Wednesday January 16

Class met today at 9:30 a.m. at the Real Alcázar and then went on a tour of the whole southern part of the city. We learned that the Rio Guadalquivir (an Arabic name for the river that runs through Seville) used to run right through what is now a big public plaza, Plaza Nueva. We also learned that the whole city used to be enclosed with GIANT walls that ran all over the place, from the Real Alcázar to the Torre de Oro and everywhere in between. A lot of the walls (built during the 8^th and 9^th centuries) are still standing in different parts of the city – for instance there’s a big section that makes up the back wall of a café. Crazy. Then we went to a place called the Atarazanas, near the river, where ships were built centuries ago. It has huge vaulted ceilings and was reeeaally big. Then it was on to the Torre de Oro, which has been converted into a naval museum. We climbed all the way to the top – awesome views.

Later, after class that night, I tried a yema – a little sweet that is famous in Seville. It looks like a little egg, with white icing type stuff outside and a yellow yolk thing inside – and the inside is made using egg yolk. It was pretty gross, actually. But all the other sweets (dulces) that you can find here on every street in bakeries (confiterías) are awesome and more than make up for it. Not to mention the chocolate con churros…