Oh, Sevilla!

One of my fav. Sevilla buildings :) A beautiful daily view

Beautiful Sevilla. This was our home away from home. We were in this gem for a good month. So much was conquered, seen and learned. Starting-quite quickly, with the importance and vital necessity of a siesta!! These are not to be taken lightly- you better believe they are taken seriously, especially in the Summer. Places shut down for a few hours during the day around 1-4, when the sun and heat are at their highest. So it's for your general health to get out of the sun/heat and seek refugee in a place with AC!! Which thankfully we were lucky our hostel possessed!
We had such a blast in this sweet city-Vale Vale Vale!! Compared to Madrid, Sevilla is not that large. So, we were able to spread out the sights: La Giralda, Plaza Mayor, Triana, La Plaza Espana, Alameda, Plaza del Toro, our beloved Mercadona in Plaza de las Armas and Alfalfa and return to our favorites (plaza mayor, affectionately known as the mushroom/"la seta" and alfalfa, Alana's favorite night hangout).

We had originally planned on staying at our hostel, Oasis Sevilla Backpackers, for about a week to enjoy Alana's 24th (gasp!) bday ;). It was a great location, rooftop pool &&& WITH AC (major +++ because not every hostel has this seemingly summer necessity). We loved it so much and as fate would have it we made a friend who ended up being a work exchange at the hostel. His time to go home was approaching and he told us there were two openings. Alana and I had an open schedule so we decided what the heck! And it was probably one of the easiest and fastest job acquisitions we have ever gotten: our spanish destino! Our work exchange was great and easy, about 3 hours of work a day, with two days off a week and accommodation and meals included. #winning#ballingonabudget#workingprincesses! Basically for our budget it was hitting the jackpot and the people we worked with at the hostel were super sweet and we made a lot of friends. Most importantly with our roomie Martin/Martina.

Beautiful Cadiz, muy sur Espana

La Plaza Espana, can you spot me? ;P

Alana and I in the windy, beautiful, and sandy Cadiz!

Gorgeous first views of a beautiful Cadiz playa. The sun was out but the water was cold, but divinely relaxing. Such a perfect day <3

Sweet Sevilla Street Noche

Typical tapas

Me in the beautiful Jardin Alcazar

My favorite Irish! Emier was a fast friend and a very talented vocalist! Miss her!
Cruz Campo, you ain't spanish til you drink some :). Not really, it's just super cheap :)

Alex and I playing some volleyball in Cadiz, such a lovely day :)

A couple of spicy senoritas!

Rooftop views from our "home" hostel

Me in front of Plaza Espana, we went a handful of times while we were in Sevilla for a month.

Another perk of being a work exchange was that we got a whole hostel room to ourselves (99% of the time...the other 1% involves random checkins into our room in the wee AM) with our fellow work exchangers. Martin, Alana and I clicked instantly. We had the most amazing time as roommates. Firstly, we were able to spread all our things out in a 12 person dorm with basically just 3 of us for the most part. I had a sleeping bed, a siesta bed, and a bed for my clothes (spoiled!). Definitely felt like home :D. Alana and I had our almost daily routine, going to Plaza Mayor [(seeking shade and refuge from the sun), scavenging for some tapas (we eventually found our go-tos: tapeaje and Bodega Amarillo Albero (always got la fajita-amazing!) and when we were feeling super lazy and cheap we would just go to the "american" corner where Montaditos had 1 euro tapas sandwiches] then going to El Corte Ingles walking through for AC and getting a sense of Spanish Style, exploring the city site with our authentic Spanish fans "abanicos", then maybe going to the rooftop pool meeting other people and travelers and of course messing with Martina. It was such a simple, easy and fun life for a month and a time we will always look back fondly on, smile, definitely laugh because we laughed everyday during our movie worthy "whhaaatttt?!" time in Espana!
Sevilla