We are staying in Sevilla for 3 weeks and so far it is a great city. Teeming with old history from the Moors, Christians, and Jews, Flamenco culture on every corner and (so far) beautiful weather we couldn't have chosen a better spot. However, our first introduction to Sevilla was not so great, here is the story:
Dana and I decided to take a night bus from Madrid to Sevilla. The bus ride was 6 hours (and saved us the cost of another night in a hostel) and left at midnight. Bleary eyed and exhausted from a night of poor sleep we arrived at the Sevilla bus station at 6am. It was still dark outside. We sat on the stiff plastic chairs inside the station and waited and waited. My parents weren't arriving to Sevilla until 1:30pm so we wouldn't be able to get into the apartment until then. Like all bus stations, this one had a few characters. A man smoking a cigarette who fell asleep with it between his index fingers. A few hippie sorts with dreadlocks and big back packs. And a drooling hunchback who called us pigs after we refused to give him a Euro.
After waiting until 8am we decided to store our luggage in the locker and wander around town. The sky was a thick grey but it wasn't too cold. The city though, was dead. There was NOTHING open as we winded up and down the streets half delirious with exhaustion. We were hungry too. Unfortunately the idea of a 24 hour market/restaurant was never conceived in Spain, and for Spaniards 8 in the morning is waaay too early to be awake anyways. It was almost 9am when we stumbled across a bar/cafe/cafeteria/tapas place (most food locals go by one of these names...all serve beer, coffee, tapas and bocadillos)that was open. We indulged in Tortilla Espanola (like an omlette)and a cheese and tomato sandwich. They were delicious until we found out that that simple snack cost us 10 Euros...
Anyways, we continued to wander towards the cathedral. It would have been impressive if I could keep my eyelids open but we were tired and spotted a nice stone bench to curl up on and sleep. I pulled up my hood and used my purse as a pillow. It was probably 9:30 by this time and the city was beginning to wake. After about 45 minuted Dana and I switched sides since the side we were laying on had fallen asleep. Despite the discomfort, bright sky, and noisy cars and people I feel into a deep sleep. Untill...
We were woken up by two police men. They were actually outstandingly kind. And wanted to make sure that we were okay. Evidently people were worried because we were asleep on these benches. They asked if we had been partying too much, and I explained our situation. They didn't even explicitly tell us to leave, but of course we immediately got up and apologized.
We got a coffee and felt almost rejuvenated and decided to go back to the bus station, grab our stuff and head to the apartment. The apartment was hard to find, and my backpack (and Dana's suitcase) were heavy. But we trudged down the narrow sidewalks with a map two inches away from my nose at all times and finally made it to the 'Casa del Maestro. We enter and the lady inside told us that we didn't have reservations here, but at the 'Suites del Maestro' at the OTHER END OF TOWN.
What could we do but continue lugging all our stuff back toward the Cathedral. The Apartment is tucked away down this itty bitty alley way with absolutely no signs whatsoever. I was so tired, annoyed and passed the point tears. I had to ask 3 or 4 people where the place was before finding someone who knew. Mom and Abba hadn't arrived yet, but the lady let us in. We got to shower and lay on our heavenly bed of clouds to wait for them.
Welcome to Sevilla...
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