Rome!

Easter Sunday 

It was a very long day of traveling. From Santa Justa Estación, we took the train to Madrid, from the Madrid station we took a train to terminal four in the airport, and from terminal four we took a bus to terminal one. However, that was almost very disastrous because we needed to get to terminal two for our flight and so when it stopped at terminal one we remained on the bus thinking that it would continue on to our terminal. When we heard people mentioning the train station in Madrid, we became concerned that the bus was potentially going to go all the way back to the first train station we arrived at in Madrid, which would put us in jeopardy of missing our flight. So when a fellow passenger informed us that we needed to get off at terminal one, we started trying to get the bus driver to open the door, and after a couple other people chimed in and came to our aid, the door opened at last much to my great relief. Then we weren’t exactly sure how to get to terminal two, so  we began walking along the outside of terminal one until we came to this restricted looking zone and realized that we were definitely going in the wrong direction. Then we backtracked and actually went into the airport, discovering that there were signs pointing towards our desired terminal. So after a rather long and exhausting walk, lugging my really heavy carry-on and checked bag, we arrived at the right place and we even made it about a half hour before boarding time.

Once we headed out our gate to board the plane, we discovered that all of the passengers had to board a shuttle bus to get to the plane because it was way out in the middle of nowhere in the airport. Finally we arrived at our plane, but the crew wasn’t ready for us to board so instead of letting us out of the bus we were shut inside in the crowded and hot space suffocating for a good ten minutes. Anyways, we finally boarded the plane and it was really big, having eight seats to a row, and at long last we arrived in Rome. Then we had to take a half-hour train to Termini Station in the center of the city, which happens to be ideally located right next to our hotel. After what seemed like hours and hour of traveling, we finally checked in to our hotel, called the Champagne Palace.

Then we set out to find something for supper. We ended up giving in to a persuasive guy outside this pizza place who convinced us to eat there, so we got a pizza to split that was very satisfying and the price wasn’t terrible. However, as we were waiting to pay after, some sort of brawl broke out in the front of the place, and I couldn’t see what was happening very well due to being back in a corner, but a guy who came in later had a swollen eye so it certainly got a little too violent for my tastes. Two women, who were also eating there, were so freaked out that they went and hid under the tables next to us, making me a little concerned. Since the brawl happened just outside the door, we were a little nervous as to if it was safe to leave, so we waited for a bit and when these three American guys left, we took the opportunity to follow them out and safely arrived back at our hotel. I definitely won’t be visiting that part of the area to eat anymore. That experience made me want to go back to my comfortable lifestyle in Sevilla, where I never felt afraid to just go out and eat somewhere at night. Not the greatest ending to my Easter Sunday, but things improved a lot in the light of day.

Monday

                I woke up at 6:25am in order to get an early start on sightseeing.  To see as much as possible in so short a time, early mornings were a necessity. The first stop of the day was to Vatican City since we wanted to beat the long lines by going in the morning. It was amazing! I went up the 320+ steps to the top of the dome of St. Peter’s and the view was definitely worth the climb and price.

                Then I wound up in the gift shop on the roof and made a couple purchases before it was all the way back down into the Basilica. I could have spent many more hours just taking everything in; however, I managed to get through seeing everything, including JPII’s tomb and the Pieta, as well as go to Mass and still was out before one.  Then we wandered around in the square taking pictures and also tried to figure out where we were to get the tickets for the Wednesday Papal Audience. We knew it was at the Bronze door, but when we found the door, it was mostly blocked by a gate making it seem like people were not supposed to pass through there. So we asked some guy in a suit that seemed like security of sorts, and he said that was the way to get the tickets. We then went back and passed by the gate, with a bunch of people giving us weird stares because it looked like we were going into out of bounds area, and approached the Swiss Guard. As we neared him, another Swiss Guard came over to us looking a little surprised, and we informed him that we were trying to secure tickets for the Audience, to which he gave us some, but I don’t feel like we necessarily went about it in the correct manner. I was just glad we got the tickets though.

                                                            Tomb of JPII

                                                            The Pieta!

