Celebrating July 4th in Seville, Spain

July 4th Schedule Spanish Style:

2PM-7PM Siesta

11PM-7AM Fiesta

Seville, the capital of Andalucia, made me appreciate the concept of having a siesta in the middle of the day. I just thought that people were so relaxed that siesta-ing would give them something to do. In actuality, it's because it's SO HOT IN SEVILLE, NO ONE WANTED TO LEAVE THE HOUSE IN THE AFTERNOON UNTIL IT WAS DARK. I'm talking about Las Vegas desert weather in the middle of July multiplied by 10. According to ExploreSeville.com, Seville holds the record for being the hottest city in ALL of Europe.

During the four days with Eva, our awesome Spanish friend (tour guide and translator!), we acted like vampires. Most of our activities revolved around the setting of the sun. We would do bits and pieces of tourist attractions before peak sun-hours (most of them being indoors), escape into the house for lunch, and siesta until the sun dissapeared. Our night life was great, however. The weather was perfect when there was no sun, especially on July 4th. Instead of BBQs and beer, we had tapas and tinto, a spanish drink consisting of 1 part red wine and 2 parts orange Fanta. I thought we were going to have a relatively chill night celebrating the fourth at a posh outdoor bar/club but one thing led to another and we ended up dancing until 7AM! We also celebrated the fourth with other locals and fellow U.S. students who were studying abroad. Viva America!

Eva, Christine, and me

I will do no justice to Seville if I only talk about the night life. Therefore, I will carry on with my favorite things about the city, starting with food. Seville is famous for their tapas, a spanish appetizer. When Eva took us to her favorite tapas bar called Caberna Colonailes, I was floored when I saw and tasted the fried quail eggs over slices of chorizo (a smoked pork sausage). It was definitely my favorite tapas dish.

Besides tasty tapas, Eva also took us to see the major tourist sites. I really liked the Plaza de España and the gothic Cathedral of Seville. We went to visit the Plaza de España during the sunset. It was so beautiful and colorful, no wonder the movie, Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones used the Plaza to film Naboo scenes!

As for the cathedral, it used to a mosque but was then rebuilt into a church. The cathedral also serves as the official burial site for Christopher Columbus! I can't believe I stood next to his dead body to snap a tourist picture...

Once again, I gotta say muchas gracias to Eva for taking us around Seville!