Sad to leave; happy to return

Woke up at 8:45 Sunday morning, still a bit tipsy from the night before and definitely groggy. I looked to the bed on my left and Courtney still hadn't returned. We assumed that she ended up sleeping at the hotel with the boys, but we sent her a text anyways. I was greeted by the sun, looked out the window and saw that it was a clear day with blue skies. This made me extra sad that I had to leave earlier than everyone else while they could take advantage of the only sunny day of the weekend. I hurriedly got the rest of my stuff packed up. At around 9:15 Courtney came back; she had in fact slept safely in the boys' hotel room and took the Metro back to our hostel that morning. Phew. I guess that they found a taxi eventually and found that discoteque by the Arc du Triomphe. It turned out to have a 20euro cover and it was already way past 3 so they decided to call it a night and return to the hotel together so that Courtney would not have to spend an extra 10euro on cab fare. I was all packed up and ready by 9:30, said my farewells and wished everyone a great day and then I left for the airport at 9:40. I took the Metro for 30 min taking two different lines all by myself. Hehe, this was a big accomplishment for me since I always have a hard time figuring out public transportation. I'm growing up! I finally got to the stop Denfert Rochereau where I caught the OrlyBus to the airport. The bus costs 5.80euro--a ticket you purchase from a machine and insert in these other machines on all of the doors on the long bus. When we arrived in Paris we did buy OrlyBus tickets but then realized how easy it would be to sneak on w/o paying. So I tried my luck and didn't waste the money. And I was successful...gotta love working the system! The bus ride to the airport was nice and peaceful, I was actually really sad about leaving Paris. It was sunny and gorgeous (visually, it was really freezing out) and so many people were walking around outdoors. I wish I could have one more day in the amazing city. I freaking love Paris, and I love everything french! I was also sad that I never got to eat french onion soup, haha. When we arrived at the airport I realized that there were 2 stops: Orly Oeste (west terminal) and Orly Sud (south). The first stop was Oeste, I hesitated not knowing which terminal (stupid me, I should have looked at my booking confirmation). I asked the man sitting next to me, by the time he told me that I should get off at Oeste the doors closed and we were off to Sud. I got off at Sud and waited 10 min for the bus to Oeste to arrive. Got on, and before hitting Oeste the bus stopped at the airport hotel and, like, 5 different parking lots. So it took another 15 min to get back. I was getting nervous because I was assuming that check-in would take longer since I was flying internationally and I didn't get into my terminal until around 11:15 (my flight was at 12:25). However, it all worked out. I had some trouble locating Iberia, asked at the info desk, found it, checked in, and then quenched my hunger. I stopped at a little cafe in the airport, and bought a croissant and bottle of water (sigh, my last French meal). Being that it was airport food, and Parisian airport food at that, it was ridiculously expensive...4.25 euro for water and a croissant! Ugh, this made me happy to leave Paris, for sure. Definitely the only downfall of the city: money. Boarded the plane around 11:45 which took forever since you have to take some shuttle bus to the plane. The plane was larger than my plane to France. I got the window seat (yay!) so as we took off at 12:25 I got to watch one of my favorite cities in the world shrink out of sight. Once in the air my unsatisfactory 4 hours of sleep crept up on me and I conked out for an hour. Then I woke up and read some more Harry Potter which is getting really good right now. Ya know, I'm starting to understand the hype and why people love it so much. I mean, I'm really getting into it! People tell me that the second book is the worst (the one I'm reading now), but I'm LOVING it. If the second is this good, just imagine how good the rest will be! Oh man, this is a funny thing. We landed around 2:15 into sunny Sevilla. I walked off the plane to baggage claim which was very surreal since the last time I had walked that path was when I first flew into Sevilla back in January. Crazy. I can't believe how so much time has gone by in what seems like no time. I started to become very present to how fast this program would fly by. Wow. My suitcase came right away, then I walked outside to the airport bus. It was GORGEOUS outside! I felt like I was in Florida: sunny and in the mid-70's. Perfect. It was 2:30 at this point. I stood waiting for the bus for a good while, then looked up at the schedule and saw that on Sundays the last bus was at 2:30 and the next one wouldn't arrive until 5! WHAT?! There was virtually no one left in the airport to split a cab with, so I was forced to take 30 euro out at the ATM to get a 25euro cab back to town instead of the 2.40euro bus ride. Ugh, money. I got a cab right away and I told him to drop me off at el Torre del oro so as to spend less money...and it was gorgeous out, so I didn't mind walking at all. Driving into Sevilla was really nice, it was so nice out that the driver had the windows down and he was playing some awesome Spanish music. Finally, a language I knew. As much as I loved French, it was very frustrating to not even have the simplest vocab, like the word for "water" or "bathroom" or "where is...?". After 25 min we arrived at el Torre del oro, oh it was so nice to be back in a familiar place! I got out, paid the 23euro (grrrr) and was on my way. THE WEATHER WAS PHENOMENAL! After Paris, this felt unreal. As I walked down Paseo de las delicias I observed the sidewalks filled with people sitting outside with their families having snacks and drinks, chatting, laughing, etc. It's so nice to see people outside, this is what Sevilla would be like in the summer! It's so lively and happy, it was a very welcoming sight. I took my time walking home taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of my 'third home'. On the way I stopped at Vips and bought a salad since I had just missed lunch at home. I finally got back sweating a bit from the beating sun, yet content. I talked to Maria del Mar a bit then retreated to my room where I checked my email and ate my salad (which was very delicious, btw, gotta love the Vips). Stacey came home and I gave her a brief overview of my weekend and she did the same. She was developing a cold which I felt badly about since it was definitely one that she caught from me. Boo. She then went out for a run and I took a nap. It was a little before 6, and I passed the hell out. It was really nice in our room, though, the windows were open and the warm, fresh air felt so nice. I also put on some Jack Johnson which always relaxes me...it's my new nap music, hehe. I really passed out and didn't wake up until 8:15! I then took a shower, got in my PJ's and watched TV with Maria del Mar and Stacey. Dinner was served at 9:30 when suddenly Marta came home! She had been on vacation since Puente (the last weekend of Feb.) and nobody really knew when she was coming back. It was so good to see her, we all missed her and her pep! She had gone to Cadiz and Madrid. She's so talkative and lively and always in good spirits, we missed her. The apartment just lights up when she's home. It's like we were a family back together again! Hehe. Dinner was great, we had chicken breast marinated in this excellent garlic sauce with potato puree and a green salad. For dessert we had a batido de fresa (strawberry milkshake--literally fresh strawberries and milk blended) which was amazing since strawberries are coming into season. Dinner was so good, statisfying, and perfect. I missed Maruja's excellent cooking! After dinner we came back to our room, did some online stuff, then I called it a night. As sad as I was to leave Paris, I was so happy to be back home. Really happy.