Our wake-up call came at 7am, but we were so exhausted from getting back from the game so early that I promptly slammed down the phone as soon as it rang. That was a horrible mistake; the next sound we heard was Mrs. Piner knocking on our door at 8:30 all perkily awake demanding we come to the door. I stumbled out from under the covers to a chaperone politely informing me that we had thirty minutes to get dressed and eat breakfast before the tour bus leaves us. I don't think either of us had ever gotten ready that fast-- we were downstairs eating sliced fruit before 8:45. The hectic getting ready rush was totally worth it-- I felt amazing with an extra hour and a half of sleep.
The tour bus took us to the center of the Spanish Exhibition of 1929 first. The goal of this gathering was to mend relationships with other countries, because after Spain lost their colonies in the New World, other countries (the US being one) felt like Spain had betrayed them. Many new buildings were constructed and remodeled in order for this massive conference.
Alex and I After taking a bunch of pictures, we toured the Alcazar, which is a palace built under the short Christian rule around the 1300s but modeled after La Alhambra (or after Islamic influences). It was really interesting to see how the different religions influenced the decorations, because even though there was a bunch of mosaics which obviously came from the Middle East, there were also stars of Davids and crosses scattered throughout the architecture. The gardens outside were simply gorgeous, especially the huge fountain! It was a beautiful day to spend outside.
Oh, and the Alcazar is the oldest palace still in use today! When the royal family needs to spend the night in Seville, they spend it in the Alcazar.
Kimia and I in the gardens of the Alcazar Next, we headed through the Jewish section of Seville, which isn't very large. They were officially run out of the country in 1492, but unofficially left in masses in the preceding century and a half due to persecution. On the way to the cathedral, Mrs. Piner and Kimia both got bird pooped on....
The Cathedral of Seville is the fourth largest in the world. It was restructured to showcase the wealth of the city of Seville, because there was not a need for such a large cathedral for such a small population. Actually, first it was a mosque, but it was torn down and rebuilt as a cathedral. When we went around noon, there was actually mass going on! We didn't listen to it, but it severely restricted our use of flash photography. Inside, we saw the tomb housing the remains of Christopher Colombus, as well as the Virgin Mary who protected him throughout his trip to the New World.
One of the remaining two portions of the original mosque is La Giralda (the Giralda tower). It was used to call the faithful Muslims to pray 5x a day during the period of Islamic control. It's 34 flights of narrow curving paths to reach the top of the bell tower. If you're curious, it's called La Giralda because the verb "girar" in Spanish means "to turn", and it twists and turns to the top. I ran up it as much as I could; there were a lot of slow, walking people in my way. From the zenith was the most gorgeous view of everything in Seville. It was simply breathtaking.
Seville from the top of La Giralda 
Kimia, me, and Alex at the top of La Giralda
The tower one is La Giralda. The other building is part of the cathedralNext we had tapas for lunch. I wasn't too impressed with my greasy paella, and the "espinacas y garbanzo" (spinach and chickpeas) was okay. The sourdough was merely bread, nothing special about it. But we were starving, since we eat lunch around 2pm.
After lunch, we were free to wander throughout Seville! Alex, Kimia, Arden, Allyson and I went shopping. I bought a rose colored dress that Kimia picked out for me, a sequined tank top and a scarf. It wasn't too far off the prices in the US after converting Euros to dollars. We have a whole day in Madrid to shop... Just getting that out there, Mom! Several things I still have yet to purchase, like a copy of the "Mucho + Facil" CD by Maldita Nerea that isn't available in the US, Real Madrid memorabilia, and souvenir shopping. I really need to get with it on that end.
Dinner was just eh as well. The bread was awesome though, and I was glad to get a few vegetables in my soup. I had some sort of lightly fried fish while the others had carne paella ( meat paella).
And now brace yourselves for the best part of my day. Instead of going on a boat for a "junior discoteca", a few of us, Allyson, Hawes and Fernando decided to go back to the hotel. We got permission to go out and explore the city, which we promptly took advantage of. I changed into running clothes and shoes, and we hit the streets. Those 3 just walked on the avenue while I ran up and down it for about 45 minutes, and we were back at the hotel before 11:00. Running was amazing. I felt the breeze on my face, and I was getting all sorts of weird looks because I just couldn't stop smiling-- it felt that great to be moving at a decent clip instead of slowly slogging along. I'm pretty sure I got at least 3.5 miles in, probably more. I'm pretty positive I was running around 7 min/mi, but I don't know for a fact because Garmin wouldn't load. It's cloudy here, and the streets are really narrow; but it doesn't matter. What matters is that I had the opportunity to run. I was going crazy only walking a couple of miles a day and eating as healthy as I can, which isn't that healthy (much to my dismay). When we got back, I ordered a bottle of water from the hotel bar, and I got a HUGE 1.5L bottle. I'm definitely not getting dehydrated!
Anyways, that was my day. I'm still on that runner's high! Oh, and I also bought a copy of "El Mundo de Corredores" or as y'all would call it, Runner's World Spain! That'll keep me entertained on the morning's bus ride to Cordoba, and then on the Ave train later in the afternoon. I don't plan on ignoring the wake-call in about 6 hours :P
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