Bienvenidos a Sevilla

I have embarked on my month long trip of reunions, otherwise known as TWENTYTWELVE. It's a vacation I've been dreaming of for over a year now, taking me first through Spain, followed by a jaunt in Uganda, and finishing in my favorite country and second home, Kenya.

The first few days have been spent in Sevilla, capital of Andalucia, a large town in the south of Spain about 37 miles from the coast. It's absolutely gorgeous here, even in the hottest month of year. All the Spaniards leave in August to go to the beach or on vacation somewhere a little less like the surface of the sun. But I love that there aren't huge crowds everywhere, and it's perfect for walking around and eating ice cream, of which there is PLENTY. Andalucians clearly love sweets because every few steps there is another gelato stand or pastry shop. Additionally, they have figured out that life is always better with lots of sangria, and a special drink they call Tinto de Verano, which is tangy, bubbly and ultra refreshing.

In general, I will say that Western Europeans do not like speaking English--even when they can. They also don't go out of their way to make travel easy for foreigners! Tamara and I arrived about 6 hours apart, and we both struggled to figure out how to get ourselves from Madrid to Sevilla without getting lost or swindled. Bienvenidos a Espana, eh? Eventually we both made it though, and only a little the worse for wear. We went to a flamenco show the first night near Leah's apartment, and yesterday spent literally 10 hours at a beach near the border of Portugal called La Isla Canela (Cinnamon Island), swimming, sunbathing, playing volleyball and paddleball, and drinking Tinto de Verano and fresh mojitos from the cabana bar. When Spaniards go to the beach, they go for the.whole.day. We left around 11pm, ate dinner on the boardwalk (seafood tapas), and got back to Sevilla around 3:30am. Today we slept in late, had "breakfast" around 3pm, and spent the afternoon/evening wandering and being touristy. The best part was visiting a structure in the center of town called The Mushrooms, which is like a giant piece of modern art built directly over some preserved Roman ruins, which you can view through large glass panes. The top floor is an open air walkway with the most breathtaking view of Sevilla. We watched the sunset from here (which doesn't happen til about 10pm!) and marveled at the city bathed in the orange and purple light of descending dusk.

Flamenco

Sunset at La Isla Canela

Tinto de Verano

in front of the Cathedral in Sevilla, 3rd largest in the world

central Sevilla

flamenco fans

The Mushrooms

amigas

view of Sevilla from the rooftop of The Mushrooms

sunset at 10pm

Sevilla by night