La Feria de Abril

My second spring break was so much fun, I can hardly believe that I travelled to three countries in a week. From Madrid, to Dublin to London, I can't even decide which one I liked the most. I had so much fun exploring Madrid with my grupo de interest and then adventuring through the cold and rainy but oh so gorgeous Dublin and London with Zoe and Gilana. We had so much fun, met so many new and interesting people and I developed a new found love for good hostels. However, I can honestly say that one of the best and most exciting moments of that week was when we got off the bus from the airport at the doors of the Universidad and it just felt right. The smell of the orange blossoms and horses, the familiar streets and most of all the lack of rain and warm weather all came together and I was reminded that Sevilla had become my home, and that I had missed it. All of the places I travelled to were fantastic but Sevilla is the place for me. That day I got home, had a delicious lunch with my Señora and told her all about my travels. She was especially interested in my trip to Madrid because she loves the Prado and theatre so she really enjoyed hearing about that. I was so happy to be back in my own bed with her good cooking and of course Pantera. I did a little bit of homework that night and then pretty much crashed but that was okay because the next day Zoe, Gilana and I were planning on heading to one of the final days of La Feria de Abril.

La Feria de Abril or April Fair is a special holiday that is unique to Andalucía, the region of Spain in which I was staying. It is a week long event, usually occurring about two weeks after Easter, that everyone gets vacation time for and it is basically a week long party, but it didn't start out that way. When Feria was created in 1847 it was originally a livestock fair that took place on the outskirts of the city and was really just for farmers from el campo or the country who had livestock to sell. After a few years some of the more wealthy patrons such as the Casino de Sevilla built casetas or tents to watch the proceedings in comfort. By 1920 the livestock aspect of Feria had completely disappeared and it was transformed into the week long celebration that it is today.

Modern day Feria consists of everyone dressing up in the clothes of el campo, which means traje de flamenco or flamenco dresses for the girls and traje corto or short jacket, tight pants and boots for the men, and drinking manzanilla all day while eating at one of the many food stands, riding the amusement park rides, playing fairground games or dancing in one of the casetas.

The huge beautiful gate at the entrance to the fair.

A row of casetas, complete with Mickey Mouse. 

Horse butts plus men and women in traditional dress. 

Donkeys and that pull the carriages with pompom headdresses. 

Some girls in our program borrowed flamenco dresses from their Señoras who had daughters or granddaughters who were their size, however, Zoe, Gilana and I weren't that lucky and since flamenco dresses can cost anywhere from 200-1000 euros we decided to do what everyone else does if they don't have a flamenco dress. Wear a nice dress with a big flower in your hair and huge earrings. So we put on our nicest dresses and headed over to a "fancy" chino store to find the biggest and most obnoxious accessories we could. What is amazing is that some girls have a dress for all SIX days of Feria, and most get one to two new dresses each year! Similar to prom dresses you can tell what year a flamenco dress is from based on how the color of the dress, how tight it is, how many ruffles are on the bottom of the dress, if it has sleeves or not and how puffy the sleeves are. 

No mirror? No problem. We used the car to put in our flowers. 

Zoe and I modeling our Feria looks. 

The back of my Feria look with Flamenco dresses in the background.

After getting all dressed up we walked across the bridge to the Feria grounds. There are hundreds of casetas on the grounds, some are private and some are public. You can't go into the private casetas unless you are invited by the family who owns that caseta, it is very hard and expensive to get a caseta on the fairgrounds but once you have a spot it stays in your family forever. One of the main things Spaniards do during Feria is go from tent to tent visiting their friends. It can be like a big reunion for friends and families who don't get to see each other often. The public casetas are different. They are usually run but large businesses or the city of Sevilla and they play music for dancing, sell food and most importantly rebujitos. Rebujito is the drink of Feria, all the people love it. It is a mixture of Manzanilla wine and 7-UP. It is very refreshing and delicious. You can buy it by the pitcher and share it with all of your friends, but most of the young Spanish people make their own and then sneak it in. 

Our pitcher of rebujito and "La Guita" glasses, which is the brand of manzanilla wine that we were drinking. 

Me and Gilana in the caseta with the rebujito and eating some olives as a snack.

While in the caseta we also got to witness men and women dancing in the traditional flamenco style and we also attempted to dance with them. It was amazing how good they were, it put our attempt to shame, even though they were so nice and encouraging. We also saw a lot of beautiful flamenco dresses, it is funny because the girls were so proud of their dresses they were dying to get their pictures taken by us, so we got lots of good shots of them. We soon found this to be a theme, everyone was dying to show off their outfits, so prepare for an onslaught of pictures right now. 

Young girls in their traditional dresses. 

Men and women from the country bring their horses and ride from caseta to caseta. 

Adorable Feria family. 

A perfect example of traditional male Feria dress.

After spending a few hours in the caseta we decided to explore the rest of the fair and found all the games and rides. It was so funny to see all of the girls in their nice dresses riding the rides and playing fair games. We also found a yummy little snack of caramel apples and buñuelos which are basically like mini donuts. 

