Let's Explore: Feliz Dia del San Valentin

One of my favorite days of the year, Valentine's Day! No, I don't have a boyfriend that showers me with roses and chocolate but hey who says I can't shower myself with gelato? Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse to get bars of chocolate, cups of gelato and glasses of wine (not that I need an excuse, but hey, I'll use this day as one). So, today I did all of that.

I always bake for my friends on Valentine's day so this morning I decided to get up semi-early and bake cookies! Since I couldn't find all of the ingredients, I ended up buying a box mix. Virginia was curious about how to make them so I showed her as I went along and added the ingredients (box mix and egg) to the bowl. If I understood her right, I don't think she has ever had chocolate chip cookies before...I was in shock. Well, she really liked the ones that I made, and so did Francisco! Success! I wrapped up the rest and brought them with to my tour of the cathedral.

I went on a tour of the cathedral en el centro with CIEE. It was absolutely breathtaking. It's the third largest cathedral in the world and I seriously could not get over how amazing it was. Also, Christopher Columbus is buried there! long with a bunch of other people, it's basically a cemetery in addition to a cathedral. The big tower that is attached to the cathedral is called la Girlada, and it is so beautiful as well. After our tour we went to the top of la Giralda for an amazing view of Sevilla. It's 43 levels up, but no stairs. It's all ramps! Why is it 43 ramps you may ask? Well, apparently back in the day the had their horses take them up to the top. Pretty lazy if ya ask me, the climb wasn't that bad! I learned about la catedral y la Giralda in my Spanish history class back in Madison so it was really cool to finally go inside and see them!

I of course followed through on my Valentine's Day tradition of buying myself ice cream; I went to my favorite gelato place called La abuela. They unfortunately didn't have my favorite flavor, but don't worry, there were about 20 other to choose from!

I wandered around el centro and relaxed in the afternoon. After dinner with Virginia and Francisco I was face timing with my dad and he wished me a happy valentines day and told me to have a glass of baileys on the rocks for him. Baileys has always been my drink of choice ever since my dad introduced it to me. So, after haning up with my dad, I went to a bar with two of my friends and had a glass of Bailey's on the rocks. So, cheers to you padre, happy valentine's day!

Sending Smiles from Sevilla,

Rebecca

Fresh baked cooookies (as Virginia says it!)