                                                      The super cool Swiss Guards

                Our next stop was to see if the Vatican Museum had a long line, but it ended up being closed for Easter Monday. So that was the first thing on the agenda for Tuesday. Then we got some amazing gelato, (my first official gelato in Italy!), for our lunch before heading back on the metro. Then we went to the Basilica of St. John Lateran and the Holy Stairs. The Holy Stairs was quite the experience, let me tell you. Next we went to the Church of the Holy Cross and got to see an actual piece of Christ’s cross, a couple nails and the inscription that was on the cross. As an extra bonus, St. Thomas’ finger was there as well.

                                                            The Holy Stairs

                Then we took the metro to the Spanish steps and sat there for a little bit in the sunshine. For Roman Holiday fans, it is where Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn were in part of the movie. How cool! 

                                                             The Spanish Steps

                After that we walked all the way to the Trevi Fountain and I had to throw a penny in of course, then we passed by some shops and wound up trying on fun masks in one of them. Eventually we walked to the Pantheon and took pictures outside it before walking to the entrance and realizing that it had closed five minutes before we arrived. Kind of a bummer, but we planned to go back at an earlier time. Our last stop of the day was to the Piazza Navona where we watched this amazing artist make awesome creations with spray paint. In a matter of five minutes she whipped up artwork that was so detailed and beautiful that I wanted to buy one so bad, but I don’t know how I would have taken it back with me. After staying there longer than we should have, we rushed back to the nearest metro stop in about a half hour in order to get back to Termini Station before the metro closed at nine. I don’t know why it closed so early in Rome, but it was kind of inconvenient. It was extremely packed on the metro due to it being closing time, and when the Termini stop came there was such a mad rush to get off that one guy got completely pushed out and another girl was knocked to the floor and almost trampled. A little scary; I was just glad that I wasn’t standing right next to the doors when they opened.

                                                  Throwing a penny into the Trevi Fountain

                                                Cat mask!

                                                The Pantheon

Tuesday

                We got up with the birds again, and managed to avoid a really long wait in line for the Vatican Museum. We only had to wait about a half hour or so, and that was because we were there a good twenty minutes before it opened. It was very neat seeing the Sistine Chapel as well as some cool paintings by artists like Raphael.  We also saw a bunch of really old statues, some maps, pope carriages and cars and also Egyptian artifacts including a couple mummies, which were a little gross. We ended up missing a couple rooms on the way through to the Sistine Chapel, so we had to backtrack a little bit, but in the end we saw pretty much everything in about two and a half hours.

                                         A cool hall full of old maps in the Vatican Museum

                                                Spiral Staircase in the Museum

                Our next stop was to Santo Spirito Church that Jenny discovered when she was in Rome and we made it just in time because after about ten minutes a nun bolted the door and had to let us out afterwards. After that we went to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum which was a little pricey, but since we got to see both, it was worth it. The Forum was basically a bunch of ancient roman ruins that had some cool pillars and arches scattered about, but it was interesting. The Colosseum was really neat though causing me to take way too many pictures. After that we went to St. Peter in Chains Church that had the chains used to bind St. Peter and then we went to the St. Paul Outside the Wall Basilica that had the chains used to bind St. Paul as well as his tomb. It was definitely a cool church to visit, and as an added bonus, all along the top of the walls are the images of all the popes since St. Peter through to Pope Benedict XVI. From there we went to the Basilica of Mary Major which was the last of the four major basilicas in Rome that we had yet to visit. It also happened to be less than five minutes away from our hotel, so after a visit there, we were able to just walk back to the hotel and relax for a little bit before heading out again to access the internet at an internet shop in order to print out a confirmation ticket for a tour in London.  Overall it was a successful day in regards to sightseeing, but also very exhausting and I was dead on my feet by the time we were done for the day.

                                                           Roman Forum

                                          Some beautiful flowers in the forum

                                               The Colosseum

                                               An outside view of the Colosseum 

Wednesday

                I went to the Papal Audience and saw the Pope! We managed to get seats in the front row of the second section and he went right by us twice. It was so cool seeing him and being so close! None of my pictures came out that great because the ones that aren’t blurry are the ones that he is not looking in my direction, but it was still an incredible experience.

