A Sevilla Valentine's.

15-Feb-2009; 18:59 MADRID

If there were one place in the whole world I would want to spend Valentine’s Day, it would be, without a doubt, Sevilla. It is quite possibly the most gorgeous city to find yourself on February 14, whether it be with friends or a significant other, mainly because it is 75º F and sunny. It was the first Valentine’s Day I spent in a t-shirt and sunglasses, walking along the river without a jacket.

We left on Friday morning at 8:30am on the AVE, Spain’s high-speed train. It only took 2.5 hours! It was like being on a plane. In fact, it was better than being on a plane because I barely felt the train moving. Zero turbulence, if you will. Once we got there, we plopped our stuff in our rooms at the Hotel Don Paco (yes, I do love the name.) and left to go for a walk towards the cathedral, which I cannot describe any other way other than lovely. The sun was shining and all of the buildings were painted these incredibly bright colors that you just felt amazing just to be walking around.

Once we arrived in front of the cathedral, we got an hour to just sit around the plaza and eat lunch.. which is exactly what we did. It was so nice to feel the sun on my face instead of waking up to rain every day like I had been doing for the past month.

After that we went into the cathedral, the third largest in the world and the largest in Spain. We passed the first courtyard/plaza where we saw all of the arte mudéjar (Muslim architechture in a Christian setting). It used to be a Muslim mezquita, complete with the minarete (tower) and patio. Later it was made into a cathedral and you can tell because of the different materials mixed together. (brick for the mezquita, stone for the cathedral) I just love to learn about this history, and Amalia is so good at teaching it.


Inside, the cathedral was beautiful. I still like the one in Toledo more, but Sevilla comes in a very close second. We saw the supposed tomb of Christopher Columbus (no one knows where he is actually buried.) which was a nice monument. Sevilla was the capital of exploration in 1492 and when Columbus came back from his trip to the Americas, he passed through all of Sevilla on his way to Barcelona, where Fernando de Aragón and Isabel de Castilla were, showing off everything he found.

Can you tell I’m enjoying my history class?

After the cathedral, we climbed up the minarete (the tower that let you see all of Sevilla at the top), which didn’t have any stairs, but rather a ramp. That was interesting. By the time we got up there, we were all so tired.. but it was worth it. We saw the entire city, the river, the Plaza de Toros and everything. It was breathtaking. Then the bells started ringing and I think everyone felt like they had gone deaf. I think we all did, just a little.


After that we went to visit the Real Alcázar (Muslim Royal Palace) which was absolutely gorgeous, especially since I’ve been learning about all of its history and architecture. We walked through the gardens, covered in orange trees (just like the rest of the city) and ended up in front of the labyrinth. Tom and I went inside and after about 3 minutes, I got a panic attack because I thought we were lost. But we decided to take pictures anyway..

Of course we weren’t lost because there were little kids running around in there and ways to get out via cheating. Nevertheless, it was quite the experience. A bunch of people found out the hard way that the oranges on all of the trees are bitter and aren’t for eating, but rather just to make the city look pretty. Ahh wellz. They do their job well. The city is absolutely beautiful.

After that we went back to the hotel for a little bit and then went out to dinner. It was so warm that we ate outside and the food wasn’t too bad either. :D

The next day we woke up early to go to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts) where we saw a bunch of paintings, which was exciting for me because of the class I’m taking. However, everything in Sevilla is baroque and we haven’t gotten up to that yet. Still, it was gorgeous and I appreciate it every single bit.

Then we walked to the River Guadalquivir and were given free time to roam. Four hours of roaming to be exact. Chenlan and I walked along the river on one side and then went to the neighborhood across and walked along some more there. We found a tapas place to grab a quick lunch, but it was overpriced. Still, my croquetas de pollo were yummy. Chenlan had something called Flamenquín, which was kind of like a ham and cheese roll that they fried. Then we walked around some more and did some window shopping. By the end of the day, we were pooped. Sevilla was absolutely beautiful.




We left at 7:45pm and got back at 10:15pm. If my friends and family were there, it would’ve been the best of Valentine’s Days.

Missing everyone,
-LittleOne.