Seville!

Finally, another city!

For anyone looking to travel to Spain, you really only need a couple days in Córdoba.  It was wonderful to finally move onward and head somewhere new.  So now I find myself in Seville, where I am without a doubt the lamest of my hostel mates and beat them to bed without fail every night.  Never mind that I fall asleep around midnight, but when you're contending with a bunch of Portuguese guys out to drink themselves into oblivion it's not challenging to fall behind.

So, 10:30 on a Saturday night and I can't even begin to fathom getting myself out of bed to add to the headache I precipitated by downing several glasses of "vino tinto" this afternoon, so here I am blogging.

But hey, if I change my mind I could always aspire to stardom like this guy:

Yep, passed out with shoes on at 6pm when I got back from a full day of exploring.  I don't speak Portuguese but I was able to piece together the symptoms for "hangover."  Keep up the good work, buddy.

Instead I took myself to the Real Alcázar this morning, which is this absolutely stunning palace here in Seville.  It was on my list of must-sees and considering I was not hungover like my room mates it wasn't death-defying to get out of bed.  Nope, not sorry I'm lame, because I got to see all this:

Just check out the tile work.

My favorite of the elaborate ceilings.

Light from stained glass.

Part of the tapestry hall, commemorating the conquering of Tunisia.  Not the originals, but exact replicas and still incredibly old.

Way to overdo the fountain, guys.

Quick question, why are peacocks so popular everywhere?  I know they're pretty, but they make the most horrible noises...

Stopped for a quick cafe con leche and was followed by my avian entourage.  I also made friends with a resident cat, but he's not pictured.

Note that the Madonna is sheltering Native Americans under her cloak.  Hm.

They had an entire collection of fans, some dating back to the 17th century.  Seriously.

Pretty sure I rocked this one in a past life.

Guilty of yet another selfie.  But at least I don't have a selfie stick, which are abundant here.  Whoever came up with that idea has got to be rolling in money by now.

Heading to the upstairs apartments.  They have an exhibit of tiles and pottery; best part is they make you enter through a creepy black velvet curtain which I suppose has something to do with not letting light in but it made it seem kinda like a stage show...

So there you have it, my morning adventures.  By this time it was Spanish lunchtime so I went in search of tapas.  

Voila!

Tortilla de patatas, salmorejo (creature of habit, sue me) and olives.

Divine!

Then I wandered around in vain search of a new bag, but didn't find anything, probably because I'm a snob and not animal friendly and I was looking for real leather (damnit!).

Oh, also, here's a couple extra shots of Seville.

Really good red wine.  Tempranillo, recommended by the waiter - my head regrets it though.

All in all it was a pretty good day, even with the enthusiastic Portuguese attempting to get me to come to dinner upstairs which I'm sure will ensue in far too much alcohol consumption.  No thanks guys, I would prefer to be conscious tomorrow.

Also, when people I meet in hostels say things like "I remember when I was a little kid and 9/11 happened..." I feel really fucking old.  What qualifies as kid?  Oh goodness.

And here are the last shots from Córdoba, which should probably be first in the post if we're going chronologically, but oh well.

Real deal lunch.

Lunchtime haunt.

Bar Correo is where all the cool kids hang out between noon and four.

And sorry about the black corners on some of the photos, that was me not realizing the sun attachment thingy on the camera was blocking the shots.  It has since been rectified.

Well that's all for now, but all is good here, even if I'm in anti-party mode.  Probably best in the long run, and the short run come to think of it...

~Swan