Discovering the Waterfront

Hi all,

It's been a busy, rather slow week here in the wonderful, wild adventures of Lance. Slow and busy in the same sentence is quite dichotomous isn't it? This week had been spent gearing up for the big Madrid trip that I leave for on Tuesday.

This weekend was probably one of the least busy weekends for me that I've had since I arrived in Sevilla. I'm trying to save some money to put towards other trips and things. Saturday, I went to the beach city/port of Cadiz, Spain. Cadiz is muy importante for several reasons: The birthplace of Julius Caesar, being the oldest inhabited city in Europe (founded in 1100 B.C.), and the world famous Cadiz Carnaval. Cadiz is only and hour and a half away from Seville and by walking around in the city, it has a very very very old feel to it. The city is built on and around city walls that drop into the ocean below. I went and saw the Cathedral, with it's impressive dome, the Roman Theater which literally is built in between apartments, and the Castle of Santa Catalina. The Castle of Santa Catalina was cool, because it was also used as a fort during the Napoleonic Wars. Inside there was a little art exhibition featuring the working of Enrique Gran and also a little place with some maps of the city of the time period and weaponry from the early 1800s. I really enjoyed Cadiz, it's a laid back beach city, but has some areas that are in the water that have rocky outcroppings that could pass for Maine or elsewhere. I enjoyed the beach of Cadz it's self, the sand was fine and grainy, which was nice. Definitely soaked up some sun and hung out with some people from the school and met some girls from Finland and one girl who was from Finland, but was born in Estonia. I probably walked 5 miles that day. On my way back I grabbed a cab to the bus station, where my cabbie thought I was from the UK, the conversation goes as follows:
(Side Note: Most people over here in Spain, assume I'm from the UK with my hair color and beard.)

Conversation

Cab Driver: Hay arena en la silla.
Lance: Mi desculpe senor
Cab Driver: Tu hables un poco Espanol
Lance: Si
Cabbie: Tu eres Ingleses?
Lance: Si
Cabbie: De Donde Eres in Inglaterra? Manchester, Liverpool, etc....
Lance: Soy de Liverpool, No me gusta el tiempo ahora en Inglaterra. Hace muy frio siempre.
Lance: Me gusta los Espanoles para Liverpool F.C. Ellos esta mas mejor que Chelsea and Real Madrid. Torres es buenissimo.
Cab Driver: Claro, Hay no playa in Sevilla, ja ja.
Lance: Si, solo el rio.

Also, apparently the gypsies have cell phones and they are loud and annoying on them.
Listening to flamenco at dusk, riding on a bus back to Sevilla was almost movie moment.

Today, was spent on a group excursion to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of the Beautiful Arts) This is one of the most important museums for Renaissance and Baroque art outside the Prado in Madrid. The museo contains important pieces from Sevillano painters like Velazquez, Murillo, and others. I visisted there earlier in the semester, but I really enjoyed the museum again.

I'm gearing up for the Madrid trip on Tuesday and I come back on Sunday. I will have plenty to write about when I return. We are gonna visit Segovia, Toledo, La Granja, El Escorial, Madrid, Calatrava and a few other places in the Castille-Leon/Castille La Mancha area.

Until next week...