SPAIN!

Day 1
After we got to Cadiz early in the morning Nick, Laura, and I went to get some café con leche (or an espresso shot with steamed milk). After that I had an FDP for my psychology class, and then wandered around the town with a few people. We found a look out tower, the tallest one in Cadiz. It was absolutely beautiful, and you could see the fusion of old and new in the city. The whole city also smells like fresh bread, a smell you never get sick of. There are awesome door knockers here that look like hands! We also found the market that sold bread, fish, cheese, and meat. It smelled bad, but the food was awesome and fresh. At night I went to Flamenco night, where we saw amateur bullfighting practice and then a flamenco show. After Flamenco a group of us went out to the discoteque and el barro, where Semester at Sea students took over the establishments. We got back to the ship at about 1:45.

Day 2
After waking up early for breakfast Steph, Laura, Emily, Jeff, Ian and myself took the 1 hour 50 minute train to Sevilla. It is so weird being in the minority, and we really sensed that we stood out. At the ticket counter to buy the train tickets the couple behind us got mad that we were taking so long to order the tickets and he started to yell at us! It was so frustrating because we didn’t know what was going on and we were just trying to figure it out. The train is very confusing. You have assigned seats! On the train it was interesting to see the geography of Spain. There were rolling green grassy hills, farms, and spots of lush forest all within a few miles. Sevilla was absolutely gorgeous. Again, like Cadiz, it was a fusion of old and new culture and buildings, except more extreme. The new part of Sevilla is much like any other city in the US, but the old part of the city displays amazing buildings. My favorite two were the Plaza de Sevilla, home to the world’s fair, and Sevilla Cathedral, resting place of Christopher Columbus. I would try to describe the buildings but my words would not give them justice. We walked so so so far, and were all tired, so we sat down to get some ice cream and tapas. Ian and Jeff ended up staying in Sevilla overnight while us girls came home to the ship.

Day3
Today, so far, the group of us walked all around the city. We walked around the beach here and ran into two huge fortresses along the water where we could tour. After that we got some pastries and walked around some more. Tomorrow we plan to tour the new part of Cadiz before departing. :-(