Lost on Earth

We have been in Sevilla for three days now and are finally starting to relax. Yesterday and the day before we spent time exploring, and today we have been lazily eating our way around town, stopping in for a tapa and drink at a different restaurant every hour or so. We also visted the beautifully mosaiced Alacazar and the museum of fine arts, which is jsut a few steps from our apartment.

Oh yes, our apartment...it wasn´t exactly what we expected. Thank goodness for all of the dank, mouldy, scary places I stayed in Thailand because they dulled my senses a little. The apartment is a disappointment, but because it´s not comfortable we spend as little time in it as possible.

On our first night in Sevilla we wandered deep into the Jewish quarter in the daylight and lingered until nightfall. With nightfall came rainfall and we became completely lost in the tangled, lamplit labarynth that is classic in medieval cities. Every street was completely deserted and narrow. The Spouse was wearing flip flop sandals that turned every smooth marble surface into a slab of ice. I had no jacket. Neither of us had an umbrella. It took about an hour and a lot of drunken good luck to find our apartment again. When we did find it we were locked out.

What we discovered from all of this rain in Spain (it´s been raining every day, constantly, since we got here) is that there is a pecular and delightful event every evening after a downpour. When the restaurants open after a rain chalkboard signs appear mysteriously outside of each door advertising fresh snails. The gardens look curiously messed with. Spaniards hustle with a sense of urgency to any open seat they can find.

The Spouse and I parked ourselves at a tiny cafe near Plaza de Alfalfa last night to watch the spectacle of hundreds of ravenous Spaniards stepping out in search of snails. The snails are cooked in butter and their own juices and eaten alone - sucked out of their shells loudly. The Spouse and I joined in and were presented with an uncomfortably large plate of snails, most with their little eyeballs still poking out of their shells. I am a fan of escargot because I like the sauce, but I couldn´t really get into freshly foraged garden snails. They are rubbery and taste oddly spicy. Their shells are lovely and striped, and make a pleasant, hollow tinkling sound after they are discarded.

At about 11:30 the tables cleared slowly. Everyone seemed joyously happy and pleased with themselves. The Spouse and I wandered back to our damp, wretched apartment and fell asleep to the sounds of night birds and wailing cats. Ah, España!