Plaza de España Round 2, Kayaking, Alcázar, and Bullfight!

Fair Warning: There are pictures from the bullfight in this blog that are pretty gory!

We finally got back from Málaga around 11 pm on Sunday.  Monday we were all so tired that we didn't want to do anything, so we all met at the Plaza de España and hung out.  It was a lot of fun!  All around the Plaza are tile portraits of different cities around Spain so we took pictures with all the ones we have been to or are going to.  I can't get over how gorgeous the Plaza is..pictures do NOT do it justice!

On Tuesday, we got to go on an excursion with ISA to kayak down the river.  It was a LOT of fun, but I got soaked and I was sore the next day!  We made a stop and the guides made us play a game-they picked two people and they had to switch kayaks, while in the water.  The first two chosen were Denver and my roommate, Stephanie.  The guy next to Denver wasn't holding the next guy's kayak, so Denver slipped a little and then Stephanie pushed him in the water so he got to swim in the nasty river.  It was an entertaining game but I definitely did not volunteer to play!  Two of the girls we were with had the hardest time-they tried to get in the kayak on the dock and then push themselves in the water, and then later they flipped their kayak!  Fortunately, Afhton and I never flipped ours.  We only got wet because the boys thought it was funny to splash everyone!

The girls who flipped!

Wednesday after class, a few of us went on a tour of Alcázar, the castle in Sevilla.  It was originally a Moorish fort.  It was primarily gardens, beautiful of course, and a few rooms.  The upper levels of it are still used by the Royal Family as their primary residence in Sevilla-but since there isn't air conditioning or indoor plumbing they actually stay at the Hotel Alfonso across the street!  This is the castle where the movie, Kingdom of Heaven is filmed!  The main scenes are in the Patio de las Doncellas-the Courtyard of Maidens.  Legend has it that to keep the Moors happy, the Christian kingdoms would provide them with 100 virgins.  I loved the scenery but my favorite part of the day was watching Denver's roommate, Will, chase a hen peacock to scare it to see her feathers...he didn't realize that only males have pretty feathers!  Denver and I got a good laugh out of that!

 One of many tapestries in the Tapestry Room

 I found Tunis on the map..home sweet home

 Patio de las Doncellas

 Ceiling covered in Gold Leaf

 If you find the faces of 2 dolls in here, you have good luck!  They are on either side of the bottom of the arch!

MJ, our precious ISA director, giving Denver some good info!

Thursday night was the night of the bullfight.  I didn't think it was going to be bad, but it was so sad and gory.  We watched 6, with 3 different matadors.  They start off with their team of about 4 or 5.  The matador will taunt the bull a little, just to get it mad.  Then, while he gets ready, his team taunt the bull and keep it angry by stabbing it with 6 different stake type things in the back.  That is definitely the hardest part to watch.  Then the matador comes back with a fake sword and his flag and does the fight.  Finally, after the bull is bloody and angry, the matador gets his real sword and stabs it in the back. The first kill was the hardest to watch and I definitely cried (I wasn't alone!).  Fortunately, that bull died instantly.  The rest of them were tougher and didn't die right away so they would have to come stab it many times.  It was the saddest thing.  Once the bull is dead, they tie a chain around his horns and connect it to two mules to drag and parade it around the stadium.  I'm glad I went so I can say I've seen one, but I have no desire to watch another one ever again.  PS-This is where the pictures get gross so skip this section if you don't want to see!

 Ran into the cutest Matador on the way to the fight! He's on the right!

 Front row seats were a bad idea...

 The bull about to be killed...those colors on its back are the stake-things they stab it with to make it angrier.

RIGHT in front of us. Most awful thing I have ever watched.

Friday we went out to the fería de Triana..basically a festival in a local neighborhood.  It was a blast!  Denver and I split a cotton candy that was probably the size of my body.  The streets were lined with tents full of food, drinks, and music.  It was SO much fun-I'm very happy we got to participate in a local festival! 

Saturday morning we left for Cordoba and Granada...I'll blog about that trip tomorrow!  Can't believe this is my last week here! :(

Málaga!

Last weekend was our only free weekend of the trip.  Denver, Brett, Afhton, and I decided to go to Málaga!  It was one of the most beautiful and exciting places I have ever been and the trip itself was quite the experience.  We decided to travel by train because that isn't something we get to do often.  We left after class last Friday and walked to the station.  We had about 2 hours to kill because we were a little eager to get there!  There were a lot of stores but our favorite was the candy store-we stocked up on gummy bears, gummy worms, candy necklaces, and other fun goodies!  We finally got on the train and were even more excited when we found out we had the group of 4 seats with a table in the middle (only 2 groups per car..the rest are like airplane seating!).

He loves candy necklaces!

When we finally arrived, we didn't know what we had gotten ourselves into.  We walked out of the train station into a rundown area with construction everywhere and very few people around.  Once we started getting closer to our hostel, we relaxed and realized we were staying in a good part of town!  We stayed at the Oasis Hostel and it wasn't a bad experience.  We walked in and got our beds..we were in an 8 person room so we had 4 random roommates.  Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 of us slept on top bunks, which Denver fell off of the second night!  It was a clean, cheap alternative to a hotel but I still prefer hotels!  On the way to the hostel, we found a spa that has the treatment where fish bite off the dead skin off your feet.  Of course we HAD to try it.  We unloaded all of our things at the and headed straight there.  

 Denver freaking out

 We LOVED it!

After our feet were all done, we went to explore.  We ended up eating dinner at some little cafe and didn't enjoy the food that much, so we opted for a second dinner of McDonald's after we explored a little more.  Our hostel was about a 10 minute walk to the harbor, and it was a GORGEOUS place.  There were stores and restaurants all around it, and so many people!  We found live music, an outdoor movie, little booths set up (one that sold only bikini bottoms!), and just had a great time!  After we explored that area, we walked down to the beach.  The beach isn't sandy-it's more like gravel so it wasn't that fun to walk on.  However, since it's a rocky beach, the water was unbelievably clear.  It was gorgeous.  We finished our adventure and went back to the hostel to go to bed to get ready for our early, early, early morning.

 A really pretty church we found!

 Where they only sell bikini bottoms..weird

A (blurry) view of the castle!

The next morning, we got up around 6:30 to catch a train to go scuba diving.  I was so tired but it was worth it!  The spot where we dived wasn't gorgeous-it was off the beach and a LOT of people were diving right there.  It was a really cool experience-I had a panic attack when I first got down to the bottom but then I realized I could breathe and I was fine.  The Bahamas definitely had prettier reefs and everything, but it was cool to be down that deep and still be able to breathe and everything!  I definitely plan on getting certified when I get back!

After we dove, we went back to the hostel for a siesta.  Then we got ready and went to dinner and out for the night.  It was so much fun!  The next morning we had to check out by 11:30 and our train wasn't until 8.  Fortunately, the hostel allowed us to keep our bags in a locker there while we hung out around the city.  We found the Picasso museum and saw so much of his art-I don't like Picasso's art all that much but it was really neat to see art that is so famous.  We weren't allowed to take pictures but I snuck one of a piece called "The Acrobat".

We got to the airport a little early so we could have time to eat Burger King.  We then shopped around the airport and played cards.  When we got on the train, Afhton, Denver, and I sat together and Brett had to sit in a completely different car.  We played cards for about an 1 1/2 hours and it was a lot of fun.  

 Denver's pants ripped

Absolutely beautiful church near our hostel

Trains!

These past few days have been busy-we toured a castle, went to a bullfight, and we're touring the Flamenco Museum today.  My next blog will hopefully be later today, so be looking out for it!