Sevilla y Segovia

Wow I am behind!
So February 18-20 we went to Sevilla, Spain. It was a long bus ride there and Emily and I nearly missed it. Although we seemed to be the only people in our group not to go out Thursday night, somehow our alarm didn't go off and I woke up at 9:10 am to a call from our director Maria asking if we were coming to Sevilla. Groggily I told her we were on our way RIGHT NOW and ran to Emily's room to wake her up and pack our bags. After a 5 minute sprint across the city we made it to the bus where everyone else had been waiting. We made it! - and proceeded to fall back asleep for a few hours.

We got to Sevilla later that day and checked in to the hotel. The weather was a little rainy, as it has been on all of our weekend trips, so we lounged at the hotel for a few hours before heading to a Flamenco show in the evening with our group. The dancing, singing and clapping was all traditional Flamenco and they put on quite a show. It was a nice start to the Andalucian culture of southern Spain.

After the show we ventured off to find our way back to the hotel and see a bit of the city. Of course I thought I knew where we were going... but we ended up getting lost for about 2 hours. At least I found a yogurtlandia which kept me in good spirits - delicious frozen yogurt with lots of toppings to add :)
After wandering through the city we were a little exhausted and lounged again at the hotel. We met up with Emily's friend a few hours later and got a late night tapa where we experienced some other aspects of the Andalucian culture - the accent and the hospitatlity. Must be the sun because the people were so friendly and nice and helpful, although half the time we couldn't really understand them becaue of the strong accent and dropping of letters. Friday was a quiet night but we had to get ready for a busy Saturday.

Saturday morning we woke up early for a bike tour of the city. It lasted almost 3 hours but we saw a fair amount of the city and visited some prime spots like Plaza de España and la Catredal. By the end it started to get a little drizzly but it was still a beautiful tour. The only downside was the cobblestone streets - quite pleasing to the quaint european city, but quite painful after 3 hours of bobbing up and down. After the tour we decided to go shopping as rebajas in Spain was going to end and we had to get some final deals. Then we ventured down a quiet street and found an Indian restaurant - after our success in Porto we had to try another one. It was a small place and the food was delicious, and apparently I fit in very well there. The Indian man asked me if I was from India, which conflicted with the many other people from Sevilla who thought I was from Andalucia.

I accompanied Emily to the art museum where we found our most famous painting so far on this trip. We spent a few hours in the museum; sitting, pondering, discussing what we have learned so far in our Spanish Art History course. We headed back to the hotel after this long day and picked up some dinner.

This trip just flew by and Sunday morning came around. We only had a few hours before we had to meet our group to head back home. We had a relaxing Sunday afternoon as has become our rutine and once again our final day proved to have lovely weather. We strolled around the city on back streets and visited the Cathedral again, before grabbing a tapa and lounging in the sun. Then we headed back to the hotel to spend the next 6 hours again on the bus (I'll add some pictures when I have some more time!)

Segovia!
The following Sunday we took a day trip to Segovia. Of course I lacked doing some research and was not quite dressed appropriately for the snow tipped mountain climate. It was a beautiful city though and reminded me of the cold home.
We took a guided tour of the city seeing the famous Aqueducto and the Alcazar. We climbed in a teeny one lane tower to get to the top of the Alcazar and see a nice view of the city. Although by the end of this tour I was freezing and hungry and ready for a few hours to relax. Some kids wanted to try the famous suckling pig of Segovia, but of course I did not and found a nice little cafe to get a delicious tortilla sandwich. We spent an hour or so there chatting and then walked around a bit more in the cold before heading back to Salamanca.
It was a nice day trip and I was exhausted by the end of it, but glad I made it there after once again a hectic start to the morning. (pictures will come too!)