but we pretty much just said hi and kept walking. He had crazy eyes... Later in the night we met up with two of the guys we met the night before. We went to la cerveceria internacional (over 200 beers to choose from).

Another view of the cathedral with one of MANY horse carriages for tourists. 

Plaza de Espana

La Cerveceria Internacional

Sunday: Our bus didnt leave until 5:15 pm so we had all afternoon to continue exploring. In the morning we went to a cute cafe and sat outside in a plaza with our croissants and coffee. The we headed  to the Real Alcazar gardens for a couple hours. So beautiful! Also, there were random peacocks throughout. I decided to get a pic with one :) Afterwards we went for another gourmet lunch (Mickey Ds). We spent the rest of the afternoon walking by the river and laying in the sun. It was 60 degrees!

Cafe for breakfast

Outside of the Real Alcazar

La Real Alcazar

Los Jardines del Real Alcazar (the gardens of the royal Alcazar)

This weekend was the perfect start to my travels for the semester! This coming weekend is the start of semana blanca. (The first week long break of the two). We fly out of madrid and into prague early in the morning on saturday... my bus to madrid leaves from granada at midnight! needless to say I dont think i will be sleeping much during this break! We will be busing to vienna on tuesday and budapest on friday! I know it will be super cold but it should still be a great time!
I will be in austria during valentines day, so I guess that's better than sitting home alone single :) I am upset however that I won't be home to see the movie "the vow". I guess i'll just have to wait until it's on DVD when I get home in may!
:)