Today was our last day in Sevilla, and it was a great one. I got up early with Connor and Shelby (everyone else slept in), to go see the national archives of the New World. Because Sevilla was the only city in Spain that was legaly allowed to trade with the Americas, the documents and treasures were held here, and the city grew exponentially. At the moment, the archives featured an exposition on Spain's 300 years of influence in the present day united states; a pretty oppertunistic coincidence if you ask me. Some of the items on display were the original treaty of Tordesillas (which divided southern america between Spain and Portugal in 1494), Cortez's letters regarding the conquest of the Aztecs, many maps of the region (which was interesting because you could see the evolution of place names in the U.S.A.), a letter George Washington wrote to the chicawa tribes, and the treaty of San Ildefonso (a secret treaty in 1801 that gave the Louisiana Purchase to France from Spain). The archives were slightly biased; for instance failing to mention the atrocites committed during the Spanish conquest of what is now latin america and highlighting the "violent conquest of the American west in the name of god" (or the Manifest Destiny), but overall the exhibit was very well done.
After the visit to the archives, we went on a boat ride down the Guadalquiver river (the main river in Sevilla that links it to the coast), and saw a traditional flamenco show at night.
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