Parque de María Luisa & The Cathedral!!

Because I have no Friday classes, I was able to awake to a gorgeous Sevilla morning and go exploring. Courtney and I went to the Parque de María Luisa which is the park that surrounds the Plaza de España (the beautiful palace like building from my previous blog) and winds and winds seemingly forever. There are so many fountains and bridges and statues that around every corner we would find something so breathtaking we would literally gasp. In the middle of the garden is a bird sanctuary; they even have their own little island in the middle of one of the man-made lakes. The sun was so bright that morning and warm that I felt like I was in an ethereal world while walking through this garden. I can’t wait until spring when things are in full bloom…I’m sure it will be even more stunning! As we wound through this garden finding new treasures at every turn, we came to one of the greatest finds of the morning; the Plaza de Americas. This is where all the museums are, but the museums look like palaces! There was a square off of that filled with white pigeons…I mean they were covering the entire ground. Tomorrow I want to go and feed them because I was reading somewhere that they are very tame and spoiled by people feeding them that they will just come up to you and sit on your shoulder!

After the gardens, we meet up with our friends Christin and Candice and toured the Cathedral. I always forget how incredibly small they make me feel; the ceilings are so high and everything is so large and ornate that I cannot even comprehend how someone would go about building it! This Cathedral is one if, if not the largest gothic style cathedrals in the world! We also climbed up one of its towers and got a lovely view of our city! 34 stories of climbing…but the view from the top was spectacular! Students get in free, so I am sure I will be back a lot…

Now to start another wonderful day! The sun is shinning…streets are busy and it’s time to explore some more museums and take in the lovely culture of this southern region of Spain! Oh and my first Moorish castle; the Alcazar hopefully on Sunday!

Ciao!

¡My New Favorite Spot in Sevilla!

So on Saturday (after finally feeling better....24 hour stomach bug knocked me off my feet) some of my friends and I went exploring on the right side of the bridge and found the most spectacular place in Sevilla! The area was blocked off from traffic due to construction, but we were able to walk in. It felt like I was in the Jungle Book...gorgeous tropical trees of every kind all over and some old fountains and ruins...then all of the sudden...bam...a palace! The area is called the Plaza de España and it was built for an exposition in 1929. Today the buildings (which look like one big palace) are used for government offices, but it looks like it could have easily been a palace, with its intricate tile work, towers, and even moat that goes in a half circle around it. A beautiful fountain makes the center of the plaza just perfect! We went on a cloudy day, then came back that night, so I'm sure on a sunny Sevilla day it will be even more amazing! Ciao!

First Few Days in Spain!!!! Que Bonita!

Hola! Today is the first day that I have been able to find an internet café…my host family does not have internet, so unless I am at the University or at an internet café I am out of touch with the online world. Hopefully I will be able to update this blog at least once a week because I love going into the café’s, ordering a café con leche and checking emails and skype while watching the beautiful city outside of the window. It is weird typing in English because right now I am in Spanish survival mode and have literally started thinking in Spanish (although I cannot properly converse yet). My host family is wonderful. Ana and Antonio are a sweet retired couple and a very interesting to listen to…(hopefully listening will convert into full on conversations soon, but for now I just keep saying si, si, vale!) I share a modest yet cozy room with Courtney, another ASA student from Clemson. She is great and it is nice to have someone to speak English to occasionally and walk around the city with. Our group here in Sevilla only consists of 9 students, but will grow once the ASA students that are going to the Universidad de Sevilla arrive next week. We all get along very well and after planned tours and gatherings, make our own plans and hang out together.

Unfortunately, two nights ago I got some sort of stomach bug that kept me inside in bed most of yesterday. Luckily, our site director’s husband is a pharmacist and I was able to get the medicine I needed. This morning I woke up very hungry because I hadn’t really eaten in more than 24 hours, but thankfully my stomach is fine. I am just taking it easy trying to get all of my strength back.

It is raining here today, but Courtney and I still walked around Los Remedios (the name of our neighborhood) and went window shopping and picked up some things from the perfumeria (like a CVS). After lunch at 2:30, we meet up with some people from our group and went to some awesome museums around the Plaza de España.

The pictures are from my first night in Sevilla walking by the river at 10pm, the tour with our director around the center of Sevilla the next day, and a few pictures from our room. Enjoy!

View from outside my window:

Contact Info!

¡Hola!

I have finally finished packing four months into one 47 pound suitcase and I am wrapping up last minute things at home before heading out! My plane leaves at 5 pm tonight and I will be at my final destination (¡Sevilla!) at 5pm tomorrow...Wed. the 20th. Here my new home address in Sevilla:

Calle Montecarmelo, 6, 2D, 41011, Sevilla, España

Here is my cell number in Spain....it will be super expensive to call me...but just in case:

011-34-615-314-511

Thanks for all of the goodbye well wishes and safe travels!

Hasta Pronto!