                                                    The Pope!

                In the afternoon we got pizza for lunch because that is the Italian thing to do, and then we went to the Pantheon which used to be a Roman temple of sorts but was converted into a church. It was neat to see and it is probably the only church I’ve ever seen that has a hole intentionally in the roof. From there we stopped for some gelato, because in Italy gelato is an absolute must, and then we went church exploring. We visited a church that I believe might have been called Minerva, but I’m not a hundred percent sure about that. It was huge and beautiful, like a lot of churches in Rome, and the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena was there. It also had a chapel dedicated to my patron St. Rose of Lima, which was sweet. Then we visited a little church that we passed along the way to St. Ignatius, that I’m not sure of its name, but it was pretty. St. Ignatius was also huge and beautiful and had the tombs of some saints who I didn’t recognize. Then we visited another church called Gesu and it was also cool and had a couple of hands as relics, one being from St. Francis Xavier and the other I couldn’t find a name with.  We then stumbled across another church called St. Luigi that was really huge and had some impressive paintings as well as a chapel dedicated to St. Cecilia who is my confirmation saint. Our last church of the day was as we were heading back to the metro and we encountered this huge church called St. Andrew. It had the tombs of some saints, but I don’t believe any were very well known.

                                                 Ceiling of Pantheon

Once we were back on the metro, we stopped at a shop near the Vatican to see if any good photos were taken of us near the Pope. Unfortunately, both the pictures with me in them had my face totally covered by the camera of the girl standing beside me. Even if I don’t have a picture of me with the Pope, it was awesome being there and I have pictures of him anyway.

For supper we went to a relatively fancy restaurant that the receptionist recommended, because we had to at least once get pasta in Italy. So I got spaghetti, bread and water for around ten euros. Not a great deal, but I couldn’t leave Italy without eating some truly Italian food other than gelato. 

Semana Santa and Adiós

Monday (April 2)

                It rained and then it poured. Only two processions even braved beginning during a slight reprieve from the rain, and that turned out to be a mistake that required seeking shelter in the nearest church. Although I had to work and so missed all the action when the two processions had to take refuge, Jaime and I watched what was going on through Sevilla’s news channel online. I also had the task of updating any of our clients that wanted information about the situation of processions. One American lady and her daughter decided to attempt to see one of the processions and were successful; however, when they returned they were drenched despite their umbrellas and they had me take their picture in order to remember the occasion. I felt really bad for all the brotherhoods and the huge disappointment it was for them. Especially because some of them missed last year as well due to the rain, so two years in a row is quite a bummer.

Tuesday

                Tuesday was the suspenseful waiting game. The threat of rain lingered throughout the afternoon, causing a lot of brotherhoods to cancel their processions, however it wasn’t until around 6:30pm that the rain actually began. There were also some thunder claps mixed in with the rain but it wasn’t quite as heavy as Monday. But rain is rain, and as a result not a single procession took place. I couldn't believe that we would get the rain practically every day during Semana Santa, after months without a drop. This would happen during the only week that rain was not desired. 

Wednesday

No rain at last!!! All nine processions took place without a problem. Unfortunately, due to being at work until nine, I missed seeing three of them. However as I was leaving work I was able to see the largest procession of the night, that consisted of 2,400 Nazarenos from the brotherhood of San Bernardo, that passed by a street right next to the hotel. It was super packed everywhere and in the process of trying to get near to the Cathedral, I found myself squashed between a mass of people and it is very lucky I’m not claustrophobic or it would have been my worst nightmare. I finally managed to free myself from the throng of humanity, and secured a spot that was a relatively good viewing place for the processions, except for a little tree that put up a leafy blockade. However, after La Lanzada procession finished, some people left and I was able to get a position just in front of the tree. It was a perfect spot because I could lean against the tree (standing for hours and hours gets a little tiresome) and I also had a great view of the processions with La Giralda in the background. The only bummer was that with the darkness of night, a lot of what would have been amazing photos, came out really blurry or dim. I got some relatively good ones though, and it made for a great memory anyway.

