La Vida Reedículo: Sevilla

While Madrid is much warmer than back home, I should have been smart enough not to leave my jacket at my host mom's house. I suffered through the first few days in Madrid with little more than my self-pity and churros to keep me warm. Luckily, this semester's orientation trip was to Sevilla, in the Andalusia region. Even though still in Spain, it was noticeably warmer. I have been there once before, but not with a group so big.

The orientation trip had more people this semester, a large number of them from Chapman. It was strange recognizing so few people, when I had come to know almost everyone from last semester. Almost all the freshmen came back , and although it was different than Salamanca, it was equally as fun.

The first day we had a short tour of the area around our hotel, which took us through the maze of apartments that made up the Jewish district and to the cathedral.

Photo by Sean Laffey

The Catedral de Sevilla is one of the largest in the world and overlooks Seville. Aside from the cathedral itself, there is a tower that allows you to see across the entire city from the top. The 30 something floor trip to the top was a reminder of how out of shape I've become, but the walk was well worth the view from the top.

Photo by Taylor Kunselman

The second day began with a trip to Las Grutas, caves with stalagmites and other formations. We were not allowed to take pictures, so naturally, plenty of photos were taken.

Photo by a loose-cannon that doesn't play by the rules

Somehow, Spain chose the one weekend that we were supposed to hike to rain, so the rest of the day was mainly spent eating. We went to a farm that specializes in jamon serrano, the disgusting-looking, yet delicious specialty of Spain. I learned that this delicacy is created by salting pig legs and letting layers of mold grow, until it hardens and is ready to serve years later.

yum.

The last full day was spent focusing on flamenco dancing. As amazing as I am at dancing, as anyone who is embarrassed in public with me can attest to, I was more into watching the shows than getting involved in them.

Everyone was too focused on how attractive the dancers were to take pictures, but here are some flamingos instead

At Cortijo Pino Montano, where the dancing took place, we saw a humane bullfight. There was also horse dancing, but prancing around on a horse is often overshadowed by badasses fighting bulls.

Photo by Taylor Kunselman

Pictured: something not nearly as cool as bullfighting

My favorite place I visited when I was in Sevilla last time was Los Reales Alcazares. I was glad to know my memory served me right, and that the palace was as elaborate as I remembered.