SEVILLA

Arrived in Sevilla pretty late and we were lucky(ya like finally) to have met a local who was real helpful. Found out from him that Sevilla FC are the current leaders of La Liga (impressed!) and we should catch the Real Betis game the next day. First thing we did after putting down our backpacks in the hostel was to rush to a pub to catch the HUGE Barca-Real Madrid game. Cheap beer (1euro!) and the fantastic football (3-3 scoreline) lifted our spirits up a little :)

Sightseeing wise, Sevilla scores 150/100. Really.

The Alcazares:

A magnificent fortress palace with a mix of Islam and Christian influences. You'll be surprised at how this 2 religions has synergised to produce such an amazing architecture.

?Did you know? A large part of Southern Spain, especially the state of Andalucia, is Muslim.

The Cathedral & Giralda:

4 out of 5 postcards we bought featured these. The 31-storey climb up the Giralda was well worth the aerial view of the city. Whether in day or the night, the cathedral looks just as beautiful.

Plaza de España:

It is a HUGE semicircle brick-red structure, with a beautiful fountain in front. There are uniquely-designed bridges running over the little canal/moat in front of the building, which adds to the romatic-ness of it all.

We like it so much we came back again at night! Lovely night view...Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza/Bullfighting ring:

Bullfighting is a famous tradition, and this venue can be considered as the most prominent stage in the country. The bullfighting season is from April to July yearly and this 'sport' still has a large legion of fans. Our tour inside was fascinating, even though it felt strange to be stepping into a place where lives were lost so regularly. Football fever:

We went to catch the Real Betis-Real Zaragoza match at the Betis stadium, just 10min bus from the city center. On the way there, another backpacker warned us it's dangerous to watch football at the stadiums, with bottle-throwing, spitting and all. So to protect ourselves, we bought the Real Betis scarve! Haha the 10euro scarve was more like an investment for our safety, and we wrapped it around us like it was a holy armour.A pretty packed stadium saw the home team drew 1-1 with Zaragoza. And Jem pretends to be a Balompie fan.Parc Maria Lucia:

This beautiful park is the home of the Plaza de España and also some of the nicest buildings around!

Torre de Oro: A symbol of Sevilla along the Guadalquivir River. And then, it was time to embark on a 7-hour overnight bus ride to Lisbon. We were early, patiently waiting for some instruction/announcement/anything. And the freaking bus just left quietly 1 storey below in the near-empthy bus station with 1 staff who was too busy making out with her whoever. The rest are best forgotten, except that left us 70euro poorer and arriving in Lisbon 1 entire day later than schedule.

Sunset on the bus to Lisbon...