Maybe I shouldn’t have walked to the expo.
I woke up this morning with a knot in my left shin. It feels like how I imagine it felt for Batman when that shark latched onto his leg… only I’m dangerously low on Bat Anti-Shark Spray.
After ripping apart my luggage though, I did find one small pouch of salonpas which are now all plastered up and down my left leg like a first grader’s attempt to make a mummy costume out of leftover craft scraps.
Armed with my free Hop On, Hop Off bus ticket from the marathon organizers, I thought I’d spend the morning seeing the sights from atop an open air vehicle.
I decided I would hop on but I would NOT be hopping off until I’d made a complete circuit. According to the brochure, it would taken a hour. With traffic, it took about an hour twenty.
A few highlights from my catbird’s seat, from the crow’s nest, from bridge of the Starship HoHo (Hop On, Hop Off):
A view of Plaza de Espana
There’s that El Cid again …
Uh… A Fountain. Not sure where. Besides, ya know, Sevilla.
The Baroque(-Down) Palace…
The Gold Tower again. This trip is like Alan Ruck’s in Speed when they take the bus back to the airport — “I already seen the airport!”
In the former Gypsy Quarter, there’s a statue to Rodrigo of Triana. It’s a big fishing quarter and this guy has a whale of a tale…
So there’s this skyscraper designed by the same dude who built the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur (Caesar Pelli, for you wannabe Ken Jennings out there). Anyhoo, this has a similar impact on the skyline here.
Around a round building… inspired by Romans, now used to feed the politicians I think.
A Euro Rocketship!
I’m not sure I can convey this in these photos but we drove through an area built for the 1992 500th Anniversary celebration of Cristobal Colon heading to the Indies… and stumbling onto “The New World.” Afterwards, the place was retrofitted into a high tech corridor… and the pre-recorded tourist spiel raved about its commitment to quality and excellence… but with the graffiti, overgrown weeds, and general sun-bleached decor, it felt… less than well kept or thriving. But who am I to judge?
I want to say this was the rechristened Parliament Buidling that used to be… something Spanish. Oh! I just googled it — it was the Hospital of the Cinco Llagas (the Five Wounds), built in 1546 and used as a hospital continuously until 1972 (that’s quite a run). Anyway, in the 1980s it was repurposed as the Parliament of Andalusia.
We headed into Macarena, named after the grieving virgin Mary and NOT the song… which I guess I never really thought about WHAT the Macarena was other than a ploy to get permanent playlisting for weddings and family reunions.
Ok, so — this is now a camera obscura and tourist trap observation tower. But back in the day, it was a munitions manufacturing tower — they’d drop the lead from the top and let gravity extend and stretch it into proper shapes to be cut for bullets. Or at least, that’s what I heard.
We passed this place. This is not my El Pollo Loco. And on top of that… it can’t decide if it’s Loco Pollo or Pollo Loco. It also didn’t seem to have anything to do with chickens and appeared to be more about gelato. I may do more research and recon later.
I posted this to Instagram already but seriously, kid, keep your arms, hands and feet inside the “Hop On, Hop Off” Bus at all times… and just because those oranges grow on trees, it doesn’t make them free!
And for you more motion picture-ly inclined, 57 seconds of a bus-tling Sevilla:
After I hopped off, I did wander back to the Plaza de Espana to read a book for a while and try not to move my leg. To be honest, I am worried about the gait I have at the moment — there’s a lot of limping shuffling and odd twinges of pain as I walk about. I’m going to take it super easy the rest of the day, in a profound 180 degree flip from my snarky attitude toward my tapas companion wanting to avoid foods and distances prior to the race. Maybe she’s on to something… but, honestly, one shouldn’t do anything new on race day… so by that logic, mas vino, yeah?
As for the other Spanish I recall, here’s a tribute to all the first year phrases we learn in ANY language… I think because if you can make it to the library, there’s a world of information and help to be found there.
I joke to hide the pain. I joke to hide the fear. Hasta manana….