Favorite Landmark
I have been to so many places in Seville, tourist attractions and local gems. My favorites are the Alcazar Palace and La Giralda. The Alcazar Palace is a beautiful…well, palace. It has a section that is still used for receiving famous leaders and politicians and is the home to the King of Spain when he comes to Seville. The architecture is a beautiful mixture of tiles in Muslim geometric patterns as well as Christian images and engravings, but my favorite part was the garden. Bright and colorful flowers were everywhere and the maze-like trimmed bushes opened up to small fountains. There were even peacocks! It was beautiful and the lighting was perfect for a photoshoot.
La Giralda is my favorite landmark in Seville because it is my reference point for everything. My homestay is about a 10 minute walk away and it was the first thing I knew how it get to without a map. La Giralda is a tall bell tower attached to the cathedral and was built long ago by the Muslims and again altered by the Christians. When we went on a tour of the cathedral we also climbed to the top of the tower. There were 36 flights of ramps to climb but the view of Seville made it so worth it. From the top I could see the red roofs of the white buildings, the river, and bullfighting stadium and so much more. Pictures didn’t do justice however hard a tried to get a good shot.
My favorite excursion was our trip to the beach in Cadiz and the feria in Jerez. The town of Cadiz itself was beautiful and I would love to go back to explore it more. Still it was so nice to just lay down on the beach, relax and get some sun. The water was so refreshing, although I will admit I thought it would be warmer.
I also thought it was interesting how many people actually go topless at the beach. I knew it was more common to go topless at beaches in Europe, I always had this idea that certain parts of certain beaches were reserved for topless sunbathing. I never expected that so many people would be comfortable enough to wear nothing on top. I always thought Spain was generally more conservative than the United States but I’m starting to think it’s just more open about the human body. Where we (in the U.S.) have to blur or censor every private body part, Spaniards don’t blink an eye when a woman’s breasts are showing. I like the more open culture because breasts are a natural part of life and the body and the lack of censorship shows a lack of objectification.
After the beach, we went to Jerez to attend the Feria. Earlier that day we learned the Sevillana, a typical dance of Seville. One of my favorite moments at the Feria was actually seeing everyone dance the Sevillana at the restaurant. I just remember seeing a group of older women in their beautiful flamenco dresses dancing so gracefully and having a great time and it was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. I didn’t feel very confident in my own dancing but it was just fun to move along with the locals. I even danced with a few older women who were trying to teach me new moves and it was such a great experience.
