Saturday, February 7, 2009

Sleepless in Sevilla

I stole this title from one of my friends, but I liked it….thanks Janya….

So, Sevilla. Flamenco. Nope! On the train we got a call from our great American friends Joel and Brandon. Oh, they just happen to be in Sevilla for the night. We made plans to meet for dinner at 10 and then go to the show.

Well, we made it to dinner, just before it started to pour. I had Pollo Empanado. BAD. Glorifies chicken tenders and fried potatoes. Instead, try Pollo Sevillano. REALLY GOOD. The wait staff was shitty, but I’m coming to understand that customer service is nonexistent in this country, which is fine, but something to get used to.

After dinner we tried to find the flamenco bar we had read about in my boyfriend, Rick Steves, book. Yup. Didn’t know the name of the bar. Problem. We knew what it was near, so got directions to that. Except, Spanish streets are not on the grid system like in the US. We got lost. It was raining. We missed the show. Because we never found the bar. We found A bar, which we stopped at. But they were closing. At midnight. I thought this was Spain? Oh well. Next bar. Closing in 20 minutes. I was not about to spend 6 euro on something I had to down in 15 minutes, but some did. Yeah. Americans…So, by then it was pouring. Joel and Brandon were drunk, loud American. Melissa, Jayna and I opted to find our way home while the rest of the crew looked for more booze. Once again, I love Americans.

The journey home….without a map….at night….in the rain….in heels…FUN!!!
It took us about an hour, and an encounter with a very rude Spanish man, who inappropriately grabbed himself when we asked for direction, to get back to our apartmaent. We made it, alive, before 2am. SUCCESS!! Showers. And bed. Two more museums to go the next day before catching the bus back to Madrid.

Except, sleep doesn’t happen when you are sharing your bed with two other people. So we slept in late, only made it to the Museum of Fine Arts…..

It rained the whole day. Soaked to the bone we climbed aboard the bus for SIX hours to get home..

BUT WAIT!!! Traffic Jam in Madrid, MORONIC BUSDRIVER who decided to take a detour to drop his friend off, and then couldn’t find the bus stop. 8 and a half hours later, we got to Madrid, having missed all direct buses to Toledo. This meant taking the indirect route and traveling through the skeevy back neighborhoods of the city. Yeah Creepers!!

We finally got into Toledo at 1am Monday, I walked home and crawled into bed. Ready to get up at 6 to start my homework. Even in another country, I like to procrastinate.

Oh, what a great weekend that was. It took me until Wednesday to recover and catch up on sleep, but I look forward to doing it again soon. The price was right, less than 150 US dollars for everything. The people were cool (except the rude waiter and man who touched himself), and well, like usual Spain was great too.

1 comment:

  1. Bar hopping, speaking Spanish, traffic jams, and being accosted by perverts. You could get all that you want on the west side of Chicago, and you don't even need a passport.

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