Vale! Well the past two days have been just getting into the rhythm of life here. Emily and I are still exploring the city and the nearby neighborhoods. Hard to believe, it the heat is starting to fade, and I am no longer drenched as much in sweat when I’m running late to class. My classes are going really well and I can really start to hear, and mentally feel myself growing as a Spanish speaker. I was asked TWICE yesterday if I was Portuguese. Which was a huge compliment! It’s a little bit of the accent a little bit of the complexion and hair I think. But everyone definitely knows that I’m not from Seville. But at least now they don’t guess America first.

Last night, before homework of course, Emily and I went to a local bar for tapas y cervesa. We had a platter of 6 bocadillos (small sandwiches with typical Spanish ingredients) and Cruzcampo, which is a beer from Seville. The beer isn’t my favorite in the world, but I’m sure through the course of nine months, I’ll grow a little fonder of it. Mostly because this glass only cost 1 Euro.

Today we only had one class, and then our program has organized us to go on tours of local tourist spots in groups for the next three weeks. Today I got to go to the Seville Cathedral, or Catedral de Santa María de la Sede. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and third largest church in the world. Think about 413 ft x 272 ft length and width. And the ceiling is as high as 121 ft tall. It was completed in the early 16^th century and is also famous for being the burial site of Christopher Columbus.

A short, maybe sketchy background history (Pictures below) The cathedral is built on top of a mosque built by the Moors in Southern Spain in the late 12^th century. After an earthquake that left the mosque damaged, it was decided to change it into a grand church to show how wonderful they were in Southern Spain. This is also around the time when Seville was becoming one of the major trading centers after the Reconquista in 1248. Although parts of the original mosque still remain, like the minaret, the lower section of the bell tower Giralda and the Patio de los Naranjos, they started to build a new cathedral around 1402. It was not completed until 1517, and some of the interior work continued into the early 20^th century. Pheewww. 

 This is la Giralda. One of the remaining parts of the the Mosque here before. I climbed to the top, and took pictures of course! See below!

Super high ceilings inside the cathedral

Details of the ceilings.

Even more detail of the ceilings.

A little wood work to pass the time.

There was a ton of stain glass all over every side of the cathedral.

More ceilings and support beams.

Christopher Columbus and his son are buried inside. Most people believe that it really is him. Although there are some other theories.

Some relics of Popes. (Read as pieces of rock or ears)

My new tiara. They said shipping would be a bitch!

This is the view of the cathedral from inside the Giralda. 

Very top of the Giralda!

View of Sevilla and the orange patio inside the Cathedral from the bell tower

Sevilla!

Palm trees for Olivia. They are everywhere!! 

This is the view from my teraca at night! Que guay!!