A Quick Trip to Sevilla

So, it's been a long time since I last wrote, sorry for the delay! My time here is flying by. I am so busy with school, private lessons, tennis and flamenco during the week that before I know it it's Friday, and then the weekends fly by as well.

View of Plaza de Toros from the Giralda

Two weeks ago a bunch of us English Assistants spent the weekend in Sevilla. It's such a beautiful city, and it was nice to get out of Badajoz for a little while. Over the course of the weekend we saw the tourist sites and ate some delicious tapas. We went to the cathedral and climbed the Giralda, the bell tour of the cathedral. It was a beautiful day and there was a great view of the city in all directions.




        
We also visited the Real Alcazar. I had been there before with the Bucknell en Espana program when I studied abroad, but I had forgotten how amazing the Moorish architecture is. It's almost impossible to believe that people were able to create such intricate and detailed designs hundreds of years ago. There are extensive gardens full of fountains, flowers and ponds. Can you imagine living in a place like that?




We also found some delicious food in Sevilla. We ate at an amazing tapas bar that one of my friends knew of from previous trips there. It's not very often that you have to wait for a table in Spain (at least not that I have experienced) and this restaurant had a 40 minute wait list. Everyone put their name on a list, then waited in the street with drinks until there was space. The food was certainly worth the wait!

Then, one night our hostel served Moroccan food, which was also delicious. As much as I love Spanish food, it was nice to have some international flavors for a change. There are much more opportunities to find international food in Sevilla than in Badajoz, but still most places serve tradition Spanish tapas. The one thing that I am finding hard to get used to is that all of the restaurants in Badajoz have almost the same menu, with some variation of ham, cheese, croquettas, tortilla and bocadillos. There isn't much variety from place to place, except for the handful of international restaurants.  I recently tried the sushi in Badajoz, which I was a little nervous about, but turned out to be quite good. There is also a couple Italian/pizza, Chinese and Portugese restaurants around to be tried. Good thing I've got seven six more months to figure out all of the food options!