Of the last four to leave the Cathedral, three of the processions passed by me. They were Cristo de Burgos; that had two pasos, Siete Palabras; that had three, and Los Panaderos; that had two. During the times when the pasos went by, a man came out on a balcony and began to sing in honor of them, and whenever someone sporadically sings from a balcony, the procession halts until they finish. The type of song, which I’m sure has a name but I don’t know or remember, is very uniquely Spanish and kind of has a flamenco-type feel to it. Witnessing a Semana Santa procession is quite the experience, that is for certain.

It was after one in the morning before the last procession finished leaving the Cathedral and I didn’t make it back to the apartment until around 1:30am. Concepción was asleep with the TV on, but fortunately she had left me a sandwich and some fruit for supper, which I had no problem eating since I was more than a little hungry by that point. It was a long day, but definitely worth it to finally get to see some more processions. Wednesday was also the beginning of endings, because I finished my internship at the hotel. Strange how fast it went.

Thursday & Friday

                I waited in the Plaza del Duque for about three hours to no avail. It had seemed like a promising day because it started out with the sun shining and barely any clouds in the sky. However, the forecast for rain was too daunting to the brotherhoods and one after another they all ended up canceling their processions. I had figured at least one would attempt it, but no. Such a bummer.  It did end up raining a bit, but not very hard or for a long time. We ended up seeing one set of pasos though by going to the Chapel of Monte-Sión since they had opened it up for public to view them.

Monte-Sion Pasos

 We spent a couple suspenseful hours watching updates online at Paige’s house in order to see if any of the Madruga (Good Friday morning) processions would go out. During our wait, Paige’s host parents informed us that there were centurions doing a ceremony at the Basilica of Jesús del Gran Poder and that we should go see it. So we went out and watched, from afar due to the huge crowd, a group of men dressed as centurions performing as a band. I learned that they are a part of the brotherhood of the Macarena, and so when they finished at Gran Poder, they headed off to join up with their church. In order to see them closer up, Paige and I did some fast walking/running through some side streets in order to cross paths with them at a less crowded spot. After successfully getting a picture of them, we headed back to Paige’s house and continued the waiting game.

Good news arrived at last as we learned that the Macarena procession had begun at midnight. Then it was off to Plaza del Duque to get a good spot to see it. We were there a few hours before it was scheduled to arrive and those hours of waiting were super tough thanks to it being one of the coldest nights Sevilla’s had in weeks. It didn’t help that I was only wearing a sweater since when I left the apartment at three in the afternoon it wasn’t nearly as cold. While we were waiting though we were able to see at a distance the processions from El Silencio and El Gran Poder pass by. It would have been really convenient if all the processions passed by the same part of the plaza, however, while we had picked good spots to see the Macarena, El Silencio came by on the street at the other end and Gran Poder by yet another street next to the plaza. At around 3am the Macarena began processing by and due to having about 3200 Nazarenos, it didn’t finish going past us until 4:30am.

                                                        La Macarena

After the Macarena we headed off to the Basilica of Jesús del Gran Poder in order to get a good spot to see the procession return at 7am. We were some of the first people there and so we were able to sit on a bench in the plaza just outside the church. Again we had another freezing wait and the hours certainly dragged on. Finally the plaza became packed with people and the procession arrived. We watched until the paso of Jesus entered the church and then we were off to find the Esperanza de Triana procession. On our way, we saw the Mary paso for Los Gitanos go through the Duque as well as the Calvario paso enter Magdalena. By the time we arrived at the street that Esperanza de Triana was processing down, it was around 8:30am and despite the sun coming out, it was still really cold. The Esperanza de Triana paso was probably my favorite of all the Mary’s I’ve seen and with the sun shining down on it, it looked absolutely gorgeous. It was definitely worth staying up all night to see it.

                                                     Esperanza de Triana

Finally I arrived back at the apartment at around 9:40am and went straight to sleep. I didn’t get up until five, but I still felt exhausted. I’m definitely not the type of person that can handle staying up all night on a regular basis, because that was super draining. However, it made for a Good Friday experience like none other.

