Sevilla y Málaga

This past weekend I went to Sevilla y Málaga with four of my friends from ISA, Taylor, Casey, Elizabeth, and Megan. It was absolutely gorgeous and so nice to get some warmer weather in southern Spain (when we left Madrid it was snowing)!

Thursday we headed out to Sevilla on the AVE, Spain's fast train. As we headed south we passed through a huge blizzard, and it seemed like the most snow I have ever seen! Miles and miles of white Spanish land, gorgeous!

Snow out of the AVE window

Luckily when we got to Sevilla the weather was nice and for a lot of the weekend we didn't even need our jackets as we explored the cities. On the way to our hostel I had a close run in with a car full of nuns, but all was well. The hostel in Sevilla was my first ever hostel experience, and it was pretty cool! Each night there was free sangria for an hour and it was a great way to start the night. Thursday night we went out for tapas and helado, and it was really cold outside! Luckily that night was the only freezing time of the trip. Later we explored the night life and learned the difference between Madrid spaniards and Andalucian spaniards...Andalucía is a lot more creepy!

Hostel in Sevilla

Friday was absolutely gorgeous weather, and we explored everything Sevilla had to offer. First we went to the Catedral de Sevilla, one of the more famous cathedrals in Spain, and wandered around the plaza outside as well. Before we went into the cathedral, a group of gypsies with rosemary approached me and my friends. They were offering us the rosemary and we all asked if it was gratis, but instead the gypsies told us to put our hands out and they read our palms. Apparently all of us were going to meet tall Spanish men and be very successful...alright. Next they asked us for 5€ each! I told mine no and gave her about 60 cents instead. No scamming us!

Next we wandered over to the Real Alcázar, a royal palace that was originally a Moorish fort. It was definitely one of my favorite places I have seen so far in Spain, and apparently it is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe! The buildings had an arab influence in them and they were gorgeous with so much detail. There were gardens all around that seemed to go on forever, including a giant maze of bushes that we got lost in. The weather was so nice that we almost broke a sweat sitting in the sun, such a great feeling after having the longest winter of my life!

After the Alcázar we found lunch at a cute little tapas place and ate on the patio. I got what I thought would be a yummy shrimp tapa along with a couple others, and it turned out to be the creepiest meal ever! I was only able to eat half...it's weird to have your food stare back at you!

Tortellitas de gambas

We then wandered through a random park on our way to Plaza de España. The plaza was amazing, with people rowing boats throughout it and the most beautiful ceramic detailing all around. The main building was lined with little spots for each city in Spain, it was very cool!

Finally we walked over to the river and later relaxed with some ice cream (typical). We attempted to tour the bull ring but apparently there was a large tent in the middle that would have made it worthless so we skipped out and headed back to the hostel.

That evening, after our hour of free sangria, we went to a place for tapas called La Bodega. It was super cheap and delicious! Best croquetas I've had yet! After, we went to a hole in the wall place that one of us had heard about that is known for its authentic (and free!) Flamenco shows. We had a drink and watched as a trio of a dancer, singer, and guitarist performed a very emotional, intense Flamenco show. Very cool, especially since Sevilla is where Flamenco started!

The trio

The next day we got on the bus to Málaga. The terrain on the way was gorgeous as we drove through the Sierra Nevadas and saw cute little pueblos. The moment we arrived in the beach town on the Costa del Sol we were determined to drop our things at the hostel and head straight to the beach!

On our way to the beach we picked up a pizza to have as a snack, then sat on the beach eating for about 10 minutes only because we couldn't stand the cold wind any more. We headed back to the hostel and took a quick nap (after more postres, of course), then headed downstairs for Paella night that was promised to be served at 8pm.

The paella didn't end up coming out until 10, but it was perfectly okay because we spent the evening getting to know the other people in the hostel that were from all over the world! We played "chinese whispers" which is the same as telephone, and eventually a sing a long to Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls broke out. Finally we had paella, my first time in Spain, and it was amazing! Sangria came along next, then it was time for the pub crawl. This hostel was a lot more fun and a lot more clean than the other, so we all felt that we finally got the true European hostel experience we'd always heard about.

Some people from the hostel

Sunday was spent exploring Málaga, and falling in love with Andalucía. First we went to the Picasso Museum, where I told the man at the desk that "Tengo dieciuno años," making it clear how tired we all were. The museum was great, and it portrayed how truly talented Picasso was. Next we went to a cute little plaza to wait for an italian restaurant to open, where I told the waiter I wanted "polo," not "pollo." Oops. Clearly I was having some trouble with my spanish that day...

Prettiest plaza!

Our next stop was to see the city from the Castillo de Gibralfaro, which was on top of a huge hill. The view all the way up was breath taking - literally, it was a really steep path - and once we got to the castle the grounds were beautiful as well.

After our giant hike we headed back to the beach to relax and visit the Malagueta sign again. The beach was so peaceful we ended up napping for about 30 minutes in the sun. Then we headed to the harbor to people watch and wander around a little more. Finally we got tapas and ice cream, as expected, and headed back to the hostel to pick up our luggage and make our way home.

Sevilla and Málaga are definitely two places I would recommend visiting in Spain, and the two combined plus a great group of people made a fantastic weekend trip.