On Sunday, we got up late, tired after a late night out. I relaxed and studied a little bit for my Literature exam and then enjoyed a very delicious paella con cerdo. It was bittersweet since it was our last paella of the trip.
After lunch, I skyped my parents for about an hour to update them and wish my dad Happy Father's Day. It was great to talk to them but I was quite jealous of the delicious meal they had made to celebrate the day and the LOVELY bottle of champagne they were about to pop.
That evening I met up with Esteban, Maggie, Sara, Michelle and Wendy to have Granizada at Mascarpone in Triana. We sat at a table on the street and all chatted about our experience abroad and reminiscing on some of our hilarious times together. None of us allowed each other to speak about how the next day was our last full day in Sevilla. Living in denial was the motto. Como siempre, the Guadalquivir was beautiful as I was walking home, so naturally I documented its glory.
On Monday, I met Sarah Diamond at ISA on the roof top to lay out and study for Rey-J's Lit Exam at 11am. Well of course we chose the cloudiest day of all time to try to lay out, so instead we just sat outside together and chatted/studied. After the exam, we had time to kill before Vicky's Culture class, so a big group of us went to a Cafeteria to enjoy a coffee and pastry. We all sat together chatting and REFUSING to admit that our last day of the program was tomorrow. I enjoyed a chocolate covered donut and coffee as we made plans about RAGING for our last night in Sevilla. Then, we met Vicky outside of ISA to head to the Alcazar together.
When we got there, Vicky's original intention was for us to complete a worksheet in groups about the history of the Alcazar as we walked around. However, we quickly gave up on that and decided we just wanted to enjoy its beauty, meander through and take pictures.
Minor history, the Alcazar is an ancient Moorish Castle (Alcazar is arabic for Castle).
(deff the coolest ceiling in the whole palace, it looks like one of those fancy foil wrapped chocolate covered oranges)
My ABSOLUTE favorite part of the Alcazar was Los Banos de Maria de Padillas. I was mainly excited because I had seen lots of pictures of the spot online and they were all breathtaking. Everyone in my group referred to them as the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter reference) because they REALLY did look like that. These bathrooms were created for the King's Mistress who actually had more power than the Queen because the King was in love with her. The mistress basically demanded to have her own private pool/bath and so they made it for her.
We continued wandering around and taking pictures of the gorgeous palace.
Once we reconvened with the whole group we stopped back at Los Banos to take a group pic and then took some pics out in the gardens.
(I made a peacock friend)
Afterwards, we all sadly said goodbye to our Culture Class but we convinced Vicky to go to breakfast with us the next morning with MJ and Quique.
I headed home and had lunch... which ironically was the ONE meal that my house parents had made before that I didn't like: Spinach soaked in EVOO with Garbanzo beans... no bueno.
That afternoon I met up with MJ to have tapas and drinks for dinner. We met at Plaza Alfalfa and decided to go have a tapa at a restaurant near the Setas. Here we enjoyed a beer and an awesome tomato appetizer that had a bold flavor almost as if they were sundried tomatoes with bell peppers. Everything was beautifully enhanced by the delicious Spanish Olive Oil. We then went to our next stop which was in the Setas plaza where we had caracoles and another beer. This evening was proving to be as awesome as I had anticipated. We chatted and reminisced about my trip in Sevilla, it was lovely. Then, we went to a bar in Plaza Alfalfa where we had AMAZING tapas that included Bruscetta Andaluza which is a baguette toasted and covered in salmorejo (similar to gazpacho) with melted mozarella on top and bacon. This dish was DA BOMB. Then we finished it all with a Chocolate Torte. Our final stop on our tapas bar crawl was in a little plaza where we had another beer and some tasty aceitunas.
I was sad for our evening together to end because I had been looking forward to it for several days, and then POOF the time had passed. Afterwards, I headed over to meet up with everyone to have our grand finale out on the town of Sevilla... and OF COURSE we decided to hit up our standard stomping grounds of Plaza Alfalfa. This time honestly everyone in our entire program was out. We were all running around, taking pictures with everyone, chatting, just doing everything we possibly could to soak up every last second of the last night on our incredible study abroad experience together.
I can honestly say that I love my whole study abroad group so much. I couldn’t be happier that we all go to the same school that way we can continue our strong friendships back in Gville. Sadly, Sarah is the only girl in our group who doesn’t go to UF so obvi I will miss her mucho.
The first bar we were at closed at 230am, which was such a buzz kill... but it was only a Monday, so it was understandable. Fortunately, the bar next door was still open and POPPIN so we just hopped over there. This bar had louder music and more of an environment that promotes dancing, so we were digging it. We would wiggle on the “dance floor”… we MADE it a dancefloor... and then stop and talk or walk around in search of meeting new people.
While I was standing at the bar waiting to order a drink, a guapo named Javi came up and started talking to me. He was pretty silly. He was asking me why I wasn’t dancing anymore and started dancing for me which was hilarious. He was with a group of friends that he introduced me to. They were all pretty guay. I introduced them to some of the girls and we continued chatting/dancing. I found out he was 23 from Sevilla and studying at the university of sevilla and working part time as a waiter.
Sadly, bar numero dos closed at 330am, BUT Javi knew of a bar named Berlin that is the only one open extra late, so a group of us went there with him and his friends. Fun fact: he had a tongue ring and when I commented on it he told me he also had his nipple pierced!!!! AHHH. I was freaking out. The Spaniards are soooo down with piercings. Honestly its way more common to have a piercing if your between the ages of 18-25 then to NOT have one. Quite a different social norm from Estad Unid, but I was bout it, no pasa nada.
I ended up staying out at the bars till 630am... legit saw the sun rise as I was walking home. I'd say my final night in Sevilla was one hell of a success!!!!
Hasta luego,
Raquel
Beautiful pics of all the landscaping and architecture! amazing colors! When I am on vacation, I get very emotional when its time to leave, so I can imagine how much fun you had on your last night. I was surprised that the people that you were staying with didn't ask you what you wanted to eat for your last meal lol Back to life, back to reality!! oxox
ReplyDeleteps...when is the next trip =)