Adventure Accounting

SUN.  HEAT. BURN.  SCORCH. Do not underestimate the heat. Even if I hail from the sunny tropical country of the Philippines, I’ve only experience up to 38 degrees C. Seville’s hottest was at 42. It was just four degrees higher but felt like so much more. On a good note, the heat is just that – heat. In the Philippines, the heat comes with humidity. No shade to hide I got tanned in Seville.   I had an umbrella with me but I just couldn’t take the heat anymore. I caved in and bought a folding souvernir umbrella which costs €9,50. There's the umbrella. Had to get it out of the way for this photo. Taaaaaaaan! Red-orange it is! Food is a lot cheaper compared to Madrid and Barcelona. A centrally located hostel can serve as a refuge for travelers during the hottest hours of the day. When I decided to take a break from roaming around, I went back to the hostel and found that all of my roommates are there – seeking relief ...

Seville is a pretty walkable city. I chose Hostel Trotamundos for its location, and I was able to book a room without a downpayment. I took a cab from Seville Santa Justa station going to the hostel – cost around € 7. The hostel is also accessible by bus, but I didn't feel like walking a lot at that time - I was getting tired from the heat and the whole trip. Read: Nakakatamad.   The hostel was just average for me. Stayed here for three nights. A bed in a female dorm with 6 beds costs €16 – with breakfast! Really cheap dorms in Andalucia. Tripadvisor reviews says that the rooms and big and spacious. I don't know where the big and spacious rooms are but it is not Room #10. I found the room was actually quite stuffy, just average size, but kept clean.   The nice thing about the room is having airconditioning. It can get really hot in Seville during the afternoon so going back to the hostel for some afternoon siesta in an airconditioned room is...

Food in not-so-major cities are way better.  A set lunch in a restaurant in one of the side streets cost me €8,95. Relatively inexpensive, I would say. And very tasty too. This is their version of Adobo. I don’t know if this is authentic enough or what. It tastes like paella and lacks the soy sauce flavor. Then again, soy sauce is an Asian thing. The desert is some sort of sweet sticky white rice. Like kakanin-ish. I didn't like it. I didn’t have the energy to go out for dinner during my first night in Seville. The travel stress and homesickness caught up with me. I shopped for some supplies for both snacks and dinner (the loot cost €7,25) and ordered chicken wings at Mc Donald’s €1,90. I assembled my meal at the hostel. Sometimes, you just gotta let the tiredness win over finding the perfect food. simple "home-made" dinner

I had a blast with the sunset tour and the morning-lunch tour . I was willing to give my money and time for the Flamenco show. Initially, I did not want to watch one because I felt that it was too touristy. Something like the Aspara show in Cambodia – something nice to do do but you can skip it. I learned that most of the people in the tour were thinking of joining so we kinda felt that we already did two tours together, why not do another one? Our tour guide gave the name and address of the bar. We showed up there are the required time and someone took us to the alleys of Seville to a small bar. The bar was pretty small and it kinda reeked of alcohol and smoke (well it was a bar, I reckon). There was a small stage and monobloc chairs was set-up for the audience. It took a long time before the performers arrived – we waited for an hour, I think. The flamenco originated from the Andalucia region of Spain, specifically in Seville – as I learned from the morning-lun...

Here's another photo-packed blog entry. I arrived in my hostel around 3:00PM. Settled my stuff, got some maps and headed out to the neighborhood to explore the place. I stepped outside the quaint street of Seville. It was hot. I know that’s a pretty lame description of the place, but at that time, that’s the most memorable attribute I remembered.    A leaning building   I included Seville because I basically followed the itinerary suggested in Why Go Spain (I used the same guide when I planned the Italy leg of my EU I trip). Seville is an architectural delight to the eyes. I knew that immediately when I explored the streets.   My main issue now (aside from surviving the scorching weather) is asking someone to take my photo. I’ve had a travel buddy for two weeks so I was able to explicitly direct and review my shots.   This wasn't the angle I wanted. But I had limited options. After a long late lunch and a trip to the g...