Spain Day 1 : I took the train from Montpellier to Barcelona, and it took about 4 hours. Even though I broke my camera upon arriving in Barcelona (slightly disappointing), nothing could dampen my spirits! The city was just as magnificent as ever, and after meeting up with my other 3 fellow travelers, we found a local restaurant on the water and ate paella/drank sangria. After exploring the city we found our hostel, which turned out to be a really nice apartment, and prepped for the concert.
The concert was at a venue called "Sala Bakini," and it was small enough that we were able to get really close to the stage even though we were in the back. In order to get into the concert we had to wait in a long line in a dark hallway that reminded me of waiting for a ride at Disney World, namely Space Mountain. Once we were in, it was clear that this venue was classy.
The opener was a band called "Walk the Moon" and they really got the crowd pumped up. When Fun. came on, everyone went wild. (In case you don't know the band, they sing the popular songs "We are Young" and "Some Nights" as well as others that haven't been overplayed on the radio.) The band had a great stage presence and the lead singer was energetic, but had an odd habit of sticking his tongue out when he wasn't singing. Facial expressions aside, the concert 500% lived up to my expectations. At one point, it was even mentioned that the lead singer's parents were in the crowd! I have a few pics courtesy of a friend lending me her camera :)
Spain Day 2 : The next day, we walked down la Rambla, a long market-esque
street with lots of jewelry, scarves and other touristy trinkets for sale. I
bought a scarf that I love. After an enjoyable and relaxing mega-stroll, I hopped on the airport bus and left for Sevilla! Upon arriving in Sevilla, I met up with a friend for dinner, and got a good night's rest in anticipation of a few days of hard-core sight-seeing.
Spain Day 3 : I hit all of the major touristy attractions, but also enjoyed getting lost wandering around the meandering streets of Sevilla. Having had two close friends study abroad in Sevilla, I had plenty of recommendations. I started off in the gardens of Alcazar, which were magnificent. They were huge and I could have walked around for hours without running out of new corners to explore. After the gardens I went to Plaza de Espagne, which was rich in history. It has small murals around the perimeter representing each area in Spain, and there is also a canal (a bit like Venice, but much smaller), which allows people to tour the plaza by boat. After the plaza, we headed over to the bull-fighting ring to take a tour. Bull-fights start Easter Sunday, so I may try to go back in the spring, but all of the major bull-fights are televised! The tour was very interesting and we learned about the history of the sport, as well as how it has changed over the years. Note: the bulls are not enraged by the red color of the cape, but by the movement! There are two types of bull-fights, one where the bull-fighter is on horseback, and the other without a horse. After the bull ring, we went to the "mushroom buildings," which are buildings that literally look like mushrooms. If you go on top, you have a beautiful view of the entire city, and I went up at sunset so it was simply lovely. For dinner we had tapas and summer wine at a restaurant and then found a bar to watch a soccer match. The bar was owned by an American haha. It was a perfect day, and oh-so eventful! However, there was one item left on the agenda...flamenco. My friend gave me these instructions: "For free flamenco, you have to find an unmarked red door on a small side-street." We successfully found the door, and it was well worth it! I had never seen flamenco before, so I didn't realize how serious it was. You have a guitarist, someone singing and clapping a rhythm with his hands/feet and then a dancer. The dancer was dressed in traditional flamenco clothing and had the most serious expression on her face I've ever seen. She was concentrating so hard. She made rhythms with her feet, and some got quite fast! The focus of the dance was definitely on the lower half of the body. The energy in the room while watching was contagious. It was a perfect end to my trip in Spain. One more thing to note...the majestic catedral. My hostel was right by the cathedral, so I got to see it by night as well as during the day. It was huge...one of the largest in Spain (and possibly Europe if I'm not mistaken).
The next day I woke up, had some toast with strawberry jam (my fave), and set out on my long journey back to France. By the end of the day I ended up taking a bus, a plane, a train, and almost had to take a boat! I flew into Marseille, explored the city, missed my train back to Montpellier, and arrived a tired, weary, but satisfied traveler.
I will try to add photos of Sevilla as they become available. It is a city that I absolutely recommend visiting! I loved Barcelona, but I liked Sevilla even better. It completely surpassed my expectations, and I am extremely happy that I was able to visit such a wonderful place (even if I couldn't understand anything anyone said to me for the entire three days).
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