Ironic

Wednesday, February 23rd
Charlie (3:36pm): Hey were looking in to driving to sevilla this weekend. What do you think?
Me (5:22pm): Really? That sounds awesome. I'd love it. How many nights are you staying?
Charlie (6:15pm): Leave tomorrow around 1 or 2 and come back sunday. Are you in?
Me (7:01pm): Yeah sounds fun :)

And that's exactly how it happened. Europe has certainly made me more spontaneous in my travels. Niki Cid can vouch that usually I need at least 24 hours notice before any outing. (She asked me to go salsa dancing with her freshman year like half an hour prior to go-time - let's just say my salsa that night was mild and came courtesy of Tostitos). But now, the less notice I get the more exciting it seems. All I knew was we were meeting at the boys' flat at 1pm the next day, taking the metro to the car rental place, and then it was about a 4 hour drive. I didn't know who was driving, what we were going to do there, how much the it cost... heck I didn't even know where we were staying. All I knew was that I was in. (This advice had come specially wrapped from the beautiful Becca Murday. The last time I saw her she told me, "Go everywhere and see everything and whenever someone invites you somewhere, go. Don't say no to any experiences." She's a wise one).

Thursday, February 24th
The morning was a little shaky. I woke up a little later than I planned but I quickly packed, showered, and got dressed. I walked to the boys' place and arrived around 1:20pm. I was then informed that we may go to the beach, but of course I didn't pack a bikini. I was just gonna go without it but then I figured I could take the metro back to my place instead of walk and be there and back in less than 30 minutes - false. Of course this was the one day I missed each train by a couple seconds and it just took way longer than I expected. Then of course when I got back to my place, I realized my keys were in my backpack which I left at the boys' flat - I only brought my purse with me - and my landlord had just left for lunch. Perfect. Luckily my roommate, João, was home and saw me fiddling with a knife trying to get into my locked room so he found the spare key for me in my landlord's office. Thank you, João! [Side Note: That bikini didn't leave my beach bag once the whole trip. Good thing I went back to get it.]


A while later we were on our way. Easy-peasy-lemon squeezy we made it to Santa Apolonia via the metro looking for the car rental place. It happened to be inside the metro station which none of us realized until we walked around for 30 minutes searching for it. Then when we get to the rental place, which only requires you to be 21-years old, we're told you have to have had your license for at least a year. Well 5/5 of us have been driving for more than a year and 3/5 of us are 21 but only 1/5 of us could prove both. Charlie. He saved the day and we got the keys. We packed up the car, asked for directions to Spain, and began our journey.

 


Car games included a two-hour game of GHOST (J-E-W can in fact lead to words other than "Jewish") and 21 questions (Marie Curie?? Really, James?). There was also a little panic session at the toll stop as we had to collect 15.40€ in exact change. It was pretty funny to watch us try and quickly scramble for some cash but we made it through. [Side Note: Somewhere along this car ride, James asked Charlie to hand him a sandwich he had purchased that was in the bag behind the back seat. Charlie couldn't exactly turn around and see what he was doing so he just had to feel around until he found it. After he successfully did this a second time per James' request, James bestowed Charlie with the nickname "Chucky-hands." He shall be referred to as such for remainder of this post.]

We got to the city a little before 10pm and traffic was insane. At first we thought we had to check into the hostel by 10 so we were stressing out a bit but we called and were told we could check-in at any time. Relief. After driving through a clearly pedestrian only plaza and searching for a place to park the car for 30 minutes, we were directed to an open space by a man that may or may not have been homeless. We could only stay there until 9am the next day so we knew we'd have to come back and move the car later that night.

We found Oasis Hostel, which was a task in itself, and got checked into our rooms for the night. We were directed to a nearby restaurant for dinner where I enjoyed Solomillo de Oporto con patatas y Spanish cheesecake. Yummy. We all learned that night via Chucky-hands that a "ración" is a HUGE portion. 