Some girls crowding around a fair game. 

Yum! Caramel apples. 

Rides, buñuelos and caramel apples.

Just as it started to get dark it started to sprinkle a little bit. We debated between just going home and taking refuge in the nearest caseta. We chose the nearest caseta and I'm so glad that we did. The hours we spent their were my favorite of the day. We made friends with some Spanish girls who were very into Feria and were having a great time showing us their flamenco moves. Gilana and I even tried it and the older people we were sitting next to were encouraging us and telling us that we were pretty good for americanos. 

Our imitation of intense flamenco faces.

Flamenco dancing. 

Some of our new friends in action. 

The inside of our favorite caseta. 

We were still pretty tired from our week of adventures and it was starting to get cold so around 12 AM we decided to head back to our houses. It was so fun to see the change from day to night on the Feria grounds. They were almost unrecognizable. 

Looks like it could be a poster for Feria. 

The laterns that hung over all the streets in the fairgrounds. 

Me and Zoe on our way out. 

Me and Gilana striking a flamenco pose. 

Me, Gilana and Zoe by our caseta. 

Other people saw our photo shoot and wanted to join in. 

The entrance to Feria at night. 

There were beautiful lights everywhere. 

The three of us in front of the gate to Feria. 

It was so crazy, as we were leaving at midnight hundreds of people were still arriving to Feria. I couldn't believe it! This was just another experience I had in Sevilla that made me further appreciate the opportunity I had to come to this wonderful place and how lucky I am to have chosen Sevilla. I have experienced things here that some people can only dream of. 

Spring Break Part 3: London

As previously stated, I've been a little busy but I hope some of you have stuck with me. I have a few more posts to go that are, in my opinion some of the most interesting. Today I'm going to do my best to remember everything about my trip to London and relay it all to you in my usual rambling style complete with lots of pictures!

After spending a few truly awesome days in Dublin and wishing we could stay longer, Zoe, Gilana and I managed to debunk the inner workings of the Dublin transportation system and after one failed attempt made it to the airport just in time for our flight to London. Despite the brevity of the flight I was so tired that I managed to sleep from take-off to landing, and it was worth every second. When we got to the exit of the airport we were so confused because we didn't know how to get into the city and there was no information desk and we couldn't for the life of us figure out why. After talking to a friendly coffee shop worker we discovered that since we had flown into Gatwick airport, which is outside of London we had to take the train into the city where we would find info desks and the like. A very helpful woman at the train station told us to get an unlimited day pass which got us a train into the city and unlimited subway transfers and bus rides, for relatively little money.

Pounds on Pounds. We were really obsessed with their money, the bills are so big.

A phrase we became well acquainted with during our stay.

Our train ride into the city was beautiful and very Harry Potter. Lots of older looking brick houses and green grass, some of them I am certain could have been Privet Drive. We arrived in the train station and decided that rather than going and dropping our bags off at Sarah and Harris' house (Zoe's friends that we were staying with) we would just be THOSE tourists and tour all day with our backpacks on. We decided to just pick a famous landmark in London and start our siteseeing tour there. Luckily we chose Big Ben, which turned out to be centrally located. Our trip to Big Ben was a little shaky because they wanted 5£ for a map of the city and the underground, and we just refused to pay that so to get around that we just took pictures of the maps that were provided in the subway, which also showed the pertinent landmarks above ground. 

Underground and railway map. 

Zoe and I attempting to get to Big Ben.

We made it!

Close up on Big Ben, the detail is beautiful. 

Backside of the Parliament building.  

Big Ben + Parliament. 

Again with my lamp post obsession, but really how cool is this one?!

It turns out that we picked the perfect stop to kick off our London adventure because while we were at Big Ben we also got to check out the London Eye.

Ready for our tour of London, backpacks and all. 

View from across the river.

Close up of the London Eye. 

While we were around Big Ben we happened upon some sort of military procession that was happening outside the Parliament building, it must have been a big deal because a lot of people who work in the building were outside watching it as well. 

An interesting angle on the Parliament building, taken through a wrought-iron fence. 

A glimpse of the proceedings. 

After checking out this excitement we headed over to Westminster Abbey which happened to be just across the street!

Far away view,  I think it looks so picturesque with the dainty trees in front of it. 

The main entrance. 

The detail on the door is mind-boggling. 

I am in love with the windows. 

If you couldn't tell, I kind of like Westminster Abbey, it is in my top three favorite religious buildings that I saw during my time in Europe. The other two being La Catedral de Sevilla and La Mesquita de Cordoba. Westminster was commissioned by Henry III in 1245, and it is designed to be in the shape of a cross when viewed from above. It was granted the status of Cathedral in the 16th century and has been the site of coronations for the British Monarchy since the 14th century. 

