Sevilla, Spain

I have spent the last two days, January 6^th and 7^th, in Sevilla, Spain.  So far my first impressions of Spain are so much better than Portugal.  One of the main things is probably because I know a little bit of Spanish.  That definitely helps a lot and not to mention that the food was much better!  Both nights a group of us went to the Catalina Tapas Bar because it was so good and cheap.  In Spain, tapas, or appetizers, are a big part of the culture, so a majority of the restaurants serve tapas.  At the Catalina a group of us ordered 7 different tapas to try.  We then ordered another round of our favorite dish.  It was hard to pick though because all 7 of them were amazing.  Catalina also had Alhambra, a type of beer, for very cheap that was really good.
 
Sevilla is a very old city that evolved with influences from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religions.  Because of this there are several unique features to the city.  One that seems most prominent to me is the Santa Maria Cathedral.  It took hundreds of years for the church to be completed so there are very many architectural styles in the finished design.  The cathedral is located in the center of the old city, which is right next to the old castle that the king used to live in.  This is the area of the city that seems most interesting to me.  Narrow streets and uniquely paved roads give the city of Sevilla its identity.  Also, other interesting points in the city that we visited were Plaza de Espana, Calatrava’s Bridge, and the Metro Peresol.  It only took about 15 miles to visit all of these attractions yesterday.  It was worth it though.

Our tour guide informed us that both days we spent in Sevilla were national holidays.  I believe these days were in observance of Christmas.  The tour guide we had explained that citizens of the country do not gift on the day of Christmas, and instead get them about a week later.  It was hard to tell the reason why this is because the guide was not completely clear; but, I can only assume that it is because the gifting of Christmas did not happen until after the birth of Christ.  

I am not going to say that this experience is getting any easier, because it probably never will, but I think I am slowly getting used to what is expected of me while I am on this trip.  That basically means observing and learning about culture and design constantly with every experience.  I agree that I will never have an experience like this again; however, it is going to be exhausting.  Sometimes I just need some time to completely shove architecture out of my mind and just be.  I guess there will be plenty of time for that this summer.  This is Ball State’s immersive learning at its finest.