Sooooo in love with Savilla

I arrived late last night after an exhausting 12 hours on the bus through winding roads and fields of oranges. Stopping many times along the way but not often getting out of my seat. I followed the directions to my hostel but managed to miss the first street and though not lost, wasn't exactly sure where I was. I asked a man for directions and he was so kind, he asked another passerby to verify where to go and then walked me part of the way before pointing me in the right direction. I stopped again and asked a man who didn't end up knowing the way but walked over and spoke Spanish to the cab drivers for me. And then I wasn't quite sure where I was meant to go so I asked a family passing by and I ended up being just a few metres away from the square. They were all so friendly and eased any panic that was on the surface as my hostel closed at 10 and it was nearing that time. What a nice introduction to Seville! And then the hostel staff was amazing. Ariel from Argentenia checked me in and gave me the cheapest and best places to eat as well as some free sangria! Exactly what I needed after my long bus trip! I sat and chatted with a girl from Australia for over an hour and missed all the bars being open. I grabbed a hamburger before a shower and bed. I had the best sleep I've had in a long time! I slept straight through the night for over 7 hours! It was amazing!

After waking up, my roommate from Buenos Aires and I went for breakfast. After some toasted rolls, orange juice and tea we went back to the hostel to wait for the free walking tour guide.  After a bit of confusion Marta, our Sevillian tour guide, picked us up. She was absolutely lovely and was so knowledgeable about the city. We saw the cathedral which was built on top of a Moorish mosque. Christopher Columbus, or 10% of him, is at this cathedral. Which has the most volume of any cathedral in Europe. (Volume because the pope said it couldn't be bigger, height or width, than St. Peter's Basilica). The tower attached is part of the mosque and has only 17 stairs even though it is 105 meters tall. They built it with ramps because the man who called the Moorish people for prayer had to do so 5 times a day and stairs were too hard. Instead donkeys or horses woukd take him up the ramps.  They were steep too so the poor donkey that had to climb the 34 ramps to the top! We also saw the old tobacco factory, the only tobacco factory in the world at the time. It was built with a mote to discourage workers from stealing from the factory and men from breaking in to watch the women. There were 11 000 workers and 8000 were women, who would work in their underwear due to the heat inside. The women would roll the cigars on their thighs which is why a man smells a cigar before he smokes it. The leftover scraps on the factory floor were then made into cigarettes for the poor. Saville also was the first place to make chocolate. They had it for 100 years before they shared it with Europe. Because all goods came in and out of Saville it had total control of inport export and also a lot of money. The tobacco factory is now part of the University's language and social science faculties. Plaza de Espana was one of my favourite stops on the tour as it is covered in painted ceramics. It is so colorful and beautiful. Each city in Spain has a picture made with tiles and benches and there are four bridges representing the four regions of Spain. The complex was built for the exposition in 1929. There are 2 towers, one on each end of the plaza, which the architect wanted to build taller. But no buildingsnin saville can be taller than the Mosque tower so they told him "build it but we will cut it off!" Lol. On many streets there are men trying to sell carriage rides in their colorful carriages with their skinny horses. I learned the orange trees here have edible but very bitter oranges that are only good for marmalade and cooking but not for eating. A part of the Roman wall still stands here, in 2 places, because of course the Romans were here too. The documents by Christopher Columbus showing he found land, which he thought was the Indies but was really the Americas, is free to see along with their old sailing maps. After our tour the 3 of us Yamila from Argentinia, Vinicius from Brazil, and I went to a restaurant for a nice lunch. We had pyaya to start, fried fish and salad after and pudding for dessert, and some sangria of course! It was delicious.

Tonight our new roommate from Italy, Sonia is cooking us dinner. We split the price of groceries for a whopping 1€ each! Awesome! And tonight we are going to a flamenco show...for free! I love this place. So far the atmosphere, beauty, and people have made this my favorite city in Spain!