Amada Sevilla, Te quiero.

I don't know if it had something to do with the nice breeze or how well rested I was from my siesta, but I think it happened. I think I fell in love yesterday. Don't worry Dad, not with a Spanish man, but with Sevilla. This city is unbelievable. The more I learn about Sevilla the more deeply in love I fall. Maybe I'm blinded by love, but this city has such a rich culture and history that everything here seems a little bit magical.
Saturday, the day before I fell in love, I woke up around 11 (planned for 9:30...oops) and went to El Mercado de Triana, an indoor market in my barrio. If you know me, you know that markets, especially those with food, are one of my absolute favorite things to see in any new place I visit. Although it wasn't the best one I've ever been to (I think Barcelona has topped the charts), this one was pretty neat and very Sevilla.

Hungry? For some live snails?

Since we're on the subject of love, these are locks that line the Puente de Triana. Sevillan lovers write their names on these locks and attach them to the bridge, to reside until death do them part.

Yesterday, the day I fell in love, I went to church with some new friends I met last week, chatted with a Spanish girl who wants to practice her English, ate a huge lunch while having a lovely conversation with Esperanza about food and our love lives (turns out her and Felipe are actually married and I saw wedding pictures to prove it), and then took a siesta. Afterwards, I met with a friend and we ended up taking a 3 hour walk along the river and around a new neighborhood in search of some market that we never actually found. Here's what we did find:

"DECORA TU CIUDAD"--Decorate Your City

¿En serio, España?

Just a normal day at the mall...who needs a babysitter when you can throw your kid in a giant floating hamster ball?

Bienvenidos a Sevilla

It's crazy to think that I've already been in Sevilla for a whole week and in Spain for seven! That's way longer than any vacation or trip to camp. Insane!

Sevilla is increíble! With its winding streets, cobblestone sidewalks, cafes on every corner, bridges stretching over the Guadalquivir River, fabulous architecture, colorful ceramic-covered rooftops, rich Andalucian culture (including a tricky little accent), and some of the most friendly people, it is quickly becoming one of my favorite cities in Europe. Rick Steves' writes that although other Andalucian cities have specific famous sites like the Alhambra, "Sevilla has a soul."  So yeah, I am proud to call the city of soul my new home.
Views of the city from the Torre de Giralda, as well as some street views of the cathedral:

Santa María de la Sede is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world and the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. And now my favorite cathedral ever! But as my host "dad" Felipe will tell you, it has the largest area of any other cathedral in the world, Gothic or not. So yes, the Spaniards are very proud of their record-breaking infrastructure. And after 120 years of building this puppy, they should be.
What is so fascinating about this specific cathedral is that it was built on top of a mosque during the Reconquista and so there are still a lot of Islamic remains and influences in and around the building. Oh, and a part (yes, a part) of Christopher Columbus is buried there.

Court of Orange Trees where the Muslim community would go to wash their hands and feet in the fountain before praying.

Check out the designs on the ceiling!

There are a lot of other fun facts and pictures of the cathedral that I'm too lazy to share with you or I don't have very good pictures of them.

Can't wait to explore and share more about this magical city!

Toledo

After our time in Madrid we hopped on a bus to spend a night in Toledo and tour the city. Toledo is one of the most picturesque medieval Spanish towns....ever. I absolutely love it and wish I could have spent a few more days walking around the winding streets.

I had already been Toledo but I got to visit a few new places that I had never seen. This is El Monastario de San Juan de los Reyes:

Orange trees!!!

We also visited a Christian church that was, if I remember correctly, originally built as a Jewish synagogue but was constructed by Muslims and therefore looks more like a mosque. I think. I didn't really get any good pictures inside the church but it was really interesting to see the contrasts between the three religions that were, and still are, such a huge part of the culture of Toledo.
Fun fact: the phrase, "holy toledo!" comes from the idea that Toledo was considered somewhat of a holy city because of the vast number of mosques, synagogues, and churches built there.

Catedral de Toledo...unbelievable

DU girlies waiting for some shwarma sandwiches

Madrid

Since we had some extras days in between our two programs (and couldn't stay with María tooo long), we headed to Madrid a little early before our orientation with ISA Sevilla. We were pretty exhausted from the long bus ride so we did a lot of napping, taking extremely long showers that we had missed so dearly, and getting our money's worth of the free breakfast (which was amazing!). All the ISA Spain programs meet in Madrid in the same hotel for orientation before they head out to their respective cities. So I was pleasantly surprised to see and get to spend the day with my friend Allie, who is studying in Granada for a year! We went out for sangria and the first paella of Spain. Both were perfect!

