Seville, Spain: The Golden Age of Spain

Last night, I caught the bus to Seville, Spain.  After a bumpy but cool seven hours, I ended up in the Seville bus station at 4:30am, where I took a two-hour nap until the city buses started running.  I then caught the bus to my hostel, and right outside of it, I got a lovely picture of St. Catalina's church at sunrise.

A bit of a nap in a hammock, a quick shower, and I was off to see Seville!  I began with a free walking tour, which was a great intro to the city's sites.  One of the many beautiful things about this city is the colors of the buildings, all of which are painted and make a rainbow against the blue sky.

One of the first sites we saw was the Arena de Toradoros--the Bullfighters' Arena.  This statue is right outside of the arena, and is of one of the most famous matadors of all time.  Bullfights take place in this arena every Sunday and each day of April, and six bulls are killed in each fight.

The Plaza de Espana was built for the World Expo in 1929, which was put on as a chance for Spain to apologize to all of the American cultures and civilizations that it destroyed from 1492 onwards.  The buildings in the plaza are quite obviously gorgeous, and there are tiles on the ground commemorating events throughout Spanish history (including Columbus's discovery of America, which was particulary poignant, as he left from Seville), as well as each of the civilizations that Spain conquered in the Americas.

After tapas and gelato, the final (and most astounding site) of the day was the Alcatar Palace.  Originally a Moorish fort, this has been a palace since the fifteenth century, and--though modified and expanded by Christian kings--it still retains much of its Arabic influence, as you can see from the amazing gilded dome and plastered walls in the throne room of the palace.

Probably one of the most unique palaces I have been to on my trip, Alcatar really made me feel like I was in a the house of sultan (which it actually originally was), and it was a great way to end my first day in Seville.  I'm excited to continue to explore this fasciating city tomorrow!