Sevilla: Part Two

I'm getting lazy about narrating my trip, so let's just cut to the chase...

The Cathedral of Seville...

Our tour guide, Alfonso

A cute old man selling incense

The back of the cathedral

Fountains inside the pretty courtyard

Holy Water

The Alcazar is a Moorish-style palace built by the Christian Spanish royal family. They hired Islamic architects and builders to get the job done, and it is absolutely beautiful. (The current royal family actually still "winters" here on the top floor.) We took a walking tour through the palace with Sevilla Walking Tours and Concepcion as our guide. I'm obsessed with tile work, so for me this was a feast for the eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after we saw the palace we walked through the gardens.

I was actually a little skeptical about seeing a Flamenco show (not sure why), but I am SO glad we did. We caught a 7pm show at the Museo del Baile Flamenco. It featured a dancing duo and Spanish guitar solo. I didn't know this beforehand, but Flamenco is all about the boys. Their footwork is much more complicated, dramatic and impressive. The dancers were truly talented and the music was amazing, so if you want to avoid a cheesy Flamenco tourist trap head here.

 

The end. Now onto Barcelona.

Sevilla: Part One

One of my biggest regrets in life is not studying abroad in Sevilla. I was so excited to visit this city after dreaming about it for years, and it certainly did not disappoint. We spent three packed days here and while we saw a lot of main attractions, there were still entire parts of the city that we didn't get to. Over this short stay we took a walking tour of the city and visited the cathedral and Real Alcázar palace and gardens. Thanks to a borrowed Rick Steve's travel guide I stumbled upon an amazing tour group that showed us some secrets of Seville and made our trip very memorable and personal (see details in my Seville summary post to come).

I owe my dad a lot of credit for our wonderful time in Seville. He donated his Starwood hotel points to put me and mom up at the Alfonso XIII Hotel in the center of town. This is hands-down one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. With its Moorish architecture and decorative details, the Alfonso XIII is the definition of luxury. Everything about this hotel is just excellent; if you stay here make sure you check out the pool (I sadly didn't do this until our last few hours there). I'm pretty sure this isn't on the average traveler's budget, but if you're in Sevilla at least stop by to take a look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though it was really hot during our visit, the Spaniards have a few ingenious ways of staying cool in the summer heat. Narrow streets will have a canopy draped between buildings to create shade on even the sunniest days. A lot of cafes (including the Starbucks across the street from our hotel) have little water misters that go off every so often refresh you during your coffee breaks. Sevilla was so beautiful. I fell in love with the trees, horses, and of course Moorish tiles (it's an obsession of mine). On our walking tour we passed a Spanish guitar player, the site of Cervantes' imprisonment, and lots of hidden courtyards.

One night we walked to the Metropol Parasol -- this huge mushroom shaped modern building in the center of the city. The basement holds an archeological museum of Roman ruins, and apparently you can see gorgeous panoramic views of Sevilla from the rooftop (sadly we didn't have a chance to go up).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the last pictures are of a cool pharmacy I passed on a busy shopping street & the weather vane on top of the cathedral tower. Stayed tuned for pictures of the Real Alcázar and my recommendations for a visit to lovely Sevilla...

Hola España

For the last two months I have seriously been failing as a blogger. In my defense I was pretty busy studying 8-10 hours a day for Step 1 of the medical boards. I don't think you can truly understand how much studying for this test sucks until you actually do it yourself. After about a week of intense work, a looming depression sets in and you realize that you have nothing fun to look forward to for the next four weeks of your life. Then again, I hate when people bitch about things that they signed up for, so that's enough of that.

Luckily, I did have something exciting on the horizon -- a trip to Spain and Croatia! I was supposed to study abroad in Spain during my junior year of college and didn't end up going (this was the worst decision over). But I scheduled my exam on June 8th so that I'd have two weeks of vacation before third year started.

I went on this trip with my mom and we began by flying into Madrid and spending one night in the city before moving on to Seville and Barcelona. We didn't have enough time to really get a grasp on Madrid, but we explored for a bit and managed to squeeze in some interesting sights. I'll begin with a few shots from around town.

We arrived in Madrid on a Monday afternoon and had only until Tuesday afternoon to explore. I had sort of neglected Madrid during my trip planning and relied on our hotel's concierge for some suggestions. Since time was limited we decided to check out the "trendy" Mercado de San Miguel. If you are in Madrid and you love food, this is a must see! We went there early on Tuesday morning before the crowds arrived to grab some breakfast and souvenirs. I had a traditional Spanish breakfast dish -- something like a piece of veggie bruschetta with a fried egg on top -- and two chicken croquettes. I would describe Spanish croquettes as classy chicken-nuggets that melt in your mouth and are absolutely delicious.

If we had managed our time better I think we could have wandered around the Prado Museum for a few hours but oh well...This post is a little skimpy but I have a lot more pictures from Seville and Barcelona. Come back soon to check out my Spanish adventure in those two cities!

Hello There

The Dancing Jaguar - Copan, Honduras

Shame on me, I haven't posted anything in a long, long time. In my defense, the last few weeks of school have been absolutely ridiculous. Tomorrow I'll be done with my second year of medical school (providing that I pass boards in June) and I've had enough work in the past month to truly put me in burn-out mode. On top of that, I got sick last week and it's taken a full seven days to get whatever virus or bacteria that infected me out of my system. My throat still burns from the post-nasal drip, I'm dying to get some exercise, but tomorrow everything will be a little bit better. This isn't a fancy post but I thought I'd share some random facts about myself - I decided that this would be a great way to procrastinate studying for the test that won't affect my grade...

1. My favorite movie is Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
2. I like reading magazines backwards.
3. I hate Segways.
4. My college minor was in Slavic Studies & I thought about writing a PhD thesis on Russian Fairytales.
5. I have a paralyzing fear of heights.
6. My dream travel destination is Australia - I'm planning on going during my M4 year.
7. I don't have tonsils & am blind as a bat without my glasses or contacts.
8. I've never gotten a speeding ticket. (fingers-crossed)
9. I love animals more than some people.
10. When I was little I wanted to be a comedian because I liked the idea of making people laugh. (Tina Fey is my hero)

So there you have it - a glimpse into my wealth of little oddities. Any fun facts about yourselves?

A Little Bit of Magic

Have you seen this Cartier commercial? It's got a little bit of Paris, a little bit of magic, and it's right up my alley. Enjoy...