After thoroughly admiring Westminster we made our way to Buckingham Palace, a happy mistake took us through a beautiful park on our way to the palace where we had a run in with some overly amorous pigeons and weird duck-like birds. 

View of London from across a pond in the park.

It was such a pretty park!

The strangest birds I've ever seen.

I had some honey roasted cacahuetes or peanuts left over that I had bought as a snack way back in Sevilla so Zoe, Gilana and I decided it would be a good idea to feed them to the pigeons. I'm not sure why I agreed because I hate pigeons and these ones were used to being fed so they positively swarmed. Panic ensued. I was screaming bloody murder.

It landed on me! I was petrified. 

Don't let the smile fool you.

Zoe on the other hand liked the pigeons. 

And Gilana was like the bird lady in Mary Poppins. 

After a little fun with birds we made our way through the park to Buckingham palace. Unfortunately because of the day of the week/time of day that we were there we weren't able to go inside or see the changing of the guards but it was still a magnificent sight.

Ornate gates to the palace. 

The palace itself. 

More gorgeous gates.

Zoomed out view of Buckingham Palace. 

Gates to the palace park, with Zoe standing in front to show the scale. 

After our romp in the park and peek at the palace, we were all very hungry because we hadn't eaten since our breakfast at the hostel in Ireland, so we decided to stop and get a few snacks and eat then in Trafalgar Square. We spent a couple hours there climbing on the lions that surround a large statue in the square, taking lots of pictures, people watching and admiring the Olympic countdown clock.

I was the first one to try to climb the lions and my initial method of running and jumping was not the most successful.

I know that it's sideways but I think that you can see it ended in disaster. I did eventually figure out how to climb up the back of the lion and had a lot of success that way. As you can see in the following pictures.

Lounging on a lion. 

Zoe and I both made it up. 

Oh you know just snacking on a monument. 

In front of the Olympic countdown clock!

Better view of the whole monument in Trafalgar Square. 

We had a lot of fun in Trafalgar Square, the weather was beautiful and we were warm for the first time since we'd left our sunny Sevilla, which was a big deal. As our last stop of the day before we headed to Sarah and Harris' for the night was Kings Cross Station to take the obligatory Harry Potter platform 9 and 3/4 pictures.

Underground sign for King's Cross. 

Inside King's Cross station, looks a bit different than in the movies. 

Platform 9 and 3/4's. 

Running through the wall. 

After our adventure at Kings Cross we headed back to Sarah and Harris' flat for the night. We took the underground, a bus and had to walk a few blocks to get there but it was so worth it to be able to stay in a real home versus a hostel or hotel. That night they took us to their favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner and then we all turned in early because they had to work and we had another big day of sight-seeing planned.

The next morning we slept in until about 11, took nice hot showers in a nice normal shower for once and then on Sarah's recommendation went to the Camden Town outdoor market. The only downside was that it was absolutely pouring, as soon as we left the house we heard a loud clap of thunder and the rain started pouring down, it was just like in the movies. We ran back to the house to get our umbrellas and then headed off on the walk to the underground.

We thought this road sign was funny because it was pouring. 

The market itself had lots of fun cheap jewelry, sunglasses and clothes, and the neighborhood was very fun, young and hip. We all at lunch at a traditional British pub and then Gilana left us to go meet up with one of her friends who was living in London so Zoe and I continued our day of site-seeing on our own. Our first stop was Abbey Road where we felt obligated to recreate the famous Beatles pose.

Abbey Road.  

Our best attempt at recreating the picture. 

Then we headed off to the river Thames to see the London Bridge. We made a quick stop at Starbucks for some wifi to figure out where we were headed and a hot beverage before we resumed our tour. We saw the London Bridge which is actually a series of bridges and the bridge that most people picture when you say London Bridge is in fact not called the London Bridge. Tricky right?

What people think of when you say 'London Bridge'. 

Me on the actual London Bridge. 

After seeing the London Bridge we headed across the river and out of town to see the Globe Theatre. 

All that was left of the ruins of an old castle that was near the site of the Globe. 

Outside of the modern reconstruction of the Globe, which is built 750 ft away from the site of the original. 

 Our final stop for the day was St. Paul's Cathedral. It is a very pretty more modern looking cathedral than many we had seen on our previous travels through Europe, and it was a nice surprise to stumble upon it on our way to meet Sarah and Harris for dinner.

This bridge was destroyed by death eaters in the sixth Harry Potter movie. 

Shot of the cathedral from the street. 

Front of the cathedral. 

Back view complete with pretty yellow flowers. 

We then made our way back to Camden Town where Sarah works to meet her and Harris for a drink at a fun bar near her office before dinner. Then they took us to a delicious Turkish place for dinner where I had the most amazing falafel. That night worn out from walking Zoe and I watched about half of Bridesmaids before falling asleep. The next morning it was time to go, our flight was at 1 pm and with all the travel time, underground, train and bus it would take us to get there was just enough time for a quick breakfast at a cute cafe before we headed to the airport and back to Sevilla.