Wonderful-To-Be-Alive Kind of Place

"Sevilla has a soul. It's a wonderful-to-be-alive kind of place". 

The one and only Rick Steves

Today was one of those days that make you so grateful to be alive and well :)

As I write this I’m sitting in my cocina class eating my new favorite snacks- Bolleneros de Coco (Coconut wafers) and waiting for my professor to arrive. I’m obsessed with this class- se llama Cocina y Alimentacion del Mediteranneo Antiguo (Cuisine and Diet of the Ancient Mediterranean). We learn about everything from the process of food preservation that the Egyptians used to the current dilemmas between Spain’s organic and genetically modified produce.

            Anyway, it’s finally getting warm here and if the temperature difference wasn’t obvious enough already, you can tell by the massive amounts of people now in the streets and plazas. So not only was the sun out and shining today, but I woke up feeling completely refreshed and ready for the day (cue Steph Crawford’s OH HEEYYYY DAY). After class I met Rachel for lunch at the study abroad office/Rachel’s school (one in the same) where we went up to the roof terrace and took on some sun as we ate our bocadillos. This time Maribel prepared us some sandwiches (bocadillos) de salami, lettuce and pimiento peppers (which seem to have tripled in appearances since the question of “Les gustan los pimientos?” was answered with a simple “si” from me and Rachel- Maribel takes her questions pretty seriously), yogurt, a pear and a little chocolate bar. It makes me feel super young again when Maribel packs us lunches because ever since middle school I’ve packed my own (i.e. middle school A.I.M screenname, IndependentBrat) and I was super weird and healthy and definitely never allowed myself any chocolate bars (i.e. I was a double zero jean. Oh, the good ‘ol days). Anywho back to the bocadillo- I think it was extra good because of the ambiance included. We pay big money for ambiance but I’ll get to that later when I finally write about our Valencia weekend.

            Overall, I am more than satisfied with my choice in Sevilla for the semester. For awhile I could not for the life of me make a decision between which Spanish city to study in (so weird, I’m never indecisive. If you don’t know me this is sarcasm) but I definitely found the right place for me. Reasoning:

-       - It’s a beautiful city

          - There’s an awesome river (and lots of activities surrounding it- from hanging on the riverside, to running along the river to canoeing IN the river)

-       -  It’s a big city but not overwhelmingly large and each part has it’s distinct personality

-       - There are plenty of international students but you still speak a lot of Spanish

-       - I’m still trying to figure out if it’s just an Andalusian thing or all Spaniards, but the people here are so happy just to be alive (and it’s very contagious!)

-      - There’s such a distinct culture here (your typical Spain stereotypes come alive in Sevilla but in a good way of course- Bullfighting, Flamenco dancing, tapas eating, etc)

-       - It’s no Dijon, France (see previous posts)

-       - The food here is out of this world good

-      -  Have I mentioned this is really a food blog, meaning I’m slightly obsessed with food?

-      - Have I mentioned the social norm is to take naps during the day?

-      -  Have I mentioned I love to take naps?

No need to worry padres, I’m doing just fine. :)

It was the perfect day to photograph my daily walk to school

The crosswalk i stop at everyday and mentally note how much better Europeans can dress

The park i cut through to avoid the creepy construction workers (a girl can only handle so many "tss tss tsst'" a day. the poor cats that have to deal with that all their lives..)

the exact spot i check my watch everyday. just kidding. kind of

Mi escuela! Era un fabrico de tobacco back in the day so it's purty cool inside

Old school España for ya

La Giralda

The tomb of Christopher Colombus (sometimes i feel like i'm related to him- I'm constantly studying his life, i've been to his house in the Dominican and now i've seen his tomb. Brotha from anotha motha)

Sevilla's phrase: No8Do meaning No Me Ha Dejado meaning Sevilla It Has Not Abandoned Me meaning everyone who comes here is obsessed so i'm not the only one.

The view from La Giralda

<3 Home <3

Orange trees line the streets here but you can't eat them because they're super bitter so instead they make marmalade with them i know this is a really long run on sentence

i like to pretend the statue to the left is VT for Virginia Tech :)

And that's the conclusion of one of my nerdiest posts yet.

YOLO

Rachel and I have invented a rationalization process where basically everything and anything is eaten/bought/done based on YOLO: You Only Live Once. Should I really buy that? Hell yeah- YOLO!  Should we stop and get a pastry on the way home?  We’re only in Sevilla as high metabolism-bodied youngins once! YOLO.  Should we try another tapa? YOLOOOOOO! All in all, YOLO may become the death of us. That or it’ll be the reason I come back unrecognizably obese.

