Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Faro...and onwards to Sevilla...


Oh, I have some disappointing news for you...I have no hiccups to report! What will I write about! Well, I could write about how inconsiderate hostel roomies can be, but then we have all had experience with this...Or I could write about how every new friend we have made on the road has a name that starts with "m", but, what do you care?

I could write to you about how I was disappointed with our last Portuguese stop, Faro. It was described in particularly good favour as a town with atmosphere and character. The engagement of the word "town" was accurate as it was certainly small enough to be branded as one, "atmosphere" I think was lacking thanks to the Easter weekend hibernation of all the local and tourist population, and "character" I think was a definite stretch of the imagination. But the stay was not entirely wasted, we had a private room, so we used the time to recoup...without the disruption of the afore mentioned roomies!

Portugal was a lovely surprise for me in the sense that the people were all so helpful and friendly. I was anticipating a lot of difficulty in communicating, knowing that my awkward Italian skills would not get me through our Portugal travels. Thanks to the poverty though, the majority of the population have learnt English as a way to move up and out. So we said our fond goodbyes to the homely Portugal, climbed aboard our bus and travelled back across the border to Spain. So, on Easter Sunday while you were all searching for chocolate eggs in the garden we were on a long bus trip headed for Sevilla.

We arrived in this sunny city at 2pm and immediately raced out the door down to a nearby church as we had heard that we would be able to catch the remnants of the Easter Sunday parade. Unfortunately we were too late for the procession but we did get to absorb ourselves in the festival atmosphere and watch the children all in their Sunday best; the girls all wearing gorgeous 1930s dresses, tiny cardigans and coats, thick colourful stockings, Mary Jane shoes and massive bows in their hair, it is like walking back in time! The boys outfits I am not so sure about, it could almost be considered cruelty to children... leather sandals, socks pulled to the knees, tailored short shorts, tucked in shirts, ties and cardigans...obviously not keen to encourage masculinity, mini metro's!

Aw, the bells just rang 5pm, they call this place the city of churches and they're not half wrong! There are dozens of them! We went to explore the massive cathedral on the first day of our arrival and then pushed on to the Alacazar, an old moorish castle that was a fascinating mix of Spanish and Arabic styles. It was really rather beautiful!

We are starting to become absorbed by the late night culture of Spain, we have noticed that we are naturally managing to eat later and later every night. On Sunday we went for Tapas at 10pm, we are normally found in bed at 9pm, so this is a major break through for us! Tapas was a little highlight for me, we went to a locals bar where the owner took a particular liking to me, he was a little cartoon of a man, small in stature, he had missing teeth, the rest were bucked, his skin told a thousand stories through his wrinkles, his eyes were wide in excitement and his brows were glued high on his forehead! He thought my "Spanish" skills were good...but obviously not that good, he babied me through the process and did not make me join the self service line!

Oh, what a long entry! I have one last note to make before I give up on this damned keyboard and allow you all to return to your lives! We visited the Bull fighting stadium yesterday, I was unsure what the "sport" entailed but what I found out disgusted me! I am unsure why this "sport" still exists! Who can enjoy watching a bull killed so inhumanely? Honestly I am devastated that it is still an authorized activity, the poor bull has to endure six spears before the Matador has the decency to put it out of its misery! It is such a primitive occupation, the Spanish who engage in this should be entirely ashamed of themselves!

One last note, I have a new Favorite drink: Tinto de Verano, it is very similar to Sangeria but it is sweeter and much easier to consume! I advise you try it next time you are in Spain!

Cheerio! And love to all!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I am going to have to stop reading your blog at work...I keep getting these overwhelming tendencies towards suicide while sitting at my desk in Perth...

Hope you are having the time of your life xxx