I ended up going back out around 9pm to see the procession of La O that was going by the street right next to mine. I could see it from my balcony, but I wanted to get some pictures of the Nazarenos in purple as well as the pasos, so I decided to brave the crowds. During all the processions there are some Nazarenos that hand out pictures of their statues or caramelos (caramels), but normally to children. However, during the Macarena procession, this one Nazareno must have taken pity on Paige and me shivering in the cold and so he gave us each a caramelo and then he also handed me a picture of the Macarena statue. I’m not going to lie I was a little jealous of all the children getting the little pictures because they would have made great souvenirs, so I was thrilled when I received one. Then the police officer standing in front of me started giving me all the pictures that he was handed by the Nazarenos and so I received three from him overall. Then when the procession of La O went by a lady next to me handed me a picture of Mary that she’d received from a Nazareno. I don’t know why people randomly decided to give their pictures, but I certainly wasn’t going to refuse any.

                                                      La O

After La O, I went back to the apartment, only to see on TV about fifteen minutes later that the procession from Montserrat was about to go by the street that I’d just been on. So out I went and secured a spot right along the sideline. I had seen the pasos in the Montserrat Chapel already but it is definitely more exciting to see them out in the processions. The Nazarenos for Montserrat were my favorite with their white and blue attire. There was also a girl in the procession that carried a veil with the imprint of Jesus’s face on it which was really neat and something different from all the other processions.

                                          Montserrat
   

Saturday

                It had seemed like forever until I’d leave when I first arrived. Now that the time had arrived and it was my last full day in Sevilla, I found myself not wanting to leave. It’s not that I can’t wait to see other places in Europe and go home as well, but the realization that this life in Sevilla is over for good, is rather a sad thought. I met up with Paige and we sat in the Plaza de Encarnación for a little while eating a farewell yogurt. We both had tons of packing to do, but at the same time, I hated to miss a second of the last memory of a sunshiny afternoon in Sevilla, Spain. I spent a good chunk of time packing and then ate a yummy lunch of green vegetable soup, ham omelet, and a plateful of strawberries with sugar. I normally eat supper with Concepción, but since I had to go to the Easter Vigil Mass since Sunday was spent traveling, I had lunch for a change. After lunch I asked Concepción if I could take a picture of us together and she was very happy to oblige. I couldn’t leave without at least a picture to remember her by and I also promised to send a copy to her once I’m back in the States.

                                                  A yummy Spanish lunch

                                                 Concepción and me

 In the late afternoon I went out and watched a couple of the Holy Saturday processions and then it was back to packing. Before I headed to Mass, I went out to Plaza Nueva for the last time to see the unique Santo Entierro procession which had a paso that depicted a skeleton sitting in front of the cross, as well as a paso that consisted of a glass tomb with a statue of Christ inside it. It also was really an interesting to see procession because aside from the brotherhood that sponsored it, all the other brotherhoods had a couple members participate, so there were all sorts of different attired Nazarenos.

                                                      Santo Entierro paso

 I wanted to see the whole procession, which included another paso, however I didn’t know how packed Mass would get so I reluctantly bid farewell to the plaza and the last procession that I’d be able to see, and hurried to Jesús del Gran Poder. It turned out that I could have stayed for the end since the doors didn’t open until 11pm and so I ended up being relatively early. The Easter Vigil Mass was just like in the States, with the Easter Candle lighting ceremony at the beginning as well as all of us getting candles. The Mass didn’t end until one and as I was walking back to the apartment I passed by a lot of Nazarenos who were heading to their homes after having just finished their procession, La Soledad, that was from the church right next door to Gran Poder. Despite the cold, I didn’t want the walk back to be over, as I tried to take in every little thing about my familiar surroundings. It has been a great experience living in Sevilla, and I’m going to miss the Spanish way of life, with its sunny plazas, lively streets, and easy-going manner.

