Land of the Eternal Sun

I often extol the virtues of travelling with a flexible plan. This past week has been a prime example of why it is a better way to travel. It's easy to be tempted into purchasing cheap tickets well in advance to save on airfare etc... but long-term travelling is a different mentality. Based on a few opinions I'd heard and a general gut feeling I almost opted out of visiting Seville. When I decided it was time to move on from Madrid, I had a general idea to go to the Andalusia region. I really hadn't decided on which city to visit until I was at the ticket counter.

I splurged on a comfortable and fast AVE train to Seville and with no hostel booked arrived to a thermometer reading 40 C with no clouds in sight. Being new to Spain I was fooled by a typical Spanish map that feels ambivalent about orienting North at the top. I had a destination in mind but ended up modifying a 20 minute walk into a 2 hour hike. Had I had the foresight of direction to maybe load up the google map for Seville, some effort could have been avoided. But after all I made it and besides feeling like I had gone swimming, I felt good. With the intention of staying for a night or two I booked in for a single night. It has now been a week of waking up, extending my stay by a day and having a different amazing day.

Staying in a smaller hostel makes for a much more social atmosphere. Every day has resulted in a fresh group of disparate travellers forming into an interesting unity. It's really good to hear opinions and stories that come from very different places than your own. One day involved going to the top of an 800 year old tower (the Giralda), then later a rumba show which started at half past midnight and involving select senior couples dancing in a very intense way. Renting bikes, taking world-class bike paths and going for a picnic by the river at the edge of town was a highlight, also having a rooftop jam session with a really cool young Brazilian guy who quit his job as a lawyer to travel the world studying different musical styles in order to become a musican. A chess match with spectators followed by an evening at a local pub having intense philisophical discussions about the meaning and value of youth, career and charity will be hard to forget. Sitting in a cafe patio overlooking the largest wooden structure (scuplture?) in the world while listening to an Argentinian with a moderate level of English and a thick accent mimicking a posh London girl for her accent was hilarious. Double-double on the accent layers. Even the less exciting moments like being duped by a pair of pretty young Spanish girls into walking for 30 minutes to a club for two free drinks each was fun just for the walk with the fun crew. Even today was great. It may turn out to be my last day in Seville and I accomplished just about nothing except walking around with the flying Dutchman trying to decipher at what time the siesta would end and we could play pool. Tapas culture has won me over which might mean that I can't return to the pace of life back home...