September 4th, Monday: Day 6

We woke up early in the morning to catch our train ride

The inside of the train station

to Seville. Everybody was in a bright mood because most of us had never been on a train before (Estacio del Nord is the train station we took, pictured to the left). We got up, packed our bags, showered, and were about to head out the door until we realized something was off. We were missing someone. Tyler and I bolted back into our room to see Mason still under the covers, sound asleep. If we didn't hurry up, we were going to miss our train ride! We screeched at Mason to get him up, and we were out the door in seconds. After our

The beautiful view from our hotel room!

little fiasco and breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and drove to the station, Estacio del Nord. We had shown our tickets, and were on the train right on time. The ride would take 2 and a half hours, so we tried occupying ourselves. I glanced towards the window and I saw Tyler, looking for a new pair of Asics after his old pair got tormented by La Tomatina. After a seemingly endless ride, we had finally arrived at the Seville-Santa Justa railway station in Seville. We then went to pick up our rental car, and some lunch for the drive to our hotel. All of us were tired for the constant travel and having to wake up so early. We got to our new hotel, Hotel Madrid Sevilla, which was in the heart of Seville. Before we left, we decided to take a quick nap and admire the gorgeous view from our hotel room. After we refueled with some lunch, we were out the door and on our way to our first attraction, Torre del Oro (Tower of Gold). This tower dates

The view of Torre del Oro from over the canal!

all the way back to the 13th century, and once served as a prison in the Middle Ages. It is also believed to have once been filled with gold. As we walked up to the tower, we were all in awe as we admired the tower's immense size. We entered through the large door and saw many historical items in glass cages. We slowly patrolled through the tower, seeing many things such as scuba gear, model ships, and many cannons. After a few hours of admiring, we went down to the riverside of Canal de Alfonso XIII to check out the water. The water was a beautiful blue-green color, and we could see our reflections peering back at us as we stuck our heads over the water. The Weather was breezy and at around 60°, but the sun provided us with some more warmth. It was just after midday, meaning the air would slowly get cooler in preparation for night. We would soon recede to indoor attractions for warmth. As we looked down the canal, we saw many fishing boats and ferry boats traveling along the canal. I found some spare food in our bags and threw a bit into the water. Soon, beautiful turtles emerged and took

The beautiful turtles we saw at Canal de Alfonso.

the food. I glanced around and noticed we were missing someone. Tyler was sitting on a bench far from the shore. We immediately new he did not want to ruin another pair of Asics after spending so much time cleaning them. After, we headed to Restaurante Abades Triana for lunch, then back to our hotel room. We decided to have a quick nap before heading out once again. Our next destination would be the Plaza de Espana. After a couple hours, at around 

Tyler showing us his next pair of Asics.

evening, we hopped in the car and started the drive to the Plaza. Plaza de Espana is a large semi-circle building that is surrounded by a moat, and in the center of the Plaza, there is a large fountain. This Plaza attracts many people per year because of it's beauty, especially at sunset, and we were about to see it. The drive was very impressive with all the Gothic buildings and beautiful nature, except when looking for a parking spot. It seemed as if we would never be able to find since we were aimlessly circling the Plaza. We decided to park at a nearby restaurant and get some dinner before we view the sunset. It was called Restaurante La Raza which was almost directly across from the plaza. The service was not the best and we could all tell that Chris was getting annoyed. He exclaimed his annoyance with us and threatened to throw his chair if there wasn't any service. That got the waiter's attention fast. Mason also didn't help the cause after he was laughing and dropped a heavy glass on my foot. We had a pretty eventful dinner. 

-Around 8:30 PM-

The Plaza just before sunset.

We had never realized how much time passed! The sun was starting to dip down over the horizon, so we bolted to the Plaza. We made it just as the sun was setting. The Plaza had us in awe because of it's immense size - just larger than 9 football fields. We strolled through the Plaza, admiring the architecture and the water which turned orange because of the sun. Everything almost seemed to have turned gold, but the view wasn't long-lasted. Eventually, the sun had completely disappeared and we couldn't see anything. Rohan turned hysterical and started running around like a maniac. We were all laughing at the hilarious sight until we heard a police man's voice. Our fun ended there. We were escorted back to our car and were given a stern warning. We acknowledged it, then sped on back to our hotel after an eventful day. In the hotel room, Rohan was frightened that we were going to get arrested, but we told him that the cops would only be looking for Mason after he had injured my foot with his glass. That gave us a good laugh for the night. 

History: Torre Del Oro
The Torre del Oro is a dodecagonal tower constructed in the 13th century next to the Canal de Alfonso XIII. It was originally constructed to watch over and control the canal and was a prison in the middle ages. The English translation for Torre del Oro is Tower of Gold, and there are different speculations from where the name came from. Some people say it may have been from the shine that the tower reflected in the river (composed of mortar, lime, and pressed hay). It is also believed that the tower may once have been filled with gold.

Culture: Plaza de Espana
Plaza de Espana reflects culture because of the architectural theme. It follows a Regionalism Architecture which means having an original style while also mixing historical styles into it. Many old Spanish buildings have been built like this, especially the Plaza. The Plaza was also used in exposition to showcase Spain, as well as their industry (another example of culture). Lastly, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was filmed here, reflecting entertainment in the country.