Day 80- 3/20
This weekend I traveled to Andalucia (Southern Spain). In four days we visited three cities, Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada. It was a short and touristy trip, but we visited all of the monuments that we have been learning about in our history and art classes.
It was a nine hour bus ride to Sevilla.
Sevilla
Here is the Metropol Parasol, in the middle of the city center. You can take an elevator up there and see the city lit up at night. Under it is the fresh market of Sevilla.
Here is our hostel! Free hour of Sangria :)
Patio and bar.
On the rooftop!
We met a lot of people that were on vacations from studying or just traveling Europe. There were people from Australia, Singapore, Germany, California and Portugal. We all hung out and shared travel stories. Everyone knew English or Spanish so we were all able to communicate!
We went to the Cathedral.
We climbed this tower! 34 stories!
Facade of the cathedral.
View from the top of the tower!
Christopher Columbus' tomb.
There's a mirror in the middle of the church so you can see the whole ceiling.
Bells in the tower!
Then we went to Plaza de Espana!
Abby, Charlotte and I.
Abby and I.
There were seats all around it with maps and the shield of major cities. Sevilla.
Toledo.
Shield of Valladolid.
Here are two panoramics! One a view from the church and the other of Plaza de Espana. I had some trouble figuring it out so the axis is weird, but they still look cool!
Cordoba
The next day we went to Cordoba and stayed in the Jewish Quarters.
In Cordoba we went to the Mezquita. A former Muslim mosque that was conquered by Alfonso X, a Catholic king, who built a cathedral in the middle.
Calle de las flores.
Arco de triumfo.
Rio de Guadalquivir.
La Mezquita! Arcos de Herradura (horseshoe arches). We learned a lot about the architecture in our art class.
Arcos polilobo (ear lope arches).
Here is the cathedral's ceiling inside the mosque.
We tried listening in on the tours but some of the languages we couldn't identify.
I was definitely laughing when I took this picture. They remind me of Ruger and Remington haha!
We also went out for tapas in Cordoba. They're very common in Spain, a small appetizer to go with your beer or wine. This one is salmon, mayo type sauce, lettuce and who knows what else.
Granada
The last day of our trip of Andalucia we went to Granada to see La Alhambra. This was the last Muslim kingdom in Spain before it was taken over by Carlos V. It includes the Palace of Carlos V, other palaces of the Muslim ruler Boabdil, and many gardens.
First I hiked up the neighborhood of the Albaycin. This is supposed to be a great viewpoint of the Alhambra, especially at sunset, but unfortunately we didn't get to see it at night. It's a very pretty neighborhood though! My host mom's brother-in-law used to live there. All the houses are white because it gets to hot in the summer.
In front of La Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. (This is supposed to be a great place to live because it's an hour south to the beach and an hour north to ski!)
I took a lot of pictures from here and from off the buildings in the Alhambra of the landscape. I don't have the program, but I'm hoping Becki can make some into panoramas!
This is El Palacio de Nazaries. This cat is about to go fishing. Carlos V had a serious case of goat and ordered to have several ponds constructed after the Christians took over so he could fish without having to go far.
El Patio de los Leones.
La Sala de las Dos Hermanas. It's hard to tell here since it's not 3D but the roof goes up into a point.
One of the gardens.
Outside the Alcazaba, in front of Albaycin!
Palacio de Carlos V
Inside el Palacio de Carlos V.
More to come!