Sunday- super tired, slept in. Steven called and we met up to go to the Mercado de arte en la plaza del museo

So many street vendor artists! I found myself standing in front of one artist’s paintings for a solid 10 minutes debating which painting of his I wanted and if I had enough money to buy multiple.  I told myself I’d keep looking and come back if I still wanted one but it was hard for me to walk away…I didn’t want anyone taking my potential purchases. I was eyeing an awesome painting of the typical Spanish toros in the bullfights when I forced myself to keep looking. Of course I ended up coming back 5 minutes later because I knew I had to have it. I spoke with the artist for a bit (and if you read my past posts from last summer (Florence), I love befriending local artists) and told him I would come back to see him next Sunday with lots of money. I also ended up telling another artist I wanted him to reserve a painting for me because I didn’t have all my money with me. I am so delusional that I think I have more money back at our casa…

Saturday- woke up at 11am and went to explore. At one point we wanted to sit out in the sun and have a snack. It’s still pretty cold here (unusual for the Sevillians as this is considered the hottest city in Spain) but in 50 degree weather the sun still feels great. Rachel and I sat outside at a little café across from my school sipping our café con leche, people watching and eating “tostada delicioso”: toast with goat cheese and caramelized onions. Mom and Dad you’ll be happy to know most of the conversation that took place was on how lucky we are and what great, great lives we live. I’d say it was this start to our day that made the rest of it go by so damn productively.

After this we did the expected here in Spain at 3:00pm, we went home to eat lunch with Maribel (our madre).  Lunch is the bigger meal here so you can digest and take a siesta before heading back to work or school. We almost always have a soup to start and this time we had pea soup, then fish with capers and a salad with the whole kitchen sink in it! Rachel and I looove Maribel’s salads because she doesn’t hold back- this time it even had pineapple in it.

Arroz con Leche!

Platos tipicos de Maribel

After lunch we headed back out to finally do some shopping! It’s rebajas (sale) season right now and every store has huuuge discounts. I ended up coming home with 3 pairs of shoes, none of which I paid more than 17 euros for! BAM, finance major rationalizing her shopaholic problems.

We found one of the flea markets and explored- mostly jewelry, scarves and handmade leather bags. Gotta get me one of those ASAP. I need a purse that will remind me of this amazing city every time I look at it. Once again, I’m rationalizing my spending. WhiteGirlProblems.  #ProblemasDeLasGringas


<script type="text/javascript">

  var _gaq = _gaq || [];
  _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-29575610-1']);
  _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

  (function() {
    var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
    ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
  })();

</script>

Toledo

After spending 2 days in Madrid, we headed over to Toledo. Basically if you have ever read or heard of Don Quijote, picture the town he was in and you've got Toledo. A small, quaint little place made almost entirely out of stone and very old. 

So far we’ve only eaten at tapas bars and I think I’ve had a glass of Rioja or Tempranillo with every meal. It’s not that I feel the need to constantly drink (since I can finally) but my family has always taught me wine makes everything taste better. And to further rationalize I could add, “When in Spain, drink as the Spaniards do” (this being every 3 hours). Not only is the wine 1.50 euros by the glass, but I’ve always had a love for riojas and when they are made here, they just taste that much better.

If you ever find yourself in Toledo, I highly recommend El Trébol. The tapas there were so good (and inexpensive) that we went back for dinner after eating lunch there. Apparently venison is the thing to eat in Toledo so of course we had to try it for ourselves. Para almuerzo, Rachel and I shared a plate of venison meatballs served with a pasta salad and a potato/egg/veggie frittata-ish side. Simone got some different montaditos (sandwiches), from venison steak with mushrooms to buey (ox) with caramelized onions (served pretty rare but melt in your mouth delicioso). 

For dinner we shared a cornucopia of tapas- croquette de gambas, ensalada de tomates, buffalo chicken nugget type things, a stew of ox and potatoes that hit the spot and for the finale, la bomba. La bomba is the signature tapa of El Trebol and was basically exactly what you want to eat after 2 or 3 glasses of wine. It was basically a big fried ball filled with meat and cheese and topped with 2 different sauces- one creamy and one tomato-y (yes i know, my english vocabulary is deminishing as my spanish vocab is expanding). The picture below is courtesy of their website www.cerveceriatrebol.com (to which they dedicate an entire page to La Bomba). 

