Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

Barcelona is a strange city. Our last night there, we were wandering the streets looking for a good place to hang out for the night when we ran into a group of Spainards singing and clapping in a circle. We kept walking thinking they were drunk... but they invited us over, and taught us a few of their songs. After 20 minutes they brought us to a local discotec, called the Crazy Saint. This "crazy" club was in fact a lot of fun; we spent the night dancing to pop Spanish hits. However, as much as we tried, the Spanish women do not like dancing with American men. In the States, women will at least let you down easy on the dance floor. Here, we verbally asked them if they would dance with us. They thought for a moment, said no, and walked away. So sorry Nana, no Spanish wife for me this year...

Sevilla is... very warm, almost 90 degrees every day that we have been here.

We left Barcelona on Saturday and took Vueling Air, a cheap intra-European airline to the city of Sevilla, located in southwest Spain. Stepping off the plane, all four of us gringos with large backpacks crammed into a bus which took us to the center of the city.

On the way to our hostel, a group of students asked us if we were from Sevilla... I´m not quite sure if they were confused by our strong American English accents, or the enormous packs on our backs, but we looked anything but local at that point! After 10 minutes of conversation, they told us to be careful in Sevilla, and to not go to the OTHER side of the river. They heard that there are groups of 12 year old boys who run around and stab tourists... I started laughing thinking they were joking with us, but they actually believed this.

Nonetheless, we crossed the river the next night for dinner, and only three of us were stabbed, mere flesh wounds, so it was a good night :-)

Our hostel is a beautiful pension above a restaurant, just two blocks away from the main square with the Cathederal (the third largest in the world, and the largest Gothic cathederal in the world), and Alcazar, a fusion of Islamic and Spanish architecture combined with a beautiful garden. Very similar to Al-Hambra in Granada.

Our second night in the city, after touring tons of sites, we found a square called Plaza Alfalfa. Now, to be honest, Spainards do not sleep. We have been trying to get in the habit and have been eating dinner every night around 11 pm. In this square, we found a great local pizza place where we ate until about 1 am. When we come out, we were essentially in an enormous outdoor bar (similar to IV for you Santa Barbara folks). Thousands of people in the street drinking cheap beer, talking, and smoking as vespas and cars somehow weave through the narrow cobblestone streets using their horns, their bumpers, and sheer luck. Nonetheless, we went to bed around 5 that night (technically morning), probably the 5th or 6th time since we´ve been here.

A few more nights in this town, and then off to my second home, Poland!