My last day in Lagos was totally messed up. And I was in a total mess until my second day in Sevilla. Things turned out all right in the end, but at the start I was close to despair. It was one wrong move followed by another. I wouldn’t want to go through all that again, but it makes for an interesting travel story.
So it started with this stupid decision to purchase a ticket for the 10 AM bus. i had to leave Lagos eventually. I had to meet up with my friends in Madrid and Barcelona in a little more than a week, and I still wanted to pass by several towns along the way. I figured Monday would be a good day to leave. I would have partied all weekend, and I doubted if i would go drinking on a Sunday night… I’d probably still be nursing a hangover. So you see, that’s not really a stupid decision in itself. 10 AM isn’t even that early. Even if I have a few drinks the night before, surely I would be able to wake up. But consider the fact that I was in Lagos. Pub crawls are held even on Sundays. And i should have considered the fact that I have absolutely no will power against the temptation of alcohol. I said to myself, maybe one or two drinks and that’s it. I’ll go back to the hostel after the second bar. 2 AM at the latest. Yeah right. I was probably out until 5 AM. And it would have been fine if i didn’t drink too much. After a few beers and a few shots, I’ve lost all self control. I went from planning to sleep early to —what the heck, it’s my last night in Lagos so let’s partyyyyy!!!!!!!
I did beer bongs. I had a lot of Jager shots. And since drinks are really cheap in Lagos, I drank so much. The last thing I remember was ordering a couple more shots for me and my friends, I ate a Falafel outside, went back inside the club, then it’s all a blank after that. Next thing i knew I woke up in my bed with a massive headache. I looked at the time and it was 11 AM. F*ck. So i missed the bus. What a way to start the day. No worries, there’s another bus that leaves at 2 PM. I can take that one instead, there’s still plenty of time.
So the cheapest bus ticket to Sevilla was 18 Euros. I looked inside my wallet and I saw that I only had 10 Euros. No worries. I hauled my ass to the nearest ATM. What the f*ck. My ATM card was blocked. I tried using my credit cards to do a cash advance transaction. All my credit cards were blocked too. No need to panic yet. Maybe the ATM machine was broken. I tried withdrawing cash from other ATM machines, and none of them would accept any of my cards. What the heck was going on? Then one of my room mates saw me, so I told him about my predicament. Then he started to laugh. He told me I kept trying to withdraw money last night and i must have been inputting the wrong pin numbers each time because I kept getting an error message. He said I must have been hogging the ATM machine for 20 minutes. So I was left with no choice, I had to call all my local banks to unblock my cards. My phone bill would be astronomical, but what else could i do? And i hated how they all put me on hold for a long time, i was losing even more money every minute. Yeah, I was losing the money I had no access to… how funny was that? Eventually I managed to have them all unblocked. The catch was, it’s not gonna be immediate. I would have to wait for at least 24 hours. Maybe even 48 hours. That was when i freaked out. How the heck was i going to survive for the next 2 days with only 10 Euros in my pocket?! Even in Lagos, that would be one hell of a stretch!
My room mate offered to give me some cash, but i told him i have enough. Truth was, my pride just wouldn’t let me accept money from others. It was all my fault anyway, i guess hunger would be a fitting punishment. But then lady luck smiled at me. There was this Australian couple who heard about what happened. Turns out they were on their way to Sevilla too. They rented a car for their whole Euro Trip, and I could just ride with them to Seville. i had to make a decision. The hostel where i made a reservation in Seville had free dinner on some nights. It also had free breakfast. i still had a pack of cookies inside my bag. I figured there’s a better chance of surviving the next two days in Seville. I packed my bags and saw that I had some coins in my bag pocket, about a little more than 5 euros total. When i went downstairs I saw a 2 Euro coin by the door. Yippee! Luck was finally on my side. haha.
So at around 2 PM I rode the car with those two angels, and we all said goodbye to Lagos, and later on, to Portugal. I actually didn’t get to say goodbye to Portugal because I fell asleep long before we reached the border. I felt really ashamed when they had to wake me up asking me where do i want to get off. We were already in Seville, and i slept through most of the trip. LOL. What a way to be thankful. We exchanged contact numbers, and I promised to repay them eventually for their kindness. Hopefully our paths would cross again in the future, so I could return the favor somehow.
Soon as i checked in at the Black Swan Hostel, first thing i did was ask if there was really free dinner. The lady at the reception stifled a laugh. As soon as i signed up for it, i crashed into my bunk, set an alarm for 7:30 PM and immediately fell asleep. I woke up when the alarm went off. Dinner was vegetable pasta. It was really delicious, or maybe i was just really hungry… I realized it was my first meal of the day! The serving was small, but beggars can’t be choosers. One of the staff announced that there was gonna be a pub crawl. No pub crawls for me that night. Besides not having enough money for it, i was still nursing a massive hangover. I went back up the room, and soon as climbed into my bed I was immediately knocked out.That was only around 10 PM.
I woke up at around 7 in the morning. Man that felt so good. It was the first time I’ve slept for more than 6 hours during this trip. Time to walk around I guess.Good thing the hostel was near all the attractions. And good thing most of the attractions were free cause I still didn’t have any money (I already used my money to pay for the hostel, which was unbelievably cheap I should say). First thing i noticed… man, Sevilla is crowded. And it’s not even the capital of Spain! There were so many people walking around, so many tourists, you’d be hard pressed to find a secluded spot. I’ve been to many crowded touristy places, but Seville is on another level. i couldn’t believe the number of people roaming around considering the heat. But I went out to go sightseeing, so i might as well do that.
The city is distinctively Spanish, i’ll give it that. It may be crowded, but it still managed to retain that old school Spanish charm. I did manage to get some decent pictures when the crowds would thin out a bit.Walking around clearly gives you the impression that you are in a different country. The architecture is unique enough to catch the eye of even casual observers. Every street, every corner, is distinctly Spanish. Horse drawn carriages further boost the ambiance, as well as the cobblestone streets. Must see attractions include the Cathedral (The third largest Church in Europe), the Giralda, and the Alcazar.
For me the best one is the Plaza de Espana. It’s not really that old (it was built in 1914), but the entire structure is awe inspiring. It’s mainly used for government offices these days, but tourists are free to roam around the grounds.
Would i recommend going to Sevilla? Well, it depends on what you like. I’ve known people who fell in love with the place, some say they could stay here indefinitely. For me, it’s a place i could have easily skipped. I often hear people debating on which is better, Sevilla or Granada. It’s not actually deciding which one is better, it’s about one’s personal preference. A lot of people say that you’d need at least a week to see everything in Seville. Honestly, I fail to see why. I managed to see the top attractions in one day. If i wanted to enter the Alcazar i could have done it in half a day (but i couldn’t afford it so i didn’t haha). I managed to see a Flamenco show one night. What else is there to do? It’s not really an ideal place to just relax and chill because of the crowds. i couldn’t possibly think of anything else to do for the rest of the week. Maybe 5 days maximum if you love the place. Staying for an entire week is a little too much, especially since there are other places in Spain that one should see. So 2 nights were enough for me in Sevilla. I decided to purchase a bus ticket to Granada online as soon as my cards were cleared. It was a wise decision. Granada turned out to be my favorite place in Spain.
no roads to follow 