April 30 - ACK Another Month Gone

Tomorrow is the first day of May - I am not sure how time can fly so very fast.  Today was Marge's last day in Sevilla - she leaves tomorrow morning for Madrid and then back to WW on Thursday.  We really tried to pack it in on her last full - I am pretty sure we made the most of this last day of April.

Albert and I went shopping this morning, then I came home and made cookies for Marge's last day in class.  Then we ate an early lunch and hit the road at about 12:45.

First stop, the Real Alcazar.  Albert had been many times, but it was my first visit (and of course, Marge's).  We spent a little over two hours looking through the palace and the gardens.  It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe - the upstairs is still the official residence in Sevilla of the royal family of Spain (the royal family role is mostly one of patronage and charity).

Although there are many amazing rooms and patios with intricate tile work and carving from floor to ceiling,

My favorite room is probably the tapestry room.  The breathtaking size of these tapestries is lost in photos, but I have included the one with Albert for scale - they are amazing.

After checking out the gardens from above,

We headed down and checked them out at ground level.

We headed straight from the Real Alcazar to class - with not a minute to spare (well maybe one minute to share cookies with the other students and teachers).

After class, Marge and I headed up to the Setas  - first we checked out the Roman ruins in the basement, and then up the elevator to walk on top.

We stayed up there for a quick bite to eat and then off to intercambio. 

With tomorrow being a holiday in Spain, the group at intercambio was small and my normal partner was not there.  So, we mostly practiced our Spanish as a large group.

Then, Marge and I headed home with a quick side trip to admire the Triana Bridge from below.

We made it home by about 10:30 and spent a little while chatting before it was time for Marge to head off to bed.  With a morning airport bus to catch, there will be no sleeping in.  Of course with the day off, I can always come back home and take a long siesta.... our next guest doesn't arrive until Thursday after all.

April 29 - Flamenco

This morning I spent some time working on Spanish and then headed out for a quick shopping trip while Albert and Marge watched last night's Game of Thrones.  Then, Marge and I made a quick trip to the Triana Market to pick up some fruit before lunch.

Not long after lunch we all headed over to school. 

After school, Marge and I headed over to the Santa Cruz neighborhood where I had tickets for an 8:30 Flamenco show.  We got there a little early and so we had front row seats.  The only thing between us and the stage was a beautiful flower pot.

The show was a high energy, Flamenco guitar, vocal, dance show that lasted about an hour.  It was a great show.

After the show, we worked our way back out of the Santa Cruz neighborhood, through the city center, across the bridge, to a restaurant close to home where we ate dinner until almost 11:00 - like true Spaniards.

Tomorrow we have tickets to the Real Alcazar for 1:30, class from 4-7:30, intercambio from 8-9:30 and both Marge and I have homework to do tomorrow morning- so, nobody was interested in a late night.

April 28 - Election Day

I was a little slow getting started today, choosing to finish my book rather than get moving early. 

But, I figured that if we were going to eat today, I was going to need to do something about it.  So, I planned for a trip to the small "express" grocery store about half a mile from our house.  There is not much open on Sunday and with our full day on Saturday, no shopping happened.  So, while Marge got caught up on Game of Thrones so she can watch the new one with Albert tomorrow morning, I headed out.

I don't like shopping at this store because it is very small (not much selection) and on Sundays it is VERY crowded because not much is open.  But, with some hunting around and then waiting in a long line, I was able to get enough to make chicken pitas for lunch.

Then it was off for our visit to the cathedral.  It was a beautiful day (high 80's and sunny) for our walk to the cathedral.  It is fun to have visited the cathedral enough times that I am starting to know my way around. 

As is always the case, the never ending restoration was visible in a couple of places.

Marge put her photo workshop to good use again.

After heading home, I did my homework.  Then we headed out to dinner.  A good chance for Marge to try Vino de Verano (she thought it was ok, but wasn't a big fan).

Then home to watch some post election coverage.  I can read the graphics of course, but the newscaster's coverage was just a blur of words.  So I gave up after about 15 minutes.  I guess I will have to look at the written news tomorrow for the final counts.

