I spent three weekends in cities all over Andalucia, which is the southern Spain province. Sevilla is the capital city of Andalucia, but I knew I had to see all the other cities too because I had heard Andalucia was magical and by far the best part of Spain. After seeing all these cities, I can say I absolutely agree.
I realized it had only been 3 weekends ago that I went to Granada and Córdoba, when it seriously could've been months ago.
I guess as I sit here and try to recount to everyone the incredible things I have seen on my European adventure, time sort of blurs together and it all is just a montage of sights and sounds. Every sense of mine is heightened here because there is so much to pay attention to. My family is here this week and they have already noticed that I have changed- I am much more patient, tolerant, and mellow-- taking things in all the time has just become so routine to me.
Back to my adventures... my program took us on a weekend excursion to Cordoba and Granada on March 27th. Let me try to describe this-- Sevilla is a city of 750,000-- lush because it's on a river, city-like because of its population,
but it has a small-town feel because everyone walks and bikes everywhere. So every time I go to a different city, no matter where in Europe, it's not difficult to draw comparisons because Sevilla really does have everything: beautiful architecture, great location, insane nightlife, an authentic feel and a whole lot more.
We took a bus down to Córdoba, which took about 2 hours. Córdoba is very very small, and it's crazy because at one point (at the height of the Islamic reign in Iberia) it was the most populated city in the peninsula. Now it is just a very antique looking city with white building facades, flowers everywhere, and narrow roads that just go in a circle. We visited the incredible mezquita, mosque.
The great mosque is actually most recently a cathedral, after the reconquest by the Catholic church, it was turned into a cathedral but the arches and main foundation of the mosque has been left untouched. Building begun in the mosque in 600 A.D.
The coolest thing are its giant arches made of marble and granite- they were made from pieces of the Roman temple and other Roman buildings-- there are thousands and they are red and white. The arches seem endless, and the coolest view is the view of the altar that the church put in once it was reconquested with all of the arches on all 4 sides. After our tour of the mezquita, we took a short walk down to the Synagogue of Cordoba, which is no larger than a small classroom. It was built in the 1300s and has gorgeous Mudejar style carvings on the wall as well as Hebrew etched all around. After the Jews were expelled in 1492, the synagogue was a church and then it was a daycare type facility, and you can see a painted cross that is peeling off amidst the Hebrew lettering. It is so cool. Just a few steps outside the synagogue is a statue of famous forward thinker and Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who was born in Córdoba.
We ate lunch in Córdoba and then headed down to Granada. I was ecstatic to visit Granada, as I heard it was one of the best cities in Spain and home to authentic tapas and incredible architecture. We got to our hotel in Granada and started exploring the city. We met up with ISA and then we were told we would be doing a hilly walk. It was about 9 pm and we begun walking up cobblestone stairs until we reached an incredible view. At our backs was the SPECTACULAR Alhambra, the palace and fortress built in the 14th century all lit up on top of the hill. Granada is situated in the Sierras so its absolutely gorgeous to see the snow capped mountains and the huge palace on top of the hill. After taking in the view, we walked down and into this cave-type place to watch a private flamenco show. It was cool but not as passionate as I expected it to be, but we sipped our tinto veranos and enjoyed the music. We went down for tapas and drinks and barhopped around the center of Granada.
The next day we had the whole morning touring the Alhambra. I could write a novel on what the Alhambra is, but I will reduce it to this: it's bigger than pictures or words could ever describe, it's a series of palaces and fortresses overlooking the whole city, each inch is perfectly carved and crafted, water and flowers surround it, and archways that are perfectly symmetrical surround every area. Even though it was raining and cold, it was by far one of the most incredible sights I have enjoyed in Europe, and I plan to go back at least one more time in my life.
After our tour of the Alhambra, we got back on the bus and headed home to Sevilla. That night we went out for our friend Jess' birthday and spent the night out with like 20 people from our program. It was fun to go out with a big group, because we normally have like 6 of us.
Brandon came to visit on the 1st and it was so great to have him here. I took him to see the Sevilla sights of course: the Alcázar, Catedral and Giralda, the parque maria luisa and the plaza de espana. No matter how many times I have gone to the sights, they still humble me. Seeing Columbus' tomb and the golden altar at the cathedral, climbing 34 ramps to the top of the giralda, and the gorgeous 9th century Alcázar never cease to impress me.
Brandon and I decided to go down to Málaga, we hopped on a 2 and a half hour train and ended up in one of the coolest spots in Spain. We stayed at a gorgeous villa for a hostel, it is actually the guest house of a mansion-- so it was fully furnished and adorned, it was just like an entire house that was turned into a hostel. After we got to our hostel, we had a pizza party in Málaga's huge plaza, plaza de merced. We toured the Picasso museum and saw some incredible paintings and art. Picasso was born in Málaga, so it's cool to see where he spent much time.We walked to Málaga's cathedral and saw preparations for Semana Santa.
Semana Santa is the week-long festival that Spain celebrates for Easter. Each day several pasos (processions) cross the whole city, and the streets literally fill with thousands upon thousands of devoted Spaniards, watching the Nazrenes in their cloaks and candles and wooden crosses erect, walking perfectly in front of beautiful floats that tell the story of Jesus and his resurrection. The pasos go all night and all day for the entire week, it is impossible to even walk through the city as this is happening because it's just straight chaos. It's the biggest in Sevilla, which got frustrating after a few days but it was still so cool to see how they show their devotion to God and their religion, and I can respect and enjoy their tradition. They dress to the 9s and on Holy Thursday the women are dressed in black suits and black hats with veils. It is such an interesting custom that I thoroughly was impressed by.
In Málaga on Sunday, the day before Semana Santa, we saw incredible pasos going around, beautifully high ceiings, and a youth boys choir singing enchanting Catholic hymns.
After seeing the cathedral and preparations, we explored the incredible Alcazaba. The Alcazaba is a Moorish (Muslim) type fort. We walked through it and sat on the ledge, overlooking the Mediterranean sea. It was a phenomenal view and so special to see. We noticed you could walk WAY higher up and steep road to the main castle, and decided to do that the next morning. Right in front of the Alcazaba is an old Roman theater, which is still very much intact and very cool to see.
We went out to dinner and went to a few bars in Málaga's center. The next morning we woke up and went to the castle, the Gibralfaro. Little did we know it was a TREK and a half to get up there, and we had to check out of our hostel when we left so we had a backpack and all of our belongings as we did this several mile, straight UP, steep path to overlook all of Málaga. It was worth the intense walk because we could see the entire city on all 4 sides. The Mediterranean sea, the mountains, the buildings and the old quarter. It was absolutely stunning and I could've stayed up there all day. It was foggy but it added to the view because it looked like we were above the clouds and could see everything under them.
After that, we walked down to the beach-- la playa Malagueta. It was beautiful and we enjoyed the sun for a few hours before heading back to Sevilla.
At the very end of Semana Santa, myself and three of my friends decided to take a relaxing day trip to Jerez de la frontera-- it's a small town about an hour outside of Sevilla- and after battling the Semana Santa streets it was time for tranquility. Jerez was definitely tranquil. It is such a small town that everything closes down mid-afternoon and we could walk the city end to end in an hour or so. We went to the Gonzalez Byass Factory-- a bodega (winery/sherry factory) that makes Tio Pepe wine and sherry. The tour was awesome, we took a small train through the whole property and explored all the corridors of the factory. It was huge and beautiful and a really nice day to spend outside.
I am loving my life and myself more and more each day. Each of these little experiences has made up a part of this journey, and I am grateful for each and every experience.
Until next time,
LP
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