Sunday

                I overslept, and if it weren’t for the music from the last procession of Semana Santa going by the street next to mine, I would have potentially missed the train. Thanks to the drums and trumpets, I was up at 7:30, giving me a half hour to scramble with last minute packing and breakfast, before heading out to meet Paige. I wish I’d gotten up earlier just so I could have spent a little more time with Concepción, however, she offered to help me bring my luggage out to where we’d get the taxi, giving us a little more time before saying our goodbyes. All too soon, I hugged my madre española goodbye and bid farewell to the wonderful city of Sevilla. Ya la echo de menos.

               I am now in London at the moment and everything is going great, however, I'm paying five pounds for an hour of internet use and really don't have time to put up any of the happenings from  Rome or here. I know that at least in Ireland I'll have internet access in the hotels I'm staying at so maybe I'll have time to put up more recent blogs there...

Semana Santa Begins!

Saturday

                It was another rainy day in Sevilla. Why it would decide to rain frequently now after so many weeks without a single drop is beyond me. I don’t mind rain, but not now when it’s Semana Santa. Despite the rain, that really wasn’t very heavy, I ventured out to meet up with Paige. I bought a sweatshirt for myself that was rather an impulsive buy, however it was the cheapest price I’d seen so far and it said “I love Sevilla” which is the first we’ve encountered in Sevilla. I had previously believed they just didn’t sell sweatshirts here since I’ve been in many shops without seeing any. However, thanks to Paige’s diligent browsing through souvenir shops in her free time, we now both possess legit Sevilla sweatshirts.

                We had planned on visiting some more churches in order to see pasos, but they were all closed in the early afternoon, so we ended up watching some more Next Great Baker episodes while we waited for things to open up. Our second attempt at visiting churches, around seven, was more successful and we saw pasos in San Lorenzo, Jesús de Gran Poder, El Salvador and Capilla de Montserrat. We also tried to get into Magdalena because they were having a ceremony for putting the Calvary statues up on the paso and I’m sure it would have been really cool to see. Unfortunately, the huge church was so packed that we couldn’t even get through the doors and from our position trying to look in from outside, it was impossible to make out what was going on. So we split up to go eat supper and after were then going to try to go to a special Mass and ceremony at eleven for kissing the hands of the most famous Jesus statue in Sevilla, Jesús de Gran Poder. Concepción wanted to come with me so we met up with Paige at the church at ten and waited in line until the church doors were opened and then it was a mad rush to get seats. In a matter of seconds the church was full and we managed to snag seats in the very last row that didn’t provide the greatest view thanks to people standing in front of us, but it was better than nothing. After the Mass and the long wait in line to kiss the statue, we left the church around midnight and I was astounded to see that the line of people waiting to get into the church and kiss the statue wrapped all the way around the plaza. And so began the crowds of people and Semana Santa excitement.

                                                            San Lorenzo Virgin

                                                            Jesús de Gran Poder

                                                   La Borriquita

Sunday

                I went to a Palm Sunday Mass in San Lorenzo Church and instead of the palms that we receive in the U.S., we all got olive branches. The Mass lasted for about an hour and a half and I didn’t make it in time for a seat, so that was a little difficult, but standing for hours is going to become the norm with all the processions to watch. Once I met up with Paige, we went to Plaza del Duque in order to stake out a spot to view the processions, since the majority of them pass through Duque. However, the rain began an on and off type of game that caused four brotherhoods to cancel their processions which was quite a disappointment. Also, La Borriquita, which was the supposed to be the first procession and is of Jesus riding on a donkey, was moved back to leaving around ten at night with another procession called El Amor.  Fortunately the rain did stop after a while, and so we got to see San Roque, La Amargura,  La Borriquita and El Amor, plus La Estrella from a distance.

                We were lucky enough to get right up in the front for the majority of the processions we saw, and it made for a lot of great photo opportunities. I think I took over 500 photos, which was definitely too much and it will take me forever to go through them all. We ended up standing and watching/waiting from eight to midnight and the processions weren’t too far apart from each other, so it wasn’t a terribly long time waiting. Once it got dark, it was super cool to see the Nazarenos with their candles and especially the gorgeous pasos all lit up. One really exciting moment was when this huge paso of Christ stopped right in front of us in order for the costaleros (carriers) to switch out for a reprieve. When the men had switched out, the paso was lifted back up in a rapid jerk that was startling but impressive. The Nazarenos, the people wearing the outfits with the tall hoods called capirotes, ranged from adults to little children and in la Borriquita procession there were tons of children since that one was supposed to be in the early afternoon and be done before dark. The child Nazarenos and some of the adults would give out candy to the watching children and so all the little kids would stick out their hands every time Nazarenos walked by.