April 27 - A Day in Cadiz

This morning bright and early, Marge and Albert and I headed out to center city where we caught the tram to the train station and then took the train to the city of Cadiz - the oldest city in Spain that is about an hour and a half train ride away on the Atlantic Ocean.

We arrived around 9:30 and had a light breakfast, then it was sightseeing for a full day before  heading home - arriving about 11pm.

The day was absolutely beautiful - warm and sunny.  At one point Marge took a photo of Albert and I on a bridge over a waterfall in the Botanical Gardens.

We went to the large market - lots of fruit, vegetable and fish vendors.  I couldn't believe the size of some of the chunks of tuna that they were carving.

We visited a tower with a pinhole camera on the roof that let a guide display live views (360 degrees) near and far of the city onto a screen.  It was very cool.  Sadly, you couldn't take pictures during the showing - luckily you could take pictures from the terrace on top of the tower.

We visited some beautiful parks.

Saw lots of monuments and the Cadiz version of Plaza de Espana.

And of course, the beach. 

There was even a triathlon going on and we stopped to watch and cheer a little.  It was a good day. 

April 26 - Spanish Fun

This morning, the inspector came to the flat to check the gas connections.  It is an inspection that must be done every 5 years.  We passed - and I was able to negotiate the transaction with the tech- double win.

Later, we headed out with Marge to the impressive Plaza de Espana - check out that panorama!

And the beautiful Maria Luisa park - you can really tell it is spring in the park.

Marge was able to put the "taking pictures" workshop that she completed on the first day of her cruise to good use.  I could use that class myself. 

Then, we went home for a lunch of pesto pasta.  And, off to school.  Today, Marge had her first day of class at my school.  She was not in my class, but the times are the same, so we were able to walk over together.  Sadly, my class worked straight through the break, but at least we ended on time so we were able to walk home together.

Then a dinner of chicken tortilla soup (yay leftovers).  Tomorrow we are out bright and early for a trip to Cadiz.  It is supposed to be sunny and warm.

April 25 - Marge is Here

This morning, Albert and I did a quick trip to the store.  Then, while I made soup and finished my homework, Albert headed out to the airport to collect Marge who will be visiting with us until next Wednesday.  Neither of us had seen her in a long time, so I was crossing my fingers that they would recognize each other at the airport.  Luckily they were able to connect and they headed home on the bus.

We ate lunch and visited for a little while before it was time for me to head out to school.  Marge had been traveling since the wee hours of the morning, so for her it was time for a short rest.

With the rain gone - it was time to break out the new shoes....Not exactly stealth, but no holes!

Albert walked Marge up to the school to meet me after class and after a short break to watch a part of a procession, we headed over to the Alameda.

We had a nice time catching up over tapas.  While we were out, we saw a number of post-Easter activities as brotherhoods all over the city take apart their pasos, put some parts back into their regular display places in churches and store the rest.  We ducked in to the doorway of one church to see the partially dismantled pasos.

On the way home, I realized that the small construction project on the street is the city crew moving the newly installed water fountain (it had been in place for a few months) from one side of the street to the other.  I am not sure why, but we are speculating that it was in some prime table spots for a cafe who wanted it moved - now it is in front of a lottery ticket window - no need for tables and chair there.  So, until the businesses change again, maybe it will stay put.  

Once home, I was able to spend some time looking at Marge's great pictures from her cruise and visit to Budapest.  Tomorrow, she starts class - so we tried to spend a lot of time today speaking Spanish to brush off the dust.  Hopefully she is able to get a good night's rest.  

April 24 - Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes

With national elections only a few days away (Sunday, April 28), there have been a number of information tents, signs and even a few small marches.  These folks were just packing up after a march through the center of town.  With all of the wind and rain, I am not sure how many people came out to see them.

The Plaza San Francisco is almost back to normal - probably within the next couple of days.  Considering it took them a month to set it up - the takedown has been pretty fast.

I walk - a lot.  So it is not surprising with the miles a day that I put on my sneakers that they are ready to be replaced.  I had hoped to make it to the end of our stay with the idea that I would just leave them here and buy a new pair when I got to the US, but they now both have holes.  When my socks match the shoes - you can barely see them, but when they don't.... ugh.

