Seville and Madrid

Hi pals! This morning we awoke at the crack of down to head to the bus station to catch a ride to Sevilla. It was a stressful morning because we couldn’t book tickets beforehand and had no idea if we would be able to get them on the spot. We were at the station an hour and a half before it even opened and sat outside in the dark waiting… Luckily when the bus finally came the driver let us get on and pay at the next stop since ours was still closed. A miracle! We were so happy.

It was raining pretty hard when we arrived in Seville so we pulled out our raincoats and trekked to our hostel. After relaxing a while, we went out into the city to explore. It is such an amazing place with the most beautiful architecture at places such as the Plaza de Espana and the Giralda Cathedral.

We went on a “free” walking tour, unaware that you were obligated to tip what you thought the tour was worth at the end. We are on a tight budget and only wanted to do the darn tour because it was free, so naturally we freaked out when we were told this AFTER it was too late to get out of it. Honestly, I feel really bad about the way this story ends and realize it makes us seem like cheap and selfish cowards but what’s done is done. So I’ll try to make the story as quick as possible.

Basically, the whole time we were trying to think of a way out of it. After the 2nd last stop, I panicked and saw a chance to escape when we passed a little alley. My instincts kicked in and I swear I had an insane rush of adrenaline and just started running down the side road where the guide and group wouldn’t see us. Literally sprinting down the small alleyways of the city, twisting and turning trying to get as far away as possible. Hannah and Alex followed and then we hid out in a cafe with our sun glasses on as a disguise… I know, pathetic. So embarrassing. So ashamed. The guilt is strong. At least I’m 10€ richer today because of it. Our tour guide, unfortunately, is not. Sorry, Rafael.

We then spent the night hiding out in our hostel room, afraid he would find us and ask for an explanation that we wouldn’t be able to offer, and then went to sleep to get ready to try to get a train to Madrid the next morning. Online it said that all the trains were booked and the front desk attendant said the same. We thought we were screwed but decided to go to the train station first thing in the morning in hopes of a miracle. And a “miracle” we got indeed…

By miracle I mean we got the train station and were easily given tickets for the next train to Madrid. All that stress for nothing. It’s really never as difficult as it seems.

Today we walked around Madrid and saw a few cathedrals and historic monuments which, if I’m being honest, I don’t totally know the names of… They were cool nonetheless! I’ll attach pictures and maybe you will know better than me what we were looking at… Oops.

After exploring, we went to an adorable cafe for a cappuccino and a small dinner. We’re spending the night relaxing at the hostel and hopefully having a nice early bedtime so we can be well rested to see more of Madrid tomorrow!

See ya then!

Tal

Seville:

Madrid: