After finding the other bus station in Sevilla, my friends and I set off with my Rick Steve's guide book (thank you Lulu!) and some snacks for the road. The ride was less than 2 hours, and again we were winding through the beautiful Spanish countryside. When we got there, we found a map and a park that had balconies over the cliffs. The buildings look like they are hanging by a thread on the side of the cliff, with a roman bridge connecting the two parts. There were little trails you could hike on that were on the side of the cliff. They were not much wider than me, and I felt like I could fall down at any moment. But that was only part of the fun! The weather was perfect and it was awesome to be part of the beautiful nature of the city.
Just a glimpse of the Spanish countryside from a balcony on a cliff.
The famous Puente Nueva ("New Bridge")
You can see how the buildings are built right on the edge!
While finding our way to the hiking trails, we walked by the "Arco de Cristo"
It had stairs so you could climb to the top and look out on the countryside
It was nice to sit in the sun and take it all in!
Here I am hiking near Puente Nueva
Looks like a fun way to spend the afternoon!
After getting back from Ronda, I enjoyed dinner with my host family and then went with my friend's family to a Flamenco show! My two friends who live across the street from me have a "brother" who is a singer in a flamenco band, so we went to watch Luis con su voz como un ángel. He was fantastic, and so were the other members of his band, especially the guitarist. I was expecting a concert setting, but the room revolved around a dance floor, and Luis and the band were just on a little stage a step up from the dancing. Also, the average age of the people there was probably around 55---and everyone was dancing until 3 o'clock in the morning! We were the only people in their twenties! My experience at the show was definitely on of my favorites since living in Sevilla.
The highlight was a woman I met named Carmen. I'm not sure, but I think she is around 80 years old. She asked me if I wanted to dance with her, and of course I couldn't refuse! We danced to the music "sevillano" style, and she taught me how to move my hands and feet. She constantly had a smile on her face, and had so much energy for the entire night. We even chatted about how all the members of the band were so "guapo!" Carmen really was an inspiration with her fun spirit and energy. It is something that I have noticed a lot in people in Spain. Despite the crisis that they are in, you can still find people of every age out dancing the night away every night!
On Saturday, I took it easy by the river during the day, and went to my first soccer game in the evening! My friends and I bussed down to the stadium where the streets were filled with people wearing green. Green is the color for one of Sevilla's soccer teams called Real Betis (the other is Sevilla FC). If getting to watch soccer wasn't exciting enough, Betis played Real Madrid---world powerhouse and the current first place team in La Liga, Spain's premier league.
When we were finally going into the stadium we had so much trouble finding our seats! Typical Spain. Nothing was labeled, and the security guards had no idea what section was which. After asking countless Spaniards, we finally found our spots, and they were great! It is a small stadium, so like Target Field, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. All week everyone has been predicting a blow out, but I like the style of fútbol that Betis plays, and I had faith in the underdogs. They scored first, and ended up battling to a 3-2 loss against the number one team. It was a great game with great goals and great fans! The people at the game will actually cheer for everything, and when they start singing the songs, everyone knows them! To top it off, it was a beautiful night with a full moon! I would say my first international fútbol game was a success!
Outside the Betis stadium
View from our seats
My lovely friends that came with!
Now I'm just in the middle of another beautiful Sunday in Sevilla. Just ate snails for lunch with a glass of wine and I'm about to head to the river to study! Midterms this week...not really sure what to expect!
No comments:
Post a Comment