At the conclusion of the meal, the mission to move the car to a free parking spot commenced. I don't think any of us knew when we sat down in the car that we wouldn't be getting up again for about an hour and a half. We drove literally all over that city looking for parking and getting more and more lost as we drove. There were so many times that we had absolutely no idea where we were. Sevilla is quite possibly the most confusing city ever in which to drive. But in the midst of all of that, I was just cracking up the whole time. I don't know the last time I laughed that hard. Anyone who really knows me knows that when things get really bad (but not life-threatening) I can't help but laugh because there is nothing else I can do and it seems like a much better option than crying.

The scene I witnessed was just so classic: James as the captain steering his troops into the abyss; Sam sitting shotgun with the map sprawled out across his lap searching it like a crystal ball for some kind of clarity; Farbod on my left examining the inside of his eyelids after a tasteful amount of complaining; and Chucky-hands on my right quietly questioning to no one in particular, "How did we get so lost?" It was hilarious. At one point we did find a seemingly free space but the problem was that we had absolutely no idea where we were and therefore had no idea how to get back to the hostel from there. We also did not want to risk a ticket, as Sam pointed out. There were so many great one liners from that exploration but my favorite was from Sam. He looked at the map and found a street close to where he thought we wanted to be and he just looked up and said, "Parque de Maria Luisa. Go there. I love her." The comedic timing of these boys is something everyone should witness.

We eventually gave up on the free parking idea and parked in a garage that was 14€ a day - split between five people it wasn't that bad - but it was a great adventure and just too funny.

Friday, February 25th
The next morning we had breakfast (cereal and toast) at the hostel and headed out on a free guided tour at 11:30am. It was a great way to see the highlights of the city and figure out all the places we should see while in Sevilla. The sun was shining, we were engaged the whole time, and the city is beautiful.

Plaza

Cathedral

Trojans

Universidad de Sevilla

Bull ring

The river

Helado fresca

After the tour we grabbed lunch at a place recommended by our tour guide, Becky. Becky is actually an American from New York who decided one day that she hated her job working as a pediatrics research assistant with end-of-life patients so she quit and moved to Sevilla 8-weeks later. She has now lived in Sevilla for one full year. Crazy right? On the tour there were the five of us Trojans, two Australian girls (Emily and Mona), and one Asian man from London (Pu - pronounced exactly like it looks; not kidding). What an eclectic group we were. They were actually really cool people and they came to lunch and hung out with us for the rest of the day.

Side Note: While at the bull ring, Farbod took a picture of me that I later noticed had his finger in half of it. He was then given the nickname "Farby-Fingerz." He shall be referred to as such for the remainder of this post.

After lunch we stopped by to get some ice cream. Nothing quite soothes my soul like ice cream and carbs can. We stopped by the hostel afterward for a quick refueling and then we continued our sight-seeing excursion.

Plaza de Espanha

We went to Plaza de Espanha next and it is definitely a sight to see. It is this huge plaza and exhibition that was completed as part of Sevilla's world expo in 1992. The coolest thing was the row boats. Just watching some of the other people try and accomplish the feat of rowing around that plaza was hilarious. The boys and I discussed how this could be a cute first date but then we noticed that chances of the guy embarrassing himself while trying to navigate through the cluster-eff of other boats was very high. We enjoyed the brief people watching. We actually got in a boat ourselves and we all took turns rowing - even me! The best part of the boat ride was definitely James' commentary. I was rowing and of course I can't see behind me so James was sitting at the front directing me. When I was veering a little and going to run into another boat, he didn't say, "Hey Missy, row more with your left hand so we can avoid hitting those people." Instead he exclaimed, "Iceberg! Iceberg!" We all broke out into laughter at his Titanic homage and Sam got it on video.

There was also quite the collection of adorable families at Plaza de Espanha from this little plaid family on a row boat to this little girl and her brother that were in matching purple corduroy jumper-esque things. It sounds awful but it was really precious. Mario, the little boy, is bound to break hearts some day.

Paella

That night at the hostel we tried Paella which was recommended to me by Melanie Rodgers. I didn't know what to expect but I trust her opinion. Turns out she was sooo right. It was delicious. I did give up on the shrimp though because they were just way too much work (I miss my frozen shrimp in a bag at Ralph's) but there was enough chicken in it to more than satisfy me. Chucky-hands description of it being like gumbo without the soup was pretty accurate. Moral of the story: Paella = bomb.

