Spain, day four-The Road to Sevilla

We woke up very early on Saturday to catch a bus to Seville. (by the way, it's actually Sevilla- pronounced "Say-vee-yah"-but I know most people just say "Suh-ville" so I'll spell it that way.)

This was our longest bus trip, because it made several stops, including one thirty minute layover in Cordoba (a town we wish we'd visited). It took five hours to get from Nerja to Seville, but we slept much of the way, since we'd woken up at 5:30. What we did see of the drive was beautiful. There were hot pink flowers all over the land, so of course I loved that! :)


When we arrived in Seville, we just left the bus station on foot to walk to our hotel. The only problem was we didn't know exactly where it was, so we (in good moods) walked all over Santa Cruz (the Jewish quarter, where we stayed- the most charming part of the city) with luggage. The wobbly suit case wheels on the cobblestone streets was quite a sight, I'm sure. :)

We finally found our hotel, Puerta de Sevilla (the door of Seville) and checked in to the friendliest desk clerk. I forgot that I'd written online when I booked the room that we were on our honeymoon (please don't think I'm a horrible person for lying, I just wanted to make sure we got the room, and I'd also read that sometimes they treat you better when it's a special occasion). About ten minutes after we got in our room, a lady came up with a bottle of champagne and two glasses for us. It was so sweet. :) So we toasted and had champagne before lunch before we headed out to explore the magical city. Guess which person loved the champers, and which person hated it... hehe
We walked toward the cathedral and did lots of people watching. Since this was a Saturday, there were all types of people out celebrating different things. It was fun to see how traditions differ. This first pic is a bachelorette party. The bride to be was in a jailer costume, and all her friends wore police outfits.
I had to go up and ask one of the men what this was about, because we were so curious. This was a group of doctors from the University of Sevilla, who have an annual tradition of playing music in the streets to raise money. Some of them had just graduated, and some were professors. It was really cool and we stood around and watched them drink and play and socialize for a bit.
Of all the different festivities, this Spanish tradish was our fave. For a bachelor party, the man has to dress like a woman...dress, wig and all! All of the friends wear matching t-shirts with a picture of the groom's face on it. We saw several different bachelor parties taking place, and all of them looked so fun, and did basically the same things American bachelor parties do. (besides the cross dressing, that is). In the pic below, the one in black and red is the future groom.
There were several weddings taking place as well. This little boy stole my heart, and I literally wanted to steal him. Like kidnap him and bring him home with me. But only if he wore that sweet little raw-silk one piece jumper every single day! :) I wanted to take a pic with him, but Zac wouldn't let me. Buggers!
Of all the cool people watching, nothing could compare to the magnificence of the cathedral. It is huge! The third largest cathedral in the world! We took a tour of it a few days later, so I'll share all the fun cathedral facts with you then. Meanwhile, look how big it is compared to me. I'm that little black speck in the bottom right side. This was just one of its many fabulous entrances.
Anyways, we did lots of sightseeing that first day there, and all of those pics can be seen on our Picasa page. That night we wanted to watch USA play England in their first game of the World Cup. Throughout the day we scouted out places, and finally decided on an Irish pub called Flaherty's. It was nice to eat "American food" and it turned out to be an awesome place to watch the big game. It was PACKED with people rooting for both teams and we actually ended up sitting with a group of Americans who'd just graduated from college in New York. It was funny to listen in on their conversations. Look how much beer they drank!
This was the least crowded part of the bar. I couldn't even squeeze in on the other side, where the big screen was!
After the game, we decided to go for a stroll before heading to bed. We walked to the Guadalquivir river, and crossed to the other side. By this point it was probably close to 11pm, but people were just sitting down to eat. Spaniards definitely live life to the fullest, and seem so happy! It was not unusual to see babies and toddlers out this late (and still happy and playful).
As we'd just started heading back to the hotel, we heard a loud band. (I think Zac's exact quote was "Is the Grambling band visiting Spain too?" haha) We decided to check out what it was and see where it was coming from. We wandered through neighborhoods and city blocks until we came upon lots of commotion and this scene:
The streets were SOO full, so of course we were super curious. I asked a local, and she explained to me what was going on. It was very loud, she spoke very fast, and of course it was all in Spanish, but from what I gathered, she was saying it was the 500th anniversary of the Virgin Mary. (something like that?) Another person told me that it was the Anniversary of Conception? I tried looking it up online to see exactly what amazing event we got to witness, but I haven't been able to find it. If any of you do, please send me the link. I'd love to know more! :)
Anyways, the streets were packed...for blocks and blocks. It is soo much to explain, so click on my Picasa link to see all of the pics AND read the captions which describe everything, but here are two videos from the night...


It was such an awesome and amazing and cultural experience, and the best part was we just happened to stumble upon it. If we hadn't gone for a walk to Triana (the part of town we were in), we wouldn't have even known about it. And if we'd turned to go home five minutes earlier, we probably wouldn't have heard the band and wandered towards it. It was cool to just happen upon such a magnificent and grand production. We aren't sure exactly what was going on, or what we witnessed, but we know it meant a great deal to the people who were there, so that made it special to us too! When it was over (almost 2am!!!) we headed home and laid down knowing we'd had an exciting and adventurous first day in Sevilla!
***Exciting update! I just found a link about this parade! I found it here and it basically says that "Extraordinary Procession of Maria Santísima of the Star by the streets of Triana, on the occasion of the 450 Original Anniversary of the Brotherhood"
TO SEE THE PICS from THIS day, start HERE and click next until you're done...