I slept in this morning and got up around 8:45 AM. I worked out in the hallway with my resistance band (hooking it on the stairwell banister-sometimes you need to get creative). We didn’t get breakfast with this hotel so I went and made myself some oatmeal/pb/banana in the kitchen of the hotel. Then it was off to explore Sevilla. We walked everywhere that day—went to the Giralda (former minaret that was converted to a bell tower for the Cathedral of Seville in Seville), lots of plazas, la plaza de Espana (the Worlds Fair entrance), Maria Luisa park which we walked thru and sat a little park to relax, Torre de Oro (tall gold tower by the water). To cool off a bit along our journey we spotted people drinking strawberry mojitos and just had to get one. I got a virgin one (mmm it was so good-fresh strawberries, mint, lime). Then we went to the Real Maestranza-Bull fighting arena and took a tour. It was very fascinating- bull always dies-either pierced at heart and dies quickly or in lungs and slowly. The matador has to study the bull in 3 stages to understand the bull and be able to kill it properly. The matador’s outfit is very protective and fancier the better he is. I learned that fighters  (called matador which means killer) get about 20 minutes to fight and kill a bull. First they 1. Learn the bulls tactics by using the red cape, then 2. Get on a horse to slow the bull down and tire the bull out. Then 3. Use a sword to stab the bull in the heart. If they miss the heart and stab the lungs, the bull will die slowly and then the judge gets mad because the fighter lost and then ends the bull’s life quickly and declares the matador (killer) a failure and he loses all points of the match. During the tour I got to see the arena, where the horses they ride stay, chapel (where the matador sits/prays right before the match to get mentally ready), the principle gate where the killer enters, and also the museum of the archives of past and present matadors and bull heads. I really enjoyed this tour a lot.

Then Emily and I walked to the old Jewish neighborhood where there were lots of shops selling the same thing. Tons of side streets of little trinkets, we got lunch around 4PM at a local tapas we found walking. We got grilled eggplant with mushrooms which was delicious, goat cheese and honey which was good too, a vegetable lasagna-which was great!! Of course bread and water were served; the bread here is very good! All restaurants are always half inside half outside which I enjoy. Get to have some inside seating but an outside, open feel. There is room for about 6-8 people inside and about 10 outside, so fairly small restaurants looking to serve maybe 4 groups of people at a time. Most groups are two people maybe 4-5 at the most so there’s enough room for a few small groups. Menus are always in multiple languages and typically the server asks what language you want as you sit down, or they listen and give you the appropriate one.

My legs were still sore but feel like they were healing. My Achilles, knees, and quads still hurt. Sore to sit, stand, go up and down stairs, sometimes knees still rejected me and I would stumble. Mostly my right Achilles killed but the rest felt somewhat like it was healing.

After we refueled it was back to wandering. I was in charge of the map, Emily let me lead even though I had no clue where I was going, but made it around very well and was much better at reading Spanish maps. We walked further down the old Jewish town and back to the hotel. We both laid down for a bit, checked emails, and hung out in the room for a couple hours then we met up with Emily’s friend again. We walked about 10 minutes to meet them down the road. Marise and her father met us half way and then we taxied to the restaurant. Her father was such a sweet, old man and at the restaurant we met Marise’s mother. They only knew Spanish so I didn’t talk much at this meal…just listened and could understand most of the conversation, but afraid to speak really. Because they heard I wanted to take Jamon home to my family, they brought me down the street to a local butcher to get some. Marise bought some for my family and Alex, she was so sweet. Then we went back to the restaurant (seated entirely outside) and had some dinner, it was like 9PM I’d say. They ordered for me—I had pescado de la plancha (grilled whole fish) with green sauce and salad. Also Spinach and filo triangles which were great, sardines which I did not try, and bread of course. Also there were these potato chips (made fresh so mostly potatoes) which Emily let me try. Her dish which they ordered for her too was an egg on top of the potato chips (really more like fresh fries). The parents were so sweet, we sat there talking until 11PM and then needed to catch a taxi back. We caught a cab and went to the hotel. I went right to sleep, but woke up at 3:18AM and couldn’t fall back asleep (I think the time adjustment finally set in). I got on FB and chatted with Alex for a while on WhatsApp until about 530AM and then fell back asleep until 7:05AM.