Wow, jinxed myself in that last post about turning my blogging life around. Like always, these past few weeks have been busy, busy, busy. All of my classes have a midterm, a final, and a presentation/paper thrown in sometime during the semester, so studying here is a whole new ball game...as in there’s not much of it until one of these three comes around. Any one of my friends from back at school can tell you “Club Mullins,” what we call our library at The U of A, is basically my second home, so coming to Spain and having most weeks “homework and study free” was a nice break. The problem is I might have gotten a little TOO used to it. Two months go by without much studying or homework and then all of a sudden you have a midterm that is 30% of your final grade. To add to the chaos, my program had a trip to Sevilla and Cordoba scheduled the weekend before midterms. While it may have been crazy planning for a trip, that weekend brought me to one of my favorite cities yet, Sevilla! I had always heard great things from friends who had gone in the past, but wow, was it something special. Once again, not too big, not too small, it was a perfect size and after a few hours of walking around, you really got a feel for the city.
After a quick trip to Plaza de España, the day we arrived was mostly used for free time. We began the afternoon with a trip to grab some churros, enjoy a coffee, and soak up the sun we haven’t really been able to enjoy since arriving to Spain. YES, it has actually been cold here. After about three hours and a little bit of a sunburn, the exploring began. I feel like a good portion of Sevilla’s charm comes from the small, winding, streets that you find yourself getting lost in over and over again, which was exactly what we ended up doing. Saturday was spent seeing some of the major sites in the city, such as The Catedral de Sevilla and The Alcázar de Sevilla, which were amazing! The Alcázar reminded me a lot of The Alhambra, here in Granada, because of the Moorish architecture. It is registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and is one of the oldest European royal palaces still in use today (fun fact for ya!) The gardens of the Alcazar, towards the end of our tour, were my favorite part. They were filled with beautiful flowers, statues, and fountains from the beginning to the end.
After a quick trip to Plaza de España, the day we arrived was mostly used for free time. We began the afternoon with a trip to grab some churros, enjoy a coffee, and soak up the sun we haven’t really been able to enjoy since arriving to Spain. YES, it has actually been cold here. After about three hours and a little bit of a sunburn, the exploring began. I feel like a good portion of Sevilla’s charm comes from the small, winding, streets that you find yourself getting lost in over and over again, which was exactly what we ended up doing. Saturday was spent seeing some of the major sites in the city, such as The Catedral de Sevilla and The Alcázar de Sevilla, which were amazing! The Alcázar reminded me a lot of The Alhambra, here in Granada, because of the Moorish architecture. It is registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and is one of the oldest European royal palaces still in use today (fun fact for ya!) The gardens of the Alcazar, towards the end of our tour, were my favorite part. They were filled with beautiful flowers, statues, and fountains from the beginning to the end.
The cathedral was JUST AS INCREDIBLE! It is the third largest cathedral in the world and is said to be the burial site of Christopher Columbus. Our tour guide mentioned that there is some speculation on whether or not he is actually there or not…but I’m just going to say he is. Makes the trip a million times cooler. "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Brings you back to 5th grade. Even though it had been a long day and no one could bear the thought of staying on their feet any longer, we weren’t leaving without a trip to the top. 38 flights later and we were there! After finishing off the night with some dinner and gelato (always,) we hit the hay and rested for our trip to Cordoba in the morning.
I would describe Cordoba as the special little gem of Andalusia. Our time there was limited, but during the few hours we were there, we were able to go on a tour of the small, but charming city and visit La Mezquita/Catedral de Cordoba. What was originally a Catholic Christian church for the Visigoths, turned into a Mosque when the Muslims conquered Spain in 711, and then back to a church after the Reconquista. There is such a mix of culture throughout the structure, that there are services still held, however a “Quibla,” which is the wall facing Mecca for Muslims, is just on the other side. So cool!
After discovering a little bit more of Andalusia, the next weekends were filled with my first trip to Africa! SUPER EXCITING. Being so close to Morocco, there was no way I was leaving Granada without crossing that one off of the bucket list. The following week, Semana Santa (Holy Week,) was spent traveling to a country I never thought I would have the chance to visit, Switzerland! One word for that one. Amazing. But you’ll just have to come back in a few days and see what I have to say about those hehe. Until next time amigos!