Good night, Sevilla

Well it's Sunday again...

I'm at Manolo's parents' house with Juan because Manolo and Rossy are in Israel for a church conference. It's nice because it's more centrally located, but I haven't really availed myself of this desirable proximity to the old part of town to walk around (due largely to my underconfidence in my conversational Spanish). Poco a poco.

I was talking with Juan today and he told me that people here in Andalucía talk faster than those in northern Spain. It made me feel a little better that even to other Spaniards these people seem to talk fast. Speaking of being a Spaniar, Manolo told me the other day that if I just didn't talk, people would assume that I'm Spanish. This was demonstrated later when someone asked if I was his cousin. It was quite gratifying to me. It's because of my dark hair and eyes and the fact that I don't wear American brand names emblazoned across my chest.

Winter in España is pretty mild. I don't think I've yet seen a low below 45 F. The high is usually around 60 F which is pretty warm if you're fresh from Kansas, but the houses here do not have heat. Chances are if you're indoors in Kansas, you're warmer than I am. On a good note, I've been doing tons of push-ups and sit-ups to warm up. I still haven't run. Maybe tomorrow....

Last martes (Tuesday) we went to Sevilla at night to look around at some of the sights. We walked past the University of Sevilla which was really old and beautiful. We didn't get to the Plaza de España, which is where something to do with Queen Amidala from Guerra de los Galaxios (Star Wars) was filmed. At least I think that's what they were saying. We walked into the center of the city and got to see the cathedral which is the largest Gothic building in the world  and the third-largest church in Europe (after St. Paul's in London and St. Peter's in Rome - incidentally, by January 23rd I will have seen all three!). We didn't get to go in but hopefully sometime in February I'll be able to go back during the day. Seriously, this building is huge.

 It incorporates some elements of Arab architecture from the mosque that stood there previously (because of the Moors), specifically the Giralda Tower, which is enormous.

Giralda Tower, left

My Frommer's guide (gracias, mamá y papá) says "The Catedral de Sevilla was designed by builders with a stated goal - 'that those who come after us will take us for madmen.'" This is also where DNA-verified remains of Christopher Columbus are interred (Ferdinand and Isabella actually welcomed Columbus back from his voyage at the Alcázar in Sevilla, the oldest royal residence still in use. Needless to say, the history nerd within me was going crazy. And yes, I had read all this before I went.

Sorry for the history lesson. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet week. Juan introduced me to an amazing streaming sight that has How I Met Your Mother available on it and as such I have been able to catch up finally! The best thing I've eaten this week was prepared by Manolo's mom, Maria - beef tips in a puré of home-grown tomatoes with pepper, garlic and olive oil, served hot. Amazing! The olives are still blowing my mind.

Thanks for reading and for your prayers. Please continue to pray for me as I head to Rome on Thursday to meet up with the Turkey, Greece and Rome trip. Hasta luego!