Seville, Spain

HOLA AMIGAS 

(let's be honest, do any men read this blog?)

Not to be all mysterious and worldly, but as I am returning to this blog after a little five month break, I can't help but think about how much has changed. How I've been around the world and back. And I'm in the midst of an adventure right now! But before we get to all that -- SPAIN. 

I traveled throughout southern Spain for two weeks in March.. yes, March, I'm a little behind here. But, it was really beautiful and I want to make sure I get these pictures posted and the memories written down before they disappear into the black abyss that can be my brain sometimes. 

So here we go: 

Seville 

Brace yourselves. This is only one city, but we spent half of our trip here, so I have a few photos to share. 

Ok story #1 THIS (^) I saw this mosaic outside of our hotel on the first day and HAD to take a picture and ask our local tour guide about it. She looked at me like I was crazy, she sincerely could not understand my question. But I kept seeing more and more references to these hooded figures around town. We saw little figurines of these hooded people in every gift shop, mosaics, statues, marzipan sweets in their shape at bakeries, you could even buy their costumes in all colors and sizes from adults to infants! So I persisted with the tour guide, trying to get to the root of this. At first all I got out of her was that they were members of "the brotherhood" and then that they were catholics. We tried to explain the outfit in America is offensive to African-Americans and she said that was ok because there are no black people who are catholics in Spain.. Which is when I started to have an inkling of a doubt that this town just might have some kind of association with the KKK.  But I kept asking any kind of local guides we came in contact with and eventually I gathered that the idea behind this old tradition is that these costumes are worn in the Easter parade so that other citizens can't tell who is marching and then you aren't worshiping out of pride, but for piety. 

Our beautiful orange tree filled courtyard at the hotel was a welcome site after coming from snow in Lugano. 

View from the roof of our hotel in Sevilla 

solar panels (thumbs up emoji) 

"The mushroom" a modern park space downtown

Real Alcazar a beautiful Moorish style palace built by Pedro I "The Cruel" 

All the intricate tile work was amazing and I wanted to take pictures of every corner! 

Those skinny and tall palm trees always make me think of L.A even though I've never really been

My first time seeing a lemon tree! 

The Cathedral of Seville

Christopher Columbus' tomb which controversially may or may not actually hold Columbus' remains. They were transferred all over the world after his death from the Dominican Republic to Cuba to Spain, or maybe not? But, apparently Spain says that DNA evidence from the remains of Christopher Columbus' brother proves that the remains in the tomb in Seville are really Columbus. While the Dominican Republic says that they definitely have the real Christopher Columbus but they don't want to open the tomb to prove it.. 

Mirror selfie in gothic cathedrals ^ 

La Giralda, the bell tower of the Cathedral and the best view of the city. Totally worth the 34 flights of stairs up to the top! I could've stayed up there for at least an hour just taking in the city, but we only had 20 min :( 

Are those views not incredible!?! 

We stopped at a little bookshop and I found this bit of Star Wars humor too funny, especially in spanish! 

oh and SPEAKING OF STAR WARS: 

So I kind of fell in love with Star Wars last autumn when I watched all of the movies for the first time with my little brothers before the newest movie, The Force Awakens (Episode VII), came out. So I was obviously unabashedly excited to find out that they filmed part of the prequel movies in Seville at Plaza de España. 

me ^

them ^

me ^

Also, paying homage to my birth city of Toledo, Ohio I ran across the plaza to find this bench so I could take a photo. Even though I don't really feel any great love for Ohio, I'm happy to have been born. 

We went to a flamenco show, and it was definitely a highlight of the trip.  The dancers were WAY more passionate and intense than I thought they would be! I don't know how to explain it other than there was no smiling and you could feel the passion and purpose in every movement. 

