Sunny Sevilla Part 2

Going from this..

To this...

... involves a little bit more culture shock than you might think. They are technically both in Europe (I know some Brits who would argue that), and they both come from a Western tradition. However, the Andalusians do things a bit differently than others.

First off, ham is big. I cannot stress this enough.

Jor and Henry toyed around with the idea of buying a ham leg. Or a ham shoulder. Any ham piece really. But they did not. The idea is daunting.

Next, the Andalusians love their wine. Actually, Spain loves wine, it does not matter which region you are in. We discovered a few places that love to serve wine in bowls.

Also, the open food markets are pretty interesting. And while not much can beat Guatemala's markets with her live chickens sold next to thirty cent avocados and a copy of a pirated James Bond... Sevilla certainly runs a close second.

Finally, from a historical context, Sevilla is part of the Andalusian region which was occupied for seven centuries (700AD-1492AD) by the Moors. The Moorish aesthetic influence is evident everywhere, especially in Sevilla's municipal buildings and city architecture.

And yes, those are nutty Sevillanos rowing a boat in a three foot deep moat. Most of them rowed the boats backwards, which is pretty funny when you consider that Sevilla was Spain's maritime trading epicenter for about three hundred years.