Pre-Departure Lazy Weekend

Pizza Party!

'Twas a lazy and rainy weekend in Sevilla. On Friday, it took me a long time to recover from Thanksgiving the night before. I should never eat again after that meal. In the evening and through the pouring rain, I went to Rebecca's house where she and her roommate Nina were making pizzas for her roommate's Italian friends. The pizza was incredible - she used her Italian friend's mother's recipe. It made me miss Italy and want to go back there soon. It was also good Spanish practice, which I haven't gotten enough of recently. I called it an "early" night and headed home around 2 am.

Saturday was equally rainy and gross out so it was another lazy day. I think I left the apartment only once to run a soaked errand. I was totally fine being lazy this weekend because I have a crazy two weeks ahead of me (more on that later). I finished reading, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," which was wonderful. I've never read as fast or as much as I am in Sevilla, and I'm loving it.

Patio Inside the Cathedral

On Sunday, I did loads (pun intended) of laundry on the only nice day of the weekend. Unfortunately, not everything dried in the cold weather and it's raining again today, so I have a drying rack taking up most of my room. In the afternoon, despite having acquired a cold during the previous night, I went to do some touristy adventures with Rebecca and Nina. We wandered around the Cathedral, which I realized I will be doing a lot in the coming month with my groups of visitors. We climbed La Giralda and got our exercise for the day. It is just so gorgeous up there - I could stay forever...if it had food and bathrooms. Rebecca had a strong craving for Chinese food so we indulged her and went to a Chinese restaurant. I have heard that the Chinese food in Sevilla is not good, and I have heard correctly. It was edible but it was not nearly as good as it is in America. Of course, since we're in Spain, the rice had ham in it. It was a satisfying meal, but I think I'll stick to the tapas from now on. Then we had a café con leche (only my second cup since coming to Spain) in an Irish pub. It was wonderful just sitting and chatting for hours, especially since I don't think I'll get to see Nina again before she returns to Germany. :( I came home, chatted with Brenna and Rosa before they boarded their planes to Madrid (!!!!), and relaxed before bed.

View from La Giralda

Despite yet another day of pouring rain, I had many things to take care of today so I bundled up and headed out. First, I went to the library and got some more books. Somehow, whenever I leave the library, I cannot figure out where I am and end up in Puerta Jerez, which is not where I mean to go. I cannot figure out why it is impossible for me to just go back the way I came. One day. Then I went to Nervión Plaza and bought some gloves for the freezing weather in Belgium. I changed my phone plan at Vodafone to something that sounds perfect - now I have 350 free texts per month for 9 euros, which I can spend on phone calls. I don't know why they couldn't have told me this was available the first time I went there, but now it's all good. Then I got my first haircut in Spain. The hairdresser used an electric razor and I gave her a very scared look when she first took it out. I think it ended up looking good, but I need to style it myself to really know.

This evening will be dedicated to packing for the big trip ahead. On Wednesday night, I am flying with Rebecca and Julia to Brussels. Then we are heading to Ghent and continuing on to Bruges on Friday. On Sunday, I fly from Brussels to Madrid to meet up with Brenna and Rosa. And we move on to Barcelona next Thursday. By the way, welcome to Spain, Brenna and Rosa! They should be somewhere in Madrid at this point. I have yet to decide if I'll be taking my laptop to blog along the trip. If I decide not to, hasta luego! I'll be back in Sevilla on December 13th!