Sun in Sevilla

Our first night in Sevilla was great! The city is beautiful. It is covered in bitter orange trees. They line every street. Our tour guide Ima was extremely nice, she taught us how to tell the difference between sweet and bitter orange trees, and knew where to point us in the right direction for the best Tapas. We walked for a while through the downtown and to a few important places. We got to see the nautical school building which replaced the building where Christopher Columbus had been taught to sail. We also saw Rubber Banyan trees which were planted by Ponce de Leon in the 1500s. After our walk we got to our hotel and were able to go out on our own time to find dinner. We found a great restaurant a few blocks from our hotel where I got a delicious bowl of fresh tomato soup, fresh goat cheese, bread, and sangria. The food was all amazing! (And no hair) We also shared a piece of Chocolate cake with an orange cream frosting as advised by Ima. She said the oranges are one of Sevillas specialties. At the end of January, Ima said they pick all of the bitter oranges and use them to make their special fresh orange marmalade.
The next day we left our hotel early in the morning after eating our breakfast and headed to the Plaza de Espana. It was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. A small water canal lines the plaza and is used by small row boats during the day. The plaza is a half circle lined by a gorgeous building (which was also used as the Palace of Naboo in the filming of the second Star Wars movie. The building is covered by intricate carvings and hand made ceramic tiles. Rose bushes lined the railings and ceramic shelves were built into the outdoor seating, which use to hold books when the plaza served as a library. We then walked all the way across town to see the 1926 exposition site and a few famous bridges while receiving a short structures lesson from Rod before walking back to visit the Catedral de Sevilla. It took 500 years to be finished and was so intricate. We climbed up to the 31st floor to see the city from the highest point. After climbing and seeing the church tower we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. That night we went to a restaurant our guide had pointed out to us the day before called San Telmo. The food was delicious. I tried spaghetti dyed with squid ink and had a pear, blue cheese, and walnut salad. That night we were told that by 5:00 p.m. GPS said we had walked 24 miles around the town. Sevilla was great and I can only hope the rest of the trip is just as amazing.