Each day is the same only different...

How's THAT for a title?  I love the comments I've been getting (thank you all!) and intend to post photos of everything I've been asked about....  eventually ;-)

The same?  School!

9:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Break time - 11:15 to 11:45

The two girls on the left are from Korea, then Ingeborg from the Netherlands, Lennart, from Germany, Bill, and Naoki, from Japan.  Lennart got moved up to Intermediate Level today so he's no longer in our class, but takes the break with us.  The girl on the left is not in our class...  she'll be in Sevilla for 6 months.  The girl next to her just started in our class (Basic) today and I haven't learned much about her.

So...  the same...  only different.

Bill & I have gone to class 4 days now.  I can't imagine only taking classes for 1 week....  or even 2 weeks...  and coming away with much knowledge.  But, hey...  maybe these young folks catch on faster... or possibly go back to their country with a basic program to work from.  Whatever...  I'm glad we'll be here for 2 months.

The only thing about going to class everyday is that it cuts into our free time. (big surprise, huh?....  just like kids going out into the "real" world these days...  gosh...  I'm expected to show up EVERY DAY for HOW long????

For us that means we are in class when the markets are open.  Most stores here open around 8am...  close at 2pm for a 3 hour siesta, and most open again at 5pm until maybe 9 pm or so.

We head right back to our house after class because Rosa or Carlo serve lunch at 2pm.  That's the big meal of the day here and they fix traditional cuisine...  we don't want to miss any of that.

Today after lunch, Bill and I headed out for a walk.  We walked on "our" side of the river about a half mile, then crossed the Puente de San Telmo (bridge).  I wanted to show you a popular trend these days...

"Locks of Love"

There was a popular book, I Want You, written by Federico Moccia of Italy a few years ago.  The lovers fastened a padlock with their names written on it onto the bridge.  Then they threw the key into the river.

There are literally hundreds of padlocks fastened to the bridges here in Seville.  The weight of them has become such a problem that the city periodically sends a maintenance crew out to cut off the locks.  Hmmmm.... wonder which lasts the longest...  the love affair or the locks?

After crossing this bridge, we continued to walk south until we reached the Parque Maria Luisa.

Wide, beautifully landscaped avenues and lanes.

Lots of lagoon-like ponds and fountains...

There are peacocks on that island on the left. 

 And swimming in the pond were these...

Swans

Okay...  looks like a "Judy" picture, doesn't it?  Maybe I should have saved this one for the end....

AND!

Up in the trees (I think a variety of sycamore?)...

Many, many green parrots (or maybe large parakeets?).  I don't have a field guide to Spanish birds so am not sure.  

Nevertheless they were fun to watch and listen to.

From the ponds we walked out of the park into the area that in 1929 was the site of the World's Fair.

The South Tower

Bill standing on the sidewalk that is in front of this HUGE building. Check out the tile and ceramic work on that bridge...

Amazing!

The North Tower

The whole complex is the "Plaza de Espano".  As I said, it was built in 1929 for the World's Fair and housed exhibits from all parts of Spain and all other countries.  A lot of the original designs have been preserved and are now beautiful gardens, places to relax or picnic - both for tourists and the locals.

Those horses you see take carriage loads of tourists on tours of the city.  You see them all over this part of Sevilla.

After walking through this area, we headed over to Alcazar, a 14th century building (castle?).  Since we had already walked quite a bit, we decided to take that tour another day.  There is a charge to enter the grounds and we felt we'd appreciate it more when we had more time.

From there we walked over to the Santa Iglesia Cathedral, the Cathedral of Sevilla...

Again, there is a charge to go inside, and we will do this another day.

I've written about the street performers.  Today we did see a man juggling tenpins, but my favorite was...

This classical guitarist.

He was playing traditional Spanish guitar music and was quite good.  We liked it so much that we bought his CD...

Here it is, I'm holding it in front of my computer screen next to the photo I took of Bill standing with the artist.

We've been enjoying his music all evening.  Bueno!

And, my favorite picture of the day...

El Gato

Watching something on one of the Alcazar walls.

I never did see what the attraction was, though I tried real hard.  I suppose this kitty is feral, but it did let me give it a quick pet.

We have homework tonight, so I better close and get to it.  Tomorrow is our last class this week, so Saturday Bill & I will go to those markets that we miss during the week.  

Yep!  You know what a future blog will show.

That's All For Today!