When in Sevilla...act like a Sevillan

For our first weekend trip we decided to visit Sevilla. Sevilla is an ancient port city in the Andalusia region of southern Spain and resembles Barcelona in two respects, a) the architecture is very Gothic; and b) its unnecessarily hot- like Columbia, SC. The major attraction is the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, which is third largest Christian cathedral in the world (behind St. Peter's in Vatican City and St. Paul's in London), and claims to hold the remains of Christopher Columbus. What I found to be most interesting about St. Mary's is that the church was built on top of an existing Muslim mosque, and several areas are exposed so that you can see where the original concrete framework of the mosque stops and where the cathedral's masonry begins. Also, while we were inside the cathedral, a Spanish soap opera star was being married in one of the cathedral's 40 chapels (I told you it was big). This is important to the story because we ended up following the paparazzi and befriend some of the matrimonial guests, who in turn invited us up to their 4-star hotel's rooftop-swimming pool located directly across the street from the cathedral.

(Here is a view of the hotel pool from the cathedral's tower about two hours before we got up there).



The sensation of jumping into a swimming pool on a hot summer's day is refreshing. Hanging out poolside in Sevilla with rich Spaniards is unparalleled. We didn't fit in at all, but we soaked up every moment like we were meant to be there. And we certainly didn't fit in when we had to strip down to our boxers to let our shorts dry (didn't exactly plan for the occasion).

(This is Will, Dain and I in the pool. We were pretty much giggling like teenage girls all afternoon.)




After drying off we headed across the street to a local pub to catch the Spain v. Sweden futbol match. Everyone in the bar was standing shoulder-to-shoulder and most people had either red and yellow face paint or they had Spain's flag draped across their back shoulders like a Superman cape. The game was tied 1-1 at half-time and every minute of the second half felt like a cliffhanger. You know that outburst that everyone makes when watching your favorite college football team recovers a fumble in the fourth quarter? It felt like that every single time someone from Spain had the ball inside Swedish territory. Spain ended up scoring a goal with 55 seconds left in Stoppage Time and this sent everyone into a frenzy. There was high-fives, bear hugs, and beer slinging everywhere. For a brief moment everyone was Spanish. You don't need to speak Spanish in order to scream "Gooooal!!!" at the top of your lungs. Okay, I'm no poet, or sportswriter, so I won't attempt to put anymore words into this story. Instead, watch this video. I love technology. (Caution: my film work wasn't steady so it will seem like Blair Witch Project. Or is it Cloverfield these days?).




To end the night we went back to our hostal for some complimentary wine (generous huh?), and then celebratory drinks with the Spainards. The rest evening was filled with classic hooliganism as anyone could guess. We didn't exactly feel our best on Sunday morning, but for one afternoon Dain, Will and I felt like Sevillans.