She said:

Hola from Sevilla! We survived the seven hour bus ride from the Algarve, which turned out to be quite scenic and enjoyable . We navigated the city bus to get us near the neighborhood we wanted to stay in, Barrio Santa Cruz. As soon as we found more acceptable accommodations than the previous place, we dropped our stuff off and went for our first liter of sangria.

Our first day was a Sunday, nothing is open on Sunday. We walked to the bullring to get our tickets to the bullfight and proceeded to the internet café (the only establishment open in Sevilla on Sunday). With nothing else to do, we decided to join the locals for a siesta....

The bullfight: this is where you will get the truest "he said, she said" of the trip. Although I will concede that it was a cultural experience, I will be applying for my membership to PETA as soon as we return. We got "sol" seats (in the sun) because they were cheaper, but it turned out we were seated with many locals. We quickly befriended an older couple sitting in front of us, and between my broken Spanish (Tracy and Freddy, you would be so proud of me), and their gestures, we were made to understand everything that happened during the bullfight, which we probably would not have understood otherwise. The colors and spirit of the crowd was pretty cool, however, the amount of blood and ultimate torture suffered by the bull was awful. In case you have never been to a bullfight, there are 3 phases of this torture. First, the picadors on horses basically stab the bull to weaken him . Then, the bandelleros stab him with decorated spears. Finally, the Matador comes out and taunts the bull with his red cape for what seems like forever, (all the while the crowd is yelling "Ole" every time he gets the bull close to his hip). And eventually he kills it with a sword between his shoulders. My eyes were open for about 50% of all that, the rest Chad illustrated so I would know when to re-open them!

The next day, after doing an entire morning of laundry due to the fact that there was only one washer and one dryer (and by the way, I know how to spell laundromat for all those who corrected me!), we went to the third largest cathedral in the world located in Sevilla (St. Paul's in London is number two, and St. Peter's in Rome is number one). This massive piece of architecture is the first of many cathedrals we will visit in Europe, and I am quite certain we saw every inch of the place. Chad took pictures from every angle and we listened to everything the audioguide illustrated . He even stopped to read the information posted after we listened, and it was in Spanish! Clearly, I got antsy way before Chad, so I sat in one of the pews in front of a beautiful alter while Chad took more pictures. When he joined me, he began the pep talk of how we would be going to a lot more cathedrals and museums, yada, yada... During this talk, I noticed a tourist walking by with a gator national championship t-shirt. It was all I could do to get my hand over Chad's mouth quick enough before he yelled "go gators" in the middle of the cathedral...pep talk over, we are who we are! From there, we went back to the bullring to take the "behind the scenes" tour of the ring and the museum (why we needed more, I do not know).

That night, we got tickets to Flamenco. We got all dressed up and went for tapas and sangria (once again) before the show. The show was amazing. I have never seen such intensity and pride portrayed through song and dance. We were in awe for hours after the show and sat in the shadows of the cathedral to discuss ...

The next day consisted of Chad's self guided walking tour of Sevilla. We saw beautiful gardens near the Plaza de Espana, and went on a tour of the Alcazar to see where Ferdinand and Isabella lived. It reminded me a lot of Hearst Castle. From there, siesta, and then more tapas and sangria...

Our last night in Sevilla, Spain played France in the world cup. Finding a bar to watch the game was like a work of art. We didn't want to be among too many American tourists and students; however, many little local bars had only one TV in an obscure corner. We settled on a place very authentic to Sevilla. We stood at the bar and ordered the most authentic tapas I've seen since we've been here. So authentic, I had no idea what we were ordering. Everything was delicious, however, I cannot rule out that we didn't eat one of the bulls from the other night (sorry poppy, definitely not Kosher!). We watched the game amongst locals, however, there were two girls standing next to us from France whom Chad decided to befriend in order to practice his French. As Spain was getting killed by France and these girls were cheering, I was sure to mention to the bartender in Spanish that we were American and not French so he wouldn't spit in our beers!

We are off to Arcos de la Frontera (a small hilltown 2 hours south of Sevilla).

Hasta Lleugo Sevilla!

He Said:

We are making history, but don't expect it to happen again . Some might call it an anomaly; some might say an irregularity. One person might use variation; another, mutation. I prefer to call it a miracle. Alli's giving me the last word...

When we crossed Europe's longest standing border from Portugal into Spain, I immediately noticed a few differences: For as many Portuguese flags we had seen in car windows, on balconies, and on clotheslines, there were no Spanish flags to be seen; the shell-like sidewalks of Portugal were replaced by molded concrete; but the hardest things to miss were the enormous fields of orange trees next to groves of olive trees that ran to the horizon next to rows of sunflowers stretching a few kilometers down the road.

We arrived in Sevilla and wandered our way into Barrio Santa Cruz, a trendy and lively neighborhood filled with narrow streets and tapas bars that was once the Jewish Quarter. Nestled into a corner of Santa Cruz are the massive Cathedral and the Alcazar, but first, a history lesson:

The Moors were a group of highly advanced Muslim people that ventured into Europe, especially Spain and Portugal, when Europe was in the heart of the Dark Ages. They built massive palaces and were very excepting and tolerant of other religions. But when Ferdinand and Isabella married and combined Spain's two largest kingdoms, a series of brutal wars ensued as the Catholics tried to "reconquer" the Iberian peninsula and cleanse it of the Moors, proving once again, that when religion gets politicized, bad things happen . The Moorish culture left quite an impression, though, and many strands of it are still alive in Spain today. One of the most prevalent is architecture.

The Cathedral is the largest Gothic building ever constructed, though it was built on the site of a former mosque and retains a few features even today. Its La Giralda tower was the mosque's minaret, while today it is inscribed with Proverbs 18 (which I could not read in Spanish and haven't had time to research. Anyone?).

The Alcazar is a former Moorish fortress from 913 A.D. that was converted into a palace and inhabited by Ferdinand and Isabella. They welcomed Christopher Columbus in one of its rooms when he returned from discovering the new world, though his tomb is in the Cathedral across the street. The Alcazar is the oldest European palace still used as a private residence, as current Spanish royalty use it as a vacation home whenever they are in Sevilla . I can see why. Its immaculate gardens stretch for acre after acre, making it one of the greatest places in the world to throw a keg party.

Finally, this city is about its traditions. The Sevillans claim to have invented bullfighting and flamenco (and tapas), and I'm convinced that if you can explain the bullfight in the flamenco and the flamenco in the bullfight, than you can explain Sevilla. Both are dances, and both are fights. Both are beautiful, and both are brutal. Neither could be replicated outside of Spain and achieve the same effect, as setting is just as important as substance. And both are the only things I'd ever say could be equally experienced by someone missing the use one of their senses. The sound makes you see, the sight makes you smell, the smell makes you feel, and the feel makes you hear.

They said:

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TALIA EDEN! WE LOVE YOU!