Sevilla, Granada, and Cordoba

Hello readers!

FINALLY, I have had some spare seconds to post. Well, actually, its more that I decided to ditch my homework for tonight and do this instead. No worries, I don't have anything due tomorrow that I haven't finished. Wednesday is another story.

So, I am going to try to make this concise as possible by splitting it into easily readable sections.

My Travel Companions

I originally planned this trip by myself, but ended up with 3 other friends - my good friend from the Arcadia program Kelsey, a Swiss-Spanish guy Etienne, and an Italian guy Vincenzo. I had actually never met Etienne or Vincenzo before the taxi to the airport, but they both are believers, which made me feel confident that it would be fine. And it was! The guys were great - they took good care of Kelsey and I, and vice versa.

Sevilla

Sevilla was our base of operations for the weekend. We stayed in a great Hostel called Oasis Backpackers. The place was great, but "oasis" might be going a little far. There was major construction going on in the plaza where the hostel is located, which meant lovely banging and drilling accompanied our mid-day siestas. Sevilla is a small town, so we could walk everywhere. The highlights were the Cathedral and the Alcazar. The Cathedral is HUGE and very beautiful.

Right next to the Cathedral is La Giralda, which is actually a tower that was built during the Muslim occupation of Spain in the 12th-ish century. Check out the view of the city from the top!

Another awesome place in Sevilla was Plaza Espana and the Parque Maria Luisa. On my last day there, I rented a bike from the hostel and went for a ride on my own down by the river and around the park. It was quite relaxing.

Two more highlights from here. Firstly, we got a recommendation for a good lunch place from the woman working the reception at the hostel. We decided to head there for lunch, and of course, it ended up being a solid 35 minute walk. The lady had told us to order "superserrano" for lunch and so we did. It was grilled chicken sandwhich with some sort of garlic mayonnaise sauce, roasted green pepper, ham, and tomato. Let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS. The total bill came to 16 euro - small cities are the best.

And lastly, I got to see flamenco! I read about this bar called La Carboneria, which has free live flamenco performances from local groups every night. It's not guaranteed that they will show up and who knows what time it will happen. Vincenzo and I got to the bar at about 15 min to 11:00 and ordered sangria. Right at 11, a woman and two men come out and take their seats. The music is simple. One guy playing guitar, the other guy singing from his very soul and clapping in rhythm, the woman clapping as well. The music reaches some sort of unspoken climax and the woman leaps up from her chair and begins to dance flamenco. Flamenco is unlike anything I have ever seen. It is not elegant or graceful, it is soulful and powerful.

Granada

We left for Granada early Sunday morning, at 6:00 am. The guys had the great idea of renting a car, which served two purposes. It was way cheaper and we got there faster. The main reason to go to Granada is to see the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a fortress combined with two castles. It was also originally built by the Muslims and was expanded over the centuries. As you can see from the picture, it is absolutely enormous!

This pic was actually taken from La Mirador de San Nicolas, a church with a beautiful view of the whole city. It was a cloudy, wet, and freezing day - don't let my happy smile fool you!

Cordoba

Monday morning brought the trip to Cordoba. This was originally unplanned, but I am so glad that we decided to go! Cordoba has the singular La Mezquita Catedral. Yes, that is really the name. It was originally a church, then it became a mosque, then back to a church. The only thing that the various rulers had in common was that they made it even larger. According to my art history teacher, in Cordoba, when a child is being bad, it is common for the mother to say, "Go and count the columns in La Mezquita. You can come back when you are done." This picture should help you understand why this is apropos.

The other highlight of Cordoba for me was the Alcazar. (Yes, these people were not very creative with names.) I will let the picture speak for itself. It was an absolutely balmy day, really incredible!

Overall, the trip was great and we all got along fabulously.

In further news, Wednesday night I will be attending my first futbol game (that's soccer). On Thursday night, I leave for a weekend trip to the north of Spain - San Sebastian and Bilbao!

Besos!