After dinner we headed back to the hotel, which to my surprise was actually pretty nice. The study abroad program we are on, ISA, includes 5 excursions (Madrid, Toledo, Ronda, Lisbon, y Granada). While I had pictured them setting us up in some dumpy hotels, we've definitely been taken care of (but let's hope i haven't spoken too soon). 

the view from our hotel

BIENVENIDOS A ESPAÑA

Chicos y chicas, tengo el placer de decirles que estoy en Europa otra vez. I'll be abroad this time for a little over 3 months and I don't think I could be any more excited to be back :) There will be a heavy amount of pictures of everything I eat (per usual). However, I must say, I've been here 7 days now and we eat so many little tapas plates that I forget the names of half of what I've inhaled.
First things first: if you have never been to España, go. right now. drop everything and leave. it's 2012 people, we don't know how much longer we have.
Haven't you always dreamed of a place where people never stop eating, the portions are the perfect size for getting just a bite (aka the perfect size for what I like to do- steal a bite from someone else's plate right as you are asking if you can have a bite), no one is ever rushing, it is CUSTOMARY to TAKE A NAP DURING THE DAY (@$*&!!) and the culture is literally structured around food and socializing? As someone who frequently dreams about what she wants to eat for breakfast, I can say I have dreamed of this place on occasion. And now it is a reality, in Sevilla. Although I have visited Spain before (in Barcelona for an inadequate 7 days in high school (it wasn't nearly enough!)) but now i am living here. I live in Spain. Mi casa es su casa.

We arrived here just a week ago in Madrid. 120 absurdly overpacked, touristy looking college kids from all over the US straggling into Madrid-Barajas International Airport. Our luggage took up the entire terminal one. You probably think i'm kidding, too.
Once the clock struck 11am (which after arriving at 7am didn't come very quickly) the program directors led us to the bus where we once again dragged our massive sized maletas- suitcases (cue the "whatdya pack in here!? BRICKS? DEAD BODIES!? SHEESH" #ShitMyDadSays one liners)

The buses took us to our hotel conveniently located right in the center of the city, and surprisingly (because it is included in the program and thus could never be actually fancy) it was really nice! AND THE BREAKFAST! OH MAN! Maybe it's because i'm used to staying at the cheapest, grimiest hostels that serve you a slice of bread and then charge you for the butter, but this breakfast BUFFET was crazy good. All types of fresh fruit, cheese, deli meats (like the famous cured ham of spain- jamon), eggs, yogurt, cereal, different types of bread, lox, special fresh squeezed juices like mango-pear!, delicious café con leche, lo tiene todo.

After breakfast the first full day in Madrid, we went on a tour of El Museo del Prado (en espanol, claro) and I got to see in person the works of the 3 artists i studied for months last semester- Velazquez, El Greco y Goya. They had a separate room with the works of Goya after he started going crazy and painting the walls of his house with his fingers. (si puedes ver, Goya en Burdeos es una pelicula muy interesante de su vida). It took a lot of me to not sneak any pictures- especially de Las Meninas por Velazquez. That was too cool to finally see outside of a textbook. But enough with the nerdy talk, on to the next.

After el museo, we went to visit the Royal Palace. We got to go into about 20 of the 1000 rooms, and as if that wasn't saying much already, these rooms made gaudy look underdone. The tea room, made for the queen to take the women to after large gatherings, had walls made of extravagantly detailed, hand-embroidered silk. The tour guide told us the room took 26 years to finish, while the actual palace (of 1000 rooms!) took just 21 years. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside here either. Alas, it is just another excuse for  you to get yourself to este país magnifico :)

Later we went out for tapas, and the girls and I soon realized we didn't know what half the menu items were in English. So i went for croquettes de pimientos y bacalo (fried bechamel filled with pimiento peppers and cod) and un gazpacho (cold vegetable soup). Rachel ordered calamari and we had a couple of other small plates like a mondatio (sandwich) with pork and caramelized onions. The waiter came back to tell me they ran out of gazpacho but he recommended a similar soup and seeing as i had no idea what anything else was on the menu, i went with it. But a rare occasion occurred where i actually didn't like a plate of food- he brought out what is called Salmorejo- a thick version of gazpacho topped with jamon. But this just didnt taste like a. it should be cold and b. it should be eaten like a soup. No me gusta. Nevertheless we all split a bottle of our first non-imported house Rioja. Eso me gusta. Mucho.

And thus started the new trend of what we call living as true Spaniards- vino con todo y tapas sin limites.

Tapas from a little inside market! The skewer 3rd from the left was my favorite- some kind of sausage with sweet plantains!

We decided to relax in a park right by the hotel after our long day of sightseeing