Seville

After a few days in Rota, I decided to start heading north. I figured that I´d head towards a city that had a train station so that I could start using my Eurail pass. Seville is about an hour from Rota, so I took a bus ride up ($15). I checked into a hostel right in the middle of Seville, close to restaurants and some sights worth seeing. I´ve decided to stay for a week, mainly because there´s supposed to be an active salsa dancing scene here. I´ve been told that they dance on-1, (LA style, as opposed to on-2, NY style), so I should have a good time here.

The jet lag is catching up with me, so I went to bed early my first night in the hostel. After ten hours of sleep, I was ready for a good workout. The hostel has a partnership with a local gym, so I was able to take a yoga class in the morning. Even though my Spanish is barely acceptable, I was able to follow instructions fairly well. Afterwards, the hostel offered a free Spanish style breakfast, which is usually toast and a marmalade of some type or toast with ham and cheese.

A quick shower, and I went out for some sightseeing. I took a walk around the Plaza de Espana, which houses many government offices. The architecture here is beautiful!

After sightseeing, I had a tapas lunch of mixed salad and what the waiter told me were empanadas. I expected a pastry filled with meat, but he brought out setas empanadas, which turned out to be huge, fried mushroom caps with a side of tartar sauce. Not what I expected, but still delicious.

After a siesta (I´m getting used to that idea), I went to find some salsa dancing. After walking for a half hour I found the place that I was looking for, only to find that tonight was lessons only; no social dancing. I was told to come back on Wednesday. I guess I´ll have to wait to get my salsa fix until then.