This city (3rd biggest in Spain, apparently) is pretty damn nice. Kinda regretting booking a hostel in Barcelona for tomorrow now..
I´ve been doing my usual walking until I can barely stand again today. I didn´t quite manage to get a glimpse of the apparent ´real´ Holy Grail, but certainly saw plenty of other things.
For one there was the Mercado Central (central market). You can discount all previous statements made about bustling markets... this one tops them all. The place is a permanent fixture by the look of it, looks like an old church - pictures to follow at some point.
There was everything imaginable (maybe more) under that roof, anything that walked or flew over the ground or grew in it. Quite an overwhelming place and another thing I would´ve taken more advantage of if i were staying here longer. As you walked in one entrance it was a challenge to find it again, without going out of another door, walking around the building, and going in again.
Another place I took a look around was Valencia´s bullring, right next to the train station. As I missed the last opportunity to see a genuine bullfight in Seville by a day, I was taking what I could get. What I got was a free tour of the bullring, with just 2 other people. It was ok, a little underwhelming as you´d imagine.. was missing a big four-legged animal with huge horns..., but it killed a few minutes.
Next I went over to the Cathedral, each Spanish town seems to have a few hundred each. This one had a huge display of the Virgin Mary inside though, almost a moving sight, were it not for my Religious (lack of) persuasion. Lots of the people sitting infront of it were drawing crosses on themselves and saying a quiet prayer. I didn´t take any pictures as I didn´t want to be disrespectful, it was clearly a very spiritually significant place.
Now after my all-day trundel who should be in the same dorm room as me, but my childhood friend, Jenny! Couldn´t believe the coincidence here. Was really good to see a face from home, and forced me to look back on my accomplishments so far. After my late notice attempt at a meeting in Madrid, this was really cool and unexpected. Going to go for Tapas later.
Train to Barcelona at 10 in the morning.
i - The Valencian bullring, bang next door to the train station. Complete with various stalls in the outer walls
ii - The Mercado Central, didn´t take any photos inside, would´ve felt a right apricot
iii - Impressive display on the wall of the Plaze de La Virgen. I´ve been told it´s made out of flowers or something?¿
iv - Sevillian train station view, about 8pmish
v - One of many views of the Granadian landscape
vi - A perfect example of the spiralling streets hugging onto the hills. Granada again.
vii - ix - Amazing graffiti along the river in Seville.
x - Some paella pans in Valencia, with an old man as a scale guide