                                                             Paso from San Roque

                                                Paso from La Amargura

                                                Paso from El Amor

                                                            The last paso of the night

Monday

Since it is raining today, such a bummer, already some of the processions have been canceled. The only good thing about it is that I don't need to deal with the crowds to get to work, so I can leave around my usual time instead of close to an hour earlier. I will probably only be able to access the internet a couple more times before I leave, since the school closes this Wednesday, and I'm not sure about the plaza, depending on crowds. So this is potentially the last post until Italy. Exciting and sad all at the same time. Hasta luego.

A week away from goodbye...

Monday

                It wasn’t a bad Monday, and it was strange to think that it was already my last Monday with a full week of work ahead of me. I met with Carlos and we had a nice visit in a large plaza called the Alameda de Hercules. Then I used the internet, like always on Mondays. Work was really boring because all three check-ins that happened while I was there happened within fifteen minutes and the rest of the time neither Jaime nor I had much of anything to do. It was so slow at the hotel that Jaime told me I could leave at 7:30 if I wanted since there wasn’t any reason for me to stay any longer. It wasn’t exactly fun being bored out of my mind at work; however it was worth it to be able to leave early.

Tuesday

                I did some more plaza visiting again on Tuesday; this time to Plaza Nueva, which I frequent on a regular basis for the internet, and Plaza de la Encarnación. Plaza de la Encarnación is the plaza that has the setas that I visited on Sunday; however, while I was there I forgot to take a picture of the entire structure from down below, so I decided to return in order to get some pictures that better reveal the mushroom shape.

Aside from working at the hotel reception desk on Tuesday, I spent over an hour working in the administration office doing random things that needed to be done as well as a little bit of helping out Javier in the apartments. I didn’t mind a little variety at work since it helped to pass the time and it made things a little more interesting.

Wednesday

                I met with Carlos again and we ended up going to Triana which is a large neighborhood of Sevilla that is across the river from where I live in the center. We went to a church that I had visited on my first weekend in Sevilla when I went to a concert that Concepción was in, and this time the pasos for Semana Santa were on display. One of the pasos has the statue of Mary called Esperanza de Triana, which is very similar to the Macarena statue of Mary, and according to Carlos there is a little bit of rivalry between the two churches because of their similar Mary statues. We walked to a couple of different churches in order to potentially see other pasos out in preparation for the upcoming week’s events; however of the three churches we tried, two weren’t open at all, and the last one charged a three euro fee to enter so we decided against going in. It was neat though seeing the pasos for la Esperanza de Triana, especially because that is one of the most significant processions and takes place on Good Friday. The pasos for this procession leave the church at 2:10am and arrive at the Cathedral at 6:15am and finally return at 1:30 in the afternoon, the whole time each is carried by forty to fifty men that switch out every twenty minutes. It will be super crazy and there will be people everywhere, either watching or participating in a procession, because there are usually at least three to six going on at a time. I’m super excited to see as many processions as possible and I hope it doesn’t rain because rain in the forecast means no processions which would be a bummer, especially if it rained on the most important day of processions, Good Friday.

Thursday

                I decided to go visit the Basilica de la Macarena again because although I’ve been there twice before I always forget my camera. This time I went prepared and I was excited to see that both of the pasos were on display so it was a perfect time to get some photos. The two pasos for the Macarena are of the condemned Jesus and the Virgin. I wish I had time to visit all the churches before Semana Santa in order to see up close all of the pasos, because the ones I’ve seen so far are super ornate and beautiful, but alas, there just isn’t enough time so I’ll have to be content with seeing them from a distance during the processions.

