Smoking in Spain

So many people smoke in Spain. When we got off the plane from London to Seville these teenagers took out a box of cigarettes and right then and there started smoking. They were hardly older then my 15 year old brother Griffin.

After we settled in we saw hundreds of people smoking from the youngest of 12 to the oldest of 70. We went to many plazas and saw many people smoking. The memory that I can remember most is when we where outside sitting at a table and someone behind us pulled out a cigarette. The breeze was coming at us and the smoke made me want to puke. I got light headed and begged to move to another place but there were no empty tables. Finally when the food came I started eating but half way through I noticed there was blood on my plate. I had had it with this smoking and now blood on my plate from the meat. So that's what I can say about smoking.

My palace

Casa de Pilatos

I found my palace. Casa de Pilatos. It's a stunning palace in Seville with peaceful gardens, meandering fountains, mosaic tiles covering most of the walls and an ancient decaying aesthetic. I love it because it's small (too much palace is not a good thing) and I could really feel how life was lived there in the 16th century. Evidentially the family lived in the palace until the 1970s and now it's run by their foundation.

We also went to the Cathedral today which is truly an arresting gothic masterpiece but slightly overwhelming. Christopher Columbus is buried there in a crypt fitting the legend that surrounds him.

We're off to Granada via train.

Griffin, me and mom with the mosaics

View of Cathedral

Giralda tower at Cathedral

Weather

Weather in Seville

The weather here is the biggest difference between Seattle and Seville. Unlike Seattle where the weather can change in an instant, it changes slowly here. The temperatures here are always 60 degrees and above and that’s cold for here. It’s even warm when the clouds are out with no gaps to let the sun shine through. I can tell the people think its cold because I see them walking in big puffy coats. I have seen no one wearing shorts so that also helped me decide it was cold for the locals here.  

In Seattle the weather is 50 degrees and usually rainy. Even when it’s sunny out its usually still freezing in winter. Lately, in the summer the weather has brightened up and gotten sunnier and warmer. The other seasons are all the same. Winter is freezing but there is no snow.

Well that’s the weather >_<

Fashion

The style in Seville, Spain is different. The Europeans all have fancy curved waved hair and nice suites and ties. All the kids look the same with the schools uniforms and the wavy style hair and with the perfect amount of makeup. It’s like seeing thousands of twins. You can really tell the difference between tourists and the locals. When I walk down the street I can see people’s eyes staring at me because I dress differently. While people have big puffy winter coats on when its 60 degrees here I am just wearing shorts and no jacket but I don’t care.

          

Teh food of Seville

The food here is amazing everything is gourmet. For me gourmet is where it is perfect flawless no little crumbs on the side of the plate it’s not mass produced and it looks great. 

I saw the nastiest thing ever a gourmet sandwich in a vending machine! It could be all warm and soggy with cheese. 

The thing I loved the most so far is the crab it was fresh and caught that very day. It was harder to get out of shell then the crabs in Seattle. It was way better though. Unlike crab from Seattle that sit there for days on end. It felt stringy in my mouth, and it tasted like salt. They put a few pieces of rock salt on top of it. 

They also have American Restaurants such as burger king McDonalds and more. Everywhere you look there are Restaurants. There are from 7-10 per block. Even on the small 6 feet wide roads and 6 inches sidewalks. . Well that raps it up for the food of Seville.

-Leo

Dancing in the shadow of gold

All gold in the southern region of Spain was brought to this tower in Seville for safe keeping. It sits right on a beautiful waterfront on the only river to run all the way through Spain (according to Griffin). On seeing the golden tower (which really is golden in the Seville sunlight) Leo decided a dance was in order. 

I'm taking a sick day after waking with a fever and sore throat. Mom and Beth have coughs but thankfully the kids seem spared. We were going to spend the day in Córdoba, a nearby town, but have shelved that until we feel better. 

We have just five days left in Seville and then we're headed Granada for some hill town relaxation. 

Bullfighting in Seville

Bullfighting is live and well in Seville. Fortunately or unfortunately the season hasn't started so we weren't able to see a fight but we did have a tour of the ring and the museum.

The ring itself is stunning. It was built in 1761 and construction lasted 120 years. There's a lovely museum in what used to be the infirmary with paintings and sculptures of famous fighters. One man started fighting at age 9 and was killed at 25. His brother strangely only fought sitting in a chair. How that worked I have no idea. 

The good news is that the horses don't die anymore because they're protected but it used to be that 14-15 horses were killed in each fight. Of course the bull always dies but they make good use of the body and sell all the meat except the head at the supermarket. Leo said he wants to avoid bull meat but I thought we might try it for dinner soon (he'll never know). 

On a personal note I wanted to say how proud I am of my boys. They have jumped right in and are living this experience. On our third day here Griffin took the bus across the city by himself easily finding the stop, buying a ticket and getting off at our apartment. All in a language he only had a semester of. They are becoming citizens of the world with the confidence to live anywhere.
 

Hot water, electricity si or non?

All I wanted was a little bath after 5 days of travel etc. Elizabeth and her mother left to go grocery shopping and I was more or less off duty. The problem is the hot water only runs hot for about 45 seconds  which means I'm heating water on the stove and running to the bathtub over and over. Additionally, we heat our apt room by room with small space heaters. Just when I think I have the perfect bath and warm bathroom I realize most of the water has run out. 

I climb in to 4 inches of lukewarm water when the electricity in the apt goes out. No bath, no heat and no lights I realize the luxury of our life in Seattle.

Griffin asked if the bidet was a toilet for toddlers. Funny boy.

Have mouse, will play or reflections on a lazy day

Today is a lazy day. Hopefully I will only have to do 2 hours of work then I will be able to go to the media market and get a new gaming mouse. I don't want to go anywhere today. We probs will go out even though everyone said today we would stay home. Even if we do go out it'll probably be at 1 like usual. Then we will probably get lost for an hour or two. Then we finally get home by sheer luck, perfectly on time.