I’m lying down here in my hostel in Seville, happily typing away while once again “watching” the Giants game on ESPN gamecast. (Go Giants!) I was pretty tired today, probably a combination of the Massive Madrid day yesterday and my travels today.

I left Madrid in the late morning and took the high speed train to Sevilla (or Seville). In less than 2.5 hours, I was across the country into Seville. Ever since reading an Awake article on Seville as a kid, Seville has been my top destination in Spain to visit. Though, sitting on the train, I couldn’t remember why.

The minute that the taxi cab driver left the train station and drove towards the center of town, I remembered why. The city is gorgeous! It’s like a mini-Madrid, but brighter and cleaner. My first day in a new place, I never really schedule myself anything to do. So, after resting, I was able to stroll around to just get a feel of the city…

Just a few of the many olive trees we passed on the train to Sevilla

Seville, right around the corner from my hostel

Just a corner of the ornate Catedral

Puerta de Jerez

Almost home…

Oh, and I learned a very important lesson today. I like to pride myself in making sure all my ducks were in a row before leaving SF. I notified all my credit card companies and banks that I would be out of the country. All good, right? Well, today I noticed I was low on cash, so I went to the ATM. The ATM proceeds to spit out my card and say “Card Expired.” “What?!?” I think, “No way.” I take a look at my debit card, and sure enough the expiration date is 9/2012. Unfortunately, the bank sent me a new card after I left for my trip. Little good that new card does me here. Fortunately, I had a backup debit card from my 2nd bank back in my luggage at the hostel. So I run back to my hostel, pull my 2nd debit card out and…. you guessed it… the expiration date on that card is 9/2012, too! So basically I’m without a functioning ATM/debit card for the rest of my trip. Thank goodness for credit card cash advances, I guess. I’m not relishing the fees, but it’s better than being without cash at all. One expensive lesson learned…

Tomorrow I truly get to explore Sevilla!

P.S. Go Giants! Here’s hoping they can maintain their lead…