Friday

                I only have three days of work left after today. It’s hard to believe how time flies. I felt like the internship would take forever and now I’m practically done. Once the processions start taking place next week it will make getting to work a little trickier since the hotel is on the opposite side of the main street that all the processions take. Carlos showed me a way to get across to the other side that seems achievable so I’ll give it a try on Monday. The worst that can happen is that I’ll be rather late to work.

                

Another weekend gone too fast

Friday Night

                We finally saw a flamenco show on Friday! The show began a little before eleven and the place was packed full of people so we were lucky to get a seat even though we arrived a good fifteen or so minutes before it began. There were three performers: a guitarist, singer, and dancer. It wasn’t my favorite type of music, but it was neat to see and definitely a good cultural experience. The show ended around midnight and as we were walking back we stopped to take pictures of the Giralda and Cathedral at night. It is a great view that I get to see every night when I leave work, and since I finally had my camera on me, it seemed like a good opportunity to get some pictures to remember it by. We decided to be impulsive and get some ice cream at a shop right next to the Cathedral because it was still open even though it was after midnight and the temptation was too great to resist. Plus it was a perfect way to end the night.

Once back at the apartment, I found myself stuck in the hallway because Concepción had tied the door to the TV/dining area (which leads to my room) shut from the inside with a scarf so the dog couldn’t get in and she was sound asleep with headphones in her ears. I tried uselessly to budge the door open enough to reach the knot but after several unsuccessful attempts I resorted to banging on the door and I even tried flashing on and off the hallway lights in the hope that she’d somehow see it. When I was about to resign myself to a night spent in the hallway, Concepción woke up finally and let me in. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t stay out late often, or else I’d more likely than not have that happen on a regular basis.

Saturday

                It rained all day Saturday. It wouldn’t have mattered that much, if it wasn’t for the fact that we had made plans to see the Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring) and the gardens of the Real Alcazar (Royal Palace). We still went to see both since the rain wasn’t super heavy or anything, but it made for a dreary day. The Plaza de Toros was all basically in a covered area so that was nice and it was cool seeing Sevilla’s bullfighting ring and also small museum and chapel. The museum had some bull heads from famous fights, as well as paintings of toreros (bullfighters) and some traditional costumes as well.

                Fortunately, the rain subsided to an extent while were in the gardens of the Alcazar and so I was able to take a good amount of pictures without fear of getting my camera all wet. We had been to the gardens when we went on our earlier visit with CLIC, however, we didn’t have time to see all of it so we wanted to return in order to finish on our own. This time flowers were blooming and things seemed a little greener so it was more opportune for photos. There is also a labyrinth in the gardens which was fun to explore. Right as we were getting ready to wrap up our visit, the rain increased, so it was pretty good timing overall. 

             Then we headed to Paige’s place in order to watch an episode from the Next Great Baker since the rain made it acceptable to do something indoors. On the way we picked up some Napolitanos which are our favorite pastry filled with chocolate that we both have a weakness for. It made a great lunch, although I probably could have eaten a couple of them to be honest. Despite the rain I’d say it was a good Saturday.

Sunday

                We went to Mass at the Cathedral for the first time Sunday and because of some work being done on the high altar, Mass was held in the choir, opposite it. After Mass, which despite being in the Cathedral was still very short, we wrapped up our Spain souvenir shopping at a great little shop right along the busy Avenida de la Constitución. For a late lunch we made a return trip to Buoni, the pizza place that we found at the beginning of our stay, and this time I got patatosa which is potato pizza and actually pretty good.

                We then paid a visit to the setas, which means mushrooms, and it is basically a building of sorts that is in the form of giant mushrooms and has a museum, shops, conference rooms, and at the very top, a viewing platform. The view at the top was nice and allowed us to see the Giralda, Plaza de España, a ton of church spires, and other various structures of interest. After we satisfied our picture-taking desire, we indulged in a frozen yogurt treat that was perfect for a warm and sunny day. Sunday is the spring-ahead an hour day here, so it was strange how bright it was so late and even after I was heading back to the apartment at 8pm it seemed as bright as midday out. It will be strange getting done work every day now with the sun still out, but I don’t mind.