sevilla--a trip to southern spain--

the trip to sevilla was just what I needed, warm weather, beautiful scenery, and more bonding time to get to know the people in my group better! The bus ride was about 7 hours each direction and we made two stops along the way for food and bathrooms. Upon arrival we all checked into the hotel and had free time to explore. My group of friend and I decided just to wander random streets to take it all in. Sevilla has many very small streets that are barely wide enough for a car to drive down (it reminded me of the tiny town I stayed at in high school, Benalmádena). After a sufficient amount of exploring was completed the API (academic programs international) group departed for the evenings festivities of a flamenco show. The show was set in a small venue and had a singer, a guitarist, and a male and female dancer. The performances were all very good, and I was most impressed by the male dancer.

The next day we went on a tour of the Alcazar, which is the old royal palace in Sevilla. It was incredibly beautiful and grand of course. It reminded me of the Alhambra in Granada because of the building had an Arab style in the architecture. Following this we took a tour of the cathedral , which is the third biggest in the world. It also houses the tomb and body of Christopher Columbus. We walked to the top of the bell tower, which consisted of 34 ramps, and took some pictures. After this we had free time to wander Sevilla and decided to look for the bull stadium, and one of the sites which is the Torre de oro, an old watchtower.

The next day on our own we walked to the Maria Louisa park, and the Plaza espana which were BEAUTIFUL! A little fun fact about Salamanca is that tapas were invented there, so of course we had to try them on our first night! I'm really glad I got to see Sevilla again learn the historical aspect. But I was ready to go home, to Salamanca.