Sevilla

on the terrace
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Vadim, Jess and I took the train down Friday morning at 10am. With our backpacks full (of clothes and the lunches from our senoras-hamburger buns, cheese, turkey and chocolate milk) we loaded onto the train for a three hour ride to Sevilla.  The scenery wasn't the greatest (mostly dead grass, cotton fields and empty space), but we talked, ate and read most of the time. We got to the train station where Max was waiting for us and we all headed toward our hostel. We checked in to our 5 story, very open, airy hostel and settled in a bit. Max gave us a splendid walking tour of the major landmarks like the church, the bell tower, his school and along the river. Sevilla is really cute and inviting with warm -colored buildings, palm trees, a beachy(humid and warm), small -town feel. I guess it makes sense why there were so many tourists! That night we made some Tinto de Verano (red wine and Fanta) of our own before going to dinner at a cheap little restaurant full of locals. After bocadillos (sandwhiches) for dinner, we walked around to various plazas and bars but made it an early night and went to bed around 1230 or 1. The next day we took a bus into Italica where there are Roman ruins. By this time we had met up with Melinda (from Davis, also studying in Sevilla) and Ali (from Davis, studying in Cordoba) and we all toured (what's left of) the ruins. We bused back and walked around the shops (I bought cute flats!) and quickly got ready before leaving to meet Max's Spanish madre. We went to his house (really big, compared to the apartments in Madrid) and talked with Isabel (60 year old lady who was really sweet). They have a different type of accent in Sevilla where their c's are like th's and they don't say s's. So "gracias" sounds like "grathia." It was a bit hard to adjust to. Anyway, Vadim, Jess, Max, Ali and I went to a bar (for beer and tapas) where they have a tap in the middle of each table. We ate there, went to another bar across town (after walking about 1.4 miles) then eventually walked to the hostel and made it to bed by 4am. After sleeping on Sunday we had just enough time to grab some coffee (at a local coffee shop; NOT from one of the many Starbucks) and took a 1pm train home to Madrid! It was such a great weekend :)