That night Farby-Fingerz and James went on a pub crawl with our tour guide Becky. Chucky-hands, Sam, and I went to the first two bars with them but then decided to go back so we could get enough rest to be up and out early to go sight-seeing. Before getting to the hostel, of course we realized we were all a little hungry. [Side Note: The more time I spend in Europe the more I realize that being able to go out and get food whenever I want is an American luxury - I don't take that "Open 24 hours" sign for granted anymore.] First we tried McDonalds because of course it would be open at 2am, right? Wrong. Next door was Burger King which had just closed 15 minutes prior to our arrival. So we went back to the hostel to ask the guys at the front desk if they knew of somewhere to get food. They gave us some ambiguous directions but we had a map and we set out to find it. It wasn't far and we soon saw the Doner Kebab sign. Fantastic. With a chicken wrap and orange soda in my belly, we went to sleep.

Saturday, February 26th
We planned to get up early to go inside the cathedral tower but we hit some road blocks and detours along the way. First, Mona locked the key to her luggage inside the luggage so she had to go get it removed and we went to buy her a new lock at El Corte Ingles. Emily and I also stopped by some shopping stands to score some loot while the boys when to find something for breakfast. By the time we actually started heading to the Cathedral it was a little after noon. But of course when we got there, we learned that the cathedral was closed for the day due to some ceremony or something taking place inside. Awesome.

Farby-Fingerz and James were couch surfing (FREE.99) that night instead of staying at the hostel again (20€) so after they dropped off their stuff at their new place we were supposed to meet them at the Alcázar. They weren't there at the time they were supposed to be so we just went in without them and figured we'd find them later. The gardens and photo ops available in this place are unparalleled. 

Peek-a-boo Sam

Album cover 

Secret Garden 

Colorful 

After the gardens, we went by the bull ring to inquire about a tour. We found out that they started every 20 minutes and were only about 40 minutes long. We were all pretty hungry so we decided to go eat and come back for the tour. There was a little restaurant not far from the ring that looked pretty good by the menu but after seeing the prices we considered going somewhere else. They weren't astronomically high but a little more than we planned to pay for a quick lunch. After brief deliberation, we stayed - mistake #1. We noticed these women behind us were drinking some really pretty drink and the waitress said it was Sangria which I knew I liked. It was again a little pricey but I decided to go for it - mistake #2. We all ordered and the waitress told us it would be about 20 minutes. This was either an exhibition of her masterful understanding of sarcasm, or a bold-faced lie.

Sangria

About 15 minutes later, I got my drink. Not the best Sangria I've had in Europe so I was less than satisfied with it. Then about 40 minutes after that, I got my mini burgers (which doesn't come with buns - who knew?). At this point, I was the only one who has been served at all. Everyone else had nada minus the bread basket on the table that they would charge us for if we ate any. We saw that the table behind us, which we knew arrived after us, had received their drinks and food while 4/5 of our table was still waiting so we knew something was wrong. Chucky-hands went inside to complain and find out what was the problem but he couldn't even find anyone that worked there (the work ethic in Europe is not up to American standards). We decided to give it another 10 minutes - mistake #3. We had all jokingly talked about just getting up and leaving but we didn't know it would become necessary.

Emily got up to go to the bathroom shortly after Chucky's failed attempt at complaining and when she came back she told us that she didn't see two of our orders at all and one was just getting started. Like a scene straight from a John Hughes movie, we all simultaneously shot up, pushing our chairs back, grabbed the bread and stormed away. I half expected the waitress to come yelling after us or at least me since I did have a drink and food but nothing happened. We just walked away, we turned the corner, and we started laughing. We were all so mad that we wasted about two hours at that restaurant and everyone was starving at this point but we found it hysterical that we actually walked out. Sam wanted to write "This is Amurrica" on an American dollar and leave it on the table but we didn't go that far. It's a great story that the restaurant forgot about us and we didn't let it ruin our day at all. We found food shortly after.

We went on the tour of the bull ring and learned about early bull fighters and the logistics of the fight. Did you know they kill the bull in every fight?? I sure didn't. I'm not a fan of the idea that they torture and then kill animals for sport but I guess that's their culture so who am I to judge - but I don't think I could sit through a bull fight.