So, I finally gave in and bought an inexpensive pair from Amazon.  They came today.  I braved the wind and rain to get to the Amazon drop box in the parking garage of the mall.  While I was at the mall, I took a short break from the weather and walked around one of the stores.  For less than 3 dollars, I could have gotten a Miami T-shirt, but I decided against it - even though I like the clarification that Florida is a state.

The walk home was even colder and rainier.  I came straight in and changed into my pajamas.  Luckily, it is supposed to clear up overnight and then start to gradually get warmer again with temperatures in the eighties by the weekend.  

I spent the rest of the evening making travel plans for the trip home.  I cannot believe that we are already nearly at the end of April.  Where has the year gone.

April 23 - World Book Day

Today is world book day - not to worry, I spent a good deal of time reading!  All of the bookstores (and dapartment stores with book departments) were having sales.  Since we have barely over 2 months left, it is not a time to be buying any physical books for me - so I just browsed.

Each province in Spain has a patron saint and that saint's day is a holiday for the province.  The patron saint of Catalonia (the province that contains Barcelona) is Jordi and his day is today.  It is the Catalan equivalent of Valentine's Day - so with every book purchase in Barcelona, you also received a red rose.  The patron saint of Sevilla is Ferdinand whose feast day is May 30th.  But, like any good government, they realized that people would prefer to have a day off during fair week - so the holiday in Sevilla has been moved from the actual feast day of Ferdinand to May 8th.  Many cities and countries in Europe have patron saints, but there are also lots of other things with patron saints as well.  My favorite is the patron saint of the internet - Saint Isidore of Sevilla - sadly, I missed his feast day on April 4th.  Not sure how I would have celebrated.... lots of time looking at youtube videos?  

In other news, things in the downtown area are slowly getting back to normal.  Many squares are currently in the ugly stage between being decorated for Easter and being large open spaces surrounded by beautiful buildings and statues.

It was cool, windy, and overcast most of the day.  It rained a little but not too much.  However it was cool and rainy enough to move intercambio back inside for the week.

April 22 - Happy Earth Day

It was nice to be back at school today.  We were back to five students - all of whom have been in class for a while. 

The weather was beautiful but it was pretty quiet on the streets (or maybe I just got used to the Holy Week crowds.)  They have almost finished the bike routes on the big street along the river.  It is probably good that there are posts along many of the new sections - this is a pretty busy road and the drivers are not accustomed to sharing it with bikes yet.

After class, I made the long trip out to COSTCO.  I only wanted to get a few things.  Sadly one the them was out of stock.  But, I did manage to get some awesome berries and even found a new pair of shorts for Albert.

I made it home at a little after 10, ate a small dinner and am going to try to get to bed early- I'll save my homework for tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow night, intercambio!

April 21 - Happy Easter

After all of the buildup and then the intensity of the week, it is not hard to understand the city's letdown at actually making it to Easter Sunday.  I am sure that the churches were all full this morning though, I did notice that there were crowds outside waiting for "adorations" of some of the more famous pasos.  It was too dark to really get a detailed photo of the paso in the vestibule, but clearly this is an Easter tradition for many families affiliated with these brotherhoods.

For people like me, who are merely spectators, right across the street is a store with a Playmobile display of one of the processions in case you are having withdrawals.

There were still a few other signs of Easter left - a group was setting up for an evening concert in Plaza Nueva... and lots of intricate palm weavings decorate balconies...and I know that some still think of Easter as a season that will go until Pentacost Sunday on June 9... but for the most part, the city has moved on.

With Easter safely in the rear view, people can start to focus on other things... like the bullfighting season that just started today.  There were big crowds outside the bullring waiting to go in when I passed by across the street.  The cameramen on cranes that just yesterday were covering processions are now poised over the ring.

And of course with national elections just one week away (April 28th), there are signs everywhere and the far right party (VOX) had a tent set up just outside of the bull ring.

In less than two weeks, the city will be rocking with the fair.  In contrast to the solemnity of the Holy Week activities, fair is a drinking/eating/dancing all night week long dress-up party.  But first a couple of weeks intermission.