We visited the week before Easter and apparently they take Easter VERY seriously in this part of Spain. And one night we stumbled across these men practicing for the parade. I heard rumors about this float, but I was so happy to see it in person! It isn't motorized but instead is carried on the backs of 150 men who have to practice the parade route to memorize and coordinate every set of stairs and low-hanging terrace. If the float is too tall for a doorway then men kneel and march on their knees. It was crazy to watch they have this weird rhythm of 2 steps forward 1 step back. Not the most efficient process if you ask me. 

Highlight of Sevillla was having the most delicious dough-y churros con chocolate. During the rest of my spain trip I had some mediocre ones, so I am here to tell you that the BEST CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE in all of spain just might be found in Sevilla at Bar El Comercio I recommend it x1,000 and it's centrally located so just go there already if you're in sevilla!  

YUM 

More Spain posts hopefully coming up not five months from now :) 

'Tis the Season: part one

Christmas Bobbles  //  Spiced Cider  //  Swarovski Crystal Chandelier 

Christmas in Switzerland can be a magical time, nearly every city has a christmas market with homemade goodies, hot drinks, soft pretzels, sweets and more! 

We had a short stop in Luzern, Switzerland on our way home from an Alps adventure on Friday, so we took a few minutes to peruse the charming little stands and soak in some Christmas cheer. 

Postonja, Slovenia

On our way back to Lugano we stopped overnight in a tiny town in Slovenia. I thought it would be my least favorite stop of Academic Travel, but seriously it was THRILLING. I forgot how much caves play into my sense of adventure. I actually have long had a love of spelunking. It all began when I was in 6th grade; we took a class weekend trip to a giant cave in the middle of rural Wisconsin. We were given free roam and allowed to explore anywhere we wanted for hours on end. It was the best. We dind't get to explore this cave in Slovenia so freely, but that is probably because it is the largest in Europe, over 20km long! We had to take the train halfway through the cave before we even began our walking tour. And that train? SO FUN. I expected it to go pretty slowly but, it was speeding around tight cave corners like nobody's business!  With the wind whipping at my hair, it felt like we were on a roller coaster. Really though. It all was very "Gringotts"..  only minus the goblins and the bank vaults. But we did see albino salamanders that are supposedly baby dragons, so that is kind of close, right?

Dubrovnik, Croatia

This was hands down my FAVORITE city we visited during Academic Travel last month! Warm and sunny, the taste of the ocean in the air, the white marble architecture.. such a dreamy place! 

My cute friends (^^) lets just say that spending 40+ hours on a bus together over ten days will definitely forge some bonds! PS they are sitting in the courtyard of a monastery that houses Europe's oldest apothecary, still in operation today!

As you can see in the first photo in this post, Dubrovnik is a city on the sea. Moreover, it is surrounded by a city wall which has protected it for centuries. There used to be a moat as well, but that (unfortunately) was drained quite some time ago. Our second day in Dubrovnik we had free time for a few hours so I hiked up seven stories worth of stairs and walked around the entirety of the city wall! With all my many photo breaks it took two hours. But I loved it! In every city I visit I try and hike up the local church or clock tower to get a view from above. But climbing a city wall was definitely a first!

The Mediterranean Sea + a defensive turret in the city wall.(^^) Fun fact: the television show Game of Thrones uses the city as "Kings Landing", they wrapped up filming for this next season a few days before we arrived but our tour guide still pointed out some of the iconic sights.

Looking down at the white marble city street from the top of the city wall (^^) The whole time I had this weird feeling that I was walking through some kind of outdoor living museum, the streets were so beautiful and clean! Plus the whole city is closed to any motorized vehicles so pedestrians have free reign. 

Note the bottom left picture: that is most definitely a pigeon trying to attack me. I swear that I have some sort of weird bird encounter everywhere I travel. I have been hit in the head twice, with at least a dozen near misses. Those creatures are out to get me! 

Dubrovnik is commonly referred to as "the pearl of the Adriatic Sea" and after spending a day here I can't say that I disagree. I mean look at that view! Perfection. 

Only two more posts left in my Academic Travel wrap up now. Thanks for reading along!