First Full Day in Sevilla

(Image: one of the towers of the Plaza de España en Sevilla)

Wednesday was another eventful day for Alex and I. First we woke up and got some lunch. We didn’t get anything too foreign, just Carbonara. After lunch we planned on walking all the way to el Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, the stadium of Real Betis Balompié, to buy tickets for the upcoming game this Sunday. Alex and I are getting very excited about the game.

Well after looking at the map, we realized we could stop at many places that we wanted to visit anyway. Our first stop was at the “Universidad.” It is a huge building, so intricate on many levels. It’s a huge square right in the middle of all different buildings.

Then across a few streets and down the road we came across a huge tower in the distance. Without stopping to pull out a map to see what it was, we headed in its’ direction. The tower was so tall that it was very easy to find. We then found out it was the Plaza de España. It was the most beautiful building I have ever seen. It was forms a semi-circle shape, and is the longest building I have ever seen. The tiles on the rails and everywhere were hand-painted, and there were thousands and thousands of them. I cannot even think of how to describe this place. It was amazing. They say a picture describes a thousand words, and unfortunately I cannot think of any to describe its’ beauty, so that’s the picture I have posted.

Then we headed South through el Parque de María Luisa. This was the largest park I have ever been in. We walked for a long time through a naturally shaded area that was filled with green trees and other vegetation. The trees were very tall, and it was a very cool experience as they had trails for us to walk through.

Every once in a while there would be an opening on the side with a statue or fountain or any kind of sculpture with a place to sit and relax at. The statues over here are very often, and I never tire of looking at them. These are beautiful stone sculptures that really can be breath-taking with the amount of detail.

We ended up finding the Museo Artes y Costumbres Populares, Pabellón Real, and the Museo Arqueológico. All three of these buildings were very unique which I hope to be able to share with everyone. I plan on uploading all of my photos on Facebook, so keep a look out. The garden between the buildings was also something I had never seen before, only in the movies.

Finally we walked down a seemingly never-ending street to the very end of its existence at the stadium. The stadium was very big, yet it is the smaller of the two for each of the professional football (soccer) clubs in Sevilla.

One quick note on why we were going to get tickets for Real Betis. Let me tell you about their rivals, Sevilla FC. I learned to dislike Sevilla very quickly, and not only because Luis Fabiano plays there. But I was talking to someone who was a Betis fan, and I asked him why he liked Betis and not Sevilla.

He told me it matters what part of the city you are from, but most people like Sevilla. And there’s no doubt that Sevilla FC is the dominant team right now, so everyone likes the bigger clubs. After I asked him if other people in Spain like Sevilla, he said something I will never forget. He made a comparison that seemed very harsh to me. He compared Sevilla FC with Chelsea in the EPL. I was disgusted. That’s all he had to say for me to not like Sevilla FC. Betis suddenly won my heart. The club with fans that are just common people, like you and I.

We asked someone where we buy tickets for the game, and we were pointed to a line that was alone the shorter side of the stadium. It looked very long, yet we walked up to it anyway.

As we approached the end of the line to hop in, we noticed we were very far from the ticket counter. The line went alongside the shorter side of the stadium and the length of the stadium as well. We didn’t even know if they would still be selling tickets by the time we got there.

After about 90 minutes of waiting, we were told that this line was for someone who had a ‘carnet’ card. We did not have such a card. We then were pointed to people who would sell the tickets after buying them for cheaper. I had been warned not to pay more than 5 or 10 euros for each ticket.

Well sure enough, some very sketchy man approached us and asked us if we wanted to buy tickets. He wanted us to pay the standard admission, and I knew I should try to lower the price. But then I realized that Alex and I really needed tickets together. And since it was such an odd request, and he was the only person who had those tickets together, we bought them at the standard admission price of 30 Euros. Pretty steep.

But later on we found out that the tickets were on the 5^th row, behind the goal. So taking that into thought, we didn’t pay too much. And this game is a huge game for Betis. Right now they are in 4^th place, and they are playing the 1^st place team, Real Sociedad. If they win, they will move to third place. If they stay in third place, they will move back up to La Primera Liga, the top division in Spain.

After we received our tickets we grabbed some dinner, and then headed to the bar. The Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid game was on and I was excited to watch the game. Not because I like Sevilla, but I wanted to see how the Sevillanos would celebrate if they won the Copa del Rey.

Sure enough, they won 2-0. I was only in the bar for the second goal, but that goal was very exciting for me. They screamed, spilled their beers, hugged, blew air horns and celebrated with so much passion. It was easy to love the atmosphere, even if I didn’t like the team. When the game ended, they ran through the streets.

They sang songs, danced, and held their flags up high. They were more than pleased with the cup final. We watched in amazement. I can only hope that they are this passionate about their country as well for the World Cup. I can’t wait.

After the fans started dispersing a little, we headed off to another bar. Along the way we got lost, but ended up at a pretty happenin’ location I must say. There were 4 bars in one area, and everyone was in the streets. The weather was perfect and it was just really cool to see that amount of people.

Alex and I walked up and were pretty reluctant to talk with the people there. It seemed everyone already had their groups. Eventually we talked to a few people, all of which were Americans. It was a shame. I wanted to meet Spaniards, but we didn’t talk to any. After a while we began to catch on that just about everyone there was American. It was interesting.

Apparently la Universidad de Sevilla doesn’t get out of classes until next week. That would explain the lack of Spaniards on a weeknight. Either way, it was a pretty nice night but we decided to head back to the hotel pretty late. We met two girls from Connecticut who were very nice. It was their last night in Seville as their study abroad program was just ending. They were jealous that ours was just about to begin. Anyway, they told us many of the things we needed to know like how to use the buses, public bicycles and more. It was nice to get more details on how Sevilla really works.

By and by the night ended easily as we walked back to our hotel for good and fell asleep without any problem ready for a new day.