That night we grabbed some pizza (which was amazing) near the hostel, had a pretty in-depth conversation about the difference between irony and coincidence (Alanis had it wrong), and went to see Flamenco dancing with some girls from our hostel (not as it appears on Dancing with the Stars). Afterward we went to a "party" at the apartment which contained the couches on which James and Farby-Fingerz were surfing. The people we met there were some of the weirdest I've ever encountered. Not even a little strange or just socially awkward; straight up weird. But it was cool to talk to people from all over the world and see how they all got to Sevilla. Several of them were employees at our hostel.

Chucky-hands, Sam, and I ended the night when the rest of the group left to hit the bar scene. We headed back to the hostel for our last night in Sevilla and passed out. [Side Note: James and Chucky-hands introduced me to Angry Birds earlier that day and I played in bed that night for about an hour before going to sleep. I must admit that I am now addicted. Admission is the first step to recovery.]

Sunday, February 28th
We got up and checked out by 11:00am and headed to the cathedral to meet James and Fingerz for Sunday mass. I have never been to mass and I still wouldn't say that I have because we sat outside of where the pews were and I couldn't understand what he was saying because it was obviouisly in Spanish. It wasn't long though and we met up with the guys afterward. We couldn't go up to the tower until 2:30pm so we went to get some lunch at McDonald's and sit by the river in the meantime. [Side Note: Maple syrup is literally a foreign concept in Europe so me ordering pancakes at Mickey-D's was not what I expected. My options were chocolate or caramel sauce. Yum =/ Obviously I got the caramel. I can't say I hated it but I can't say I'd ever have that again. Mom, French toast when I get back please?)

When we got back to the cathedral, the line was wrapped around the building. There was no way we were waiting in that line, and because we're Americans we found another approach: hover near the front of the line and when the gates open, casually meander into the line one at a time. Heyy, it worked. Don't judge us.

Inside the cathedral is unlike anything I'de ever seen before. And the view from the top is breathtaking. I'm so glad we stayed until Sunday and waited to go up the tower.

Sunday Mass

Christoper Columbus' Mausoleum

 

 

After the cathedral we packed up our things and started for the car. On our walk back, a grungy, dirty, but non-menacing looking man came out of no where and stopped us to ask if we knew of a hostel near by. Seeing as we had just checked out of our hostel we knew exactly where he could find one and we gave him directions. He asked us a few questions about our trip and how we liked the city and he talked about himself a little as well. He said that he was from Australia (which we could tell by his accent) and that he'd been in Sevilla for about 5 years. He told us that he had been sleeping in his car for the past nine days and that he only had about five days worth of food left. Immediately my heart sank. But in the whole time we were talking, he never once asked us for money or food or for any possession of ours. The one question he did ask was, "Is there anything you think this city could use? Is there anything that would have enhanced your time here?" He didn't ask for a handout; he asked for a business idea! Seeing as we're five business majors we gave him a few suggestions but it was incredible that as down-on-his-luck as this man was, he was still hopeful that he could turn things around and get back on his feet. It was a very Pursuit of Happiness kind of moment.

[Side Note: Meeting that man made me realize just how blessed I really am. As independent as I consider myself and as much as I want to have a job after college and support myself and take care of a family someday, I know that if I ever needed to, I could go home to my parents. If I ever found myself without a job or food or a place to live, I know Mom & Dad would be there in a heartbeat and wouldn't think twice about letting me come home. I can't imagine having to save food or worrying about where my next meal is coming from or sleeping in my car because I have no where else to go. I am so thankful to my parents and appreciate everything they do and have done for me every single day.]

We soon made it to the car and headed home to Lisboa. It was an incredible trip and I had so much fun. The sun was shining all weekend and it is an amazing city. I learned that travels shouldn't be too planned. The best stories come from the things you didn't expect to do or deal with and those are the moments you have the most fun. Everything doesn't have to go perfectly for a trip to be perfect - this trip was perfect. I wouldn't trade any of the "bad" things that happened in Sevilla. I haven't laughed like that or had that much fun in a long time and I really enjoyed the company of all of my boys. I'm gonna have to say that Sean O'Connell did a great job putting this group together, and we go together so well.

"It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures" -Alanis Morissette