Last time I was in Madrid (what?), I didn't get the chance to go to the Reina Sofia (Madrid's famous modern art museum) because it was closed. Luckily our hotel was within a block of the Reina Sofia AND students get in free. It was incredible! It may have been the best museum I have ever been in.

Picasso statue in the Reina Sofia gardens

Once the rest of the Sevilla kids arrived, we took a few excursions to some popular sites in Madrid (both of which I had already seen, but I learned something new at each place from our Spanish tour guides):

El Palacio Real

Next to El Prado Museum

After our excursions we walked around a bit to find some lunch. We eventually passed El Mercado de San Miguel, which is an upscale indoor market that sells all kids of tapas, breads, prepared seafood, drinks, chocolate, and ice cream. I was being way too cheap to buy anything but here's an idea of something San Miguel has to offer its patrons:

Gazpacho with Iberian ham

Plaza Mayor

So as most of you know (or have figured out by the amount of food-related photos I take), most of the memories I have of places revolve around food. One of the things I remember most vividly about Madrid is a bakery en Puerta de Sol called La Mallorquina. So I obviously had to return.

When you walk in, the walls are lined with rows and rows of freshly pastries, just waiting to be placed in the case. There are people everywhere--Spanish men standing and sipping a café con leche while reading the paper, women buying bread for the day, or hungry American girls like myself drooling over the treats.  It's like any other Spanish bakery you would find here as far as the types of pastries they actually offer, except for one thing: La Napolitana. Most bakeries will usually have a chocolate croissant or something similar, but La Mallorquina makes napolitanas. They're like napoleans but not at all...because they're better. It's basically a sweet, soft, buttery pastry filled with whatever your heart desires. My favorites are the jamón y queso and of course, chocolate. The napolitana con chocolate is filled with this rich chocolate filling that I don't understand and topped with some sort of crumbly sugar that I've never tasted before. The whole pastry is a gastronomic mystery! I would pay many a euro for the recipe. When we finally made it to Retiro Park to sit and relax, I opened up my delicious treats:

This baby, and it's ham and cheese friend, make for a delicious, cheap, and unhealthy lunch in Madrid! Worth Every bite!

Overall, Madrid (and Toledo--which I will post pictures of soon!) were bittersweet for me. As we passed each famous site or even certain restaurants, I was reminded my friends in Houston/Waco/Paris who came to Madrid with me during my first visit to Europe. For example, making multiple trips to La Mallorquina, taking secret illegal pictures inside the palace, almost falling asleep while standing in the Prado, or taking imaginary pictures with Rick Steeves in Plaza Mayor. Although I enjoyed more the first time, it was so fun to come back and to experience the city in a new and totally different way!

San Sebastián

Our program officially ended Friday, the 26th, which left us with some free time before we had to head to Madrid for orientation. I heard from a Chilean man on the plane (who had married a Spaniard) that if I was going to be in the north, I absolutely had to go to San Sebastían. Many of us had heard other amazing things about the town, so we went down to the Estación de Autobuses and booked a 6am bus for Saturday.

The empty beach early in the morning.

Cathedral. The Pope was in Madrid a few weeks ago, which is why there are banners.

Boots to the beach.

Thanks to Bailey's camera

Now for the food. Once again, we were in País Vasco (Basque Country), a region known for their tapas. These were by far the best tapas I have had thus far. Here's what I ate:

We stopped for coffee and breakfast at the first place we saw and I ordered a "Pastel Vasco," which consisted of a pastry crust filled with some sort of baked cream/custard thing and topped with almonds. It wasn't bad but I don't think I would order it again.

These were my favorite tapas of the trip. The one on the left was a little toast with caramelized onions, a giant sun-dried tomato, brie, and tons of oregano. The one on the right was sort of like a baked clam chowder topped with parmesan cheese. And it came in a shell which definitely made it taste even better!

These little tarts were delicious! The one on the left was filled with sauteed mushrooms and Iberian ham and the other one was filled with octopus (I promise it was good) and a fresh salsa-like topping.