Whew, there's a lot to talk about, and some really big news to start with - to rip off the band-aid, Ella and I are no longer going to live in Portugal. I know this is a bit of a shock, given that we upended our whole lives to make it there. Believe me, it was a shock to us too. Because of this messed up situation, we basically had half a week to completely pack up and move our lives again, right after we had just gotten settled. It sucked. There was a lot of crying. It's too long of a story to put here, so instead I put it as an entry right before this one. I don’t know how exciting it would be for me to harp on about endless paperwork procedures, but it is there if you want to try a new sleep aid.

However, now we are homeless, in the most flattering and literal sense of that word. Which means there is nothing holding us anywhere, and we have no idea where we will be living or what we will be doing weeks or months from now. Which is a somewhat liberating yet uneasy feeling. For the time being though, Ella has a shiny European visa, so we might as well use it. We had a good friend who had previously arranged to visit us in Lisbon, but because of our crazy uncertainty, she wisely changed her plans to travel around Spain instead. With no place to go, and no direction in life, she was kind enough to let us tag along - so we put our stuff in storage, and off we went to meet Ashley while we figured out where our life was taking us. Within 48 hours, we had completely tucked away our entire lives, and were on 7-hour bus trip from Lisbon to Seville.

The timing was somewhat complicated, because it was actually Holy Week/Easter. To be honest I didn’t know much about Seville before coming here, but I do remember Easter is kind of a big deal there. And oh boy, was it. The most immediately apparent thing was that hotel prices were sky high. Fortunately, we found one that wasn’t too bad, and what’s more, the 3 of us could share it, making the price more approachable. But, being a tourist on Easter in Seville is a combination of interesting/complicated. Their big thing is that the monks do regular processions through the streets, wearing their super pointy hats, carrying candles, and displaying a giant effigy (is that the right word?) of the crucifixion. Is that cool? Yes. The first time. The hundredth time? Not so much. There are a lot of churches, and they do this all day, well into the evening up until 1 or 2 am. And they are not short processions either, they can be half a kilometer long, moving at a shuffling pace. There were many times we needed to cross the line, but we were surrounded on all sides. And wow, the crowds really went wild for these processions, for reasons unbeknownst to me. Again, first time, cool. But they, the locals, would run from one group to the other. Like, they’re really all the same guys. But regardless, we were often stuck in pointy hat jail. Maybe other people like us started to get a bit annoyed, and after a few days, started to push through the crowds and sneakily cross the lines whenever they stopped for a moment. I am sure Spanish people muttered “stupid tourists” under their breath, but eventually we threw decorum out the window and started to do the same.

Trying not to let this less-than-ideal situation of Seville cloud my judgement, overall I would say that the city is okay. It sort of reminds me of Venice, in that it is an “old people Disneyland” designed to extract as much money out of people as possible. And while it is a nice looking city, I do think Venice has the edge up. I mean, Venice, everywhere you look could be on a postcard. Seville’s old town certainly has some of that, and can be quite beautiful at times. But the thing that really sits wrong with me is that they charge for entry into churches. Seville isn’t unique in doing this, but I also think it kind of goes against what churches are. Why not make it a donation? Anyway, the big sight of the city, the cathedral, was booked for months in advance. However, they did have midnight mass on Easter, so Ella and our friend went, while I had to work. Christopher Columbus is buried there, and she got a photo of his tomb for me. It’s hard to think of someone less deserving to be buried in a place of worship, but given his history in the US, I’m glad at least one of us got to see it. The rest of the church, well, you'd have to ask Ella. She quite enjoyed it.

Oddly enough, the sight I found most interesting in Seville was the Art Museum. First of all, it was only 1.5 euros, which is my kind of price. But also, it was just really beautiful? Not just the art, the building itself was like a Spanish villa. I’d put it above the really famous one in Madrid (The Prado?), both in the museum experience and the quality of the art. The part of the city around there also was really nice, full of little cafes and alleys that felt really special, like something out of a fairy tale, in a good way. We had planned to go to another palace nearby, but looking at photos online and peeking through the windows, it actually didn’t look as good as the art museum we just were. Plus, the 12 euro price tag seemed a bit high, so that was a pass. We walked so far we eventually ended up by the river, and climbed a tower to get a better view. Add on a 1 euro coffee and a grocery store pasta salad, I think it’s one of the best trips I’ve had for under 5 bucks.

 

The other sight we made an effort to see was the Plaza de Espana, which is really just a park. However, it’s a park with a very beautiful… structure? Pavilion? I’m not really sure what to call it, it’s a large covered walkway with some towers you can go up. This was absolutely the highlight of the trip, and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. There was so much going on there, from people hanging out, taking rowboats through the canal, horse carriage rides, and everything in-between. It was really idyllic, and I think we each wound up taking a hundred photos or more. In fact, you could say I took two very special photos there. The first is that this place was the filming location for a scene in Star Wars, and while not my favorite of the movies, it was really cool to recreate that shot - as best we could, as it has been remodeled a bit since. Probably the more special photo though, was a surprise. While walking near a particularly scenic part, a Spanish couple approached and asked me to take a photo of them. Of course I agreed, and while I was, the guy pulled out a ring and proposed! I was so shocked I just kept snapping away and hoped that at least one of the photos turned out well. Crazy to think that one of those are going to be a big part of the rest of their lives! To top it off, Ella and friend were walking a few meters ahead of me, and missed everything. I caught up with them to let them know, and we ran back to catch up with the couple again. They have a daughter/niece/something (language barrier) from Guangdong, China, so we got to bond a bit over that.

That evening we hung out at the hotel with some wine, because it boggles my mind how you can make a profit selling a bottle for 1 euro. But the next day it was onto the next destination - a place that has sort of been in the news a lot lately, for all the wrong reasons.