Seville & Cordoba

Sunday, June 27
6:37pm

Photos

- Mosque/Cathedral in Cordoba

- Panorama view of Cordoba

- Our Hotel in Cordoba

- La Mancha - Don Quixote


Andulucía Viaje (Andalusia trip)

Hola chicos!

Just returned “home” from a weekend in Andalusia, a territory in southern Spain. We visited Sevilla (Seville) and Cordoba. These two cities fulfill the stereotypes of Spain. Sevilla is home to the most famous bull-fighting ring in Spain, if not the world, in addition to being the heart of Flamenco dancing. We saw authentic, non-touristy Flamenco dancing in Cordoba, the famous mezquita (Mosque on outer rim, cathedral in the center). I will attach a video to the blog for you to see this amazing phenomena.

We left on Friday morning at 8:00am and had a 6-hour drive to Seville. We stopped at the city of La Mancha on our way, which is popular due to the book by Cervantes, Don Quixote. After we arrived in Seville, we placed our belongings in our 4 star hotel and toured the city. Las Sirpientes (not sure on spelling here) is a world famous street of shopping. We browsed, had some gelato, and enjoyed the narrow streets of the town. I fell in love with Seville and hope to return one day. I took a picture in front of the famous bull-fighting stadium and crossed over the river Columbus sailed to find the Americas.

The next morning we visited the renowned Cathedral in Seville. Christopher Columbus and his son are buried here. In addition, the cathedral is home to the largest alter in the world! After the tour we did a bit of shopping where I finally bought some guy gifts and had a great lunch at a local restaurant.

Many places have a “menu del día” or menu of the day. This includes a drink, bread, an appetizer, main plate, and dessert or coffee. We ordered vino blanco (white wine), paella, chicken, and café con leche (coffee with milk). After eating bread and rice, we began feeling a bit funny. We had only one glass of wine, but it was strong! I told my host family tonight at dinner that I had a glass of wine that was too strong . Mi padre quickly corrected me saying there is no such thing as a wine that is too strong and that this was just a sign of a good wine. I couldn’t help but laugh! If every wine were this potent, many people would save money on their bill.

We then hopped on our 70-person bus with no bathrooms to travel to Cordoba. Cordoba has much of the same atmosphere as Seville but without all the tourists. Since hotels that can hold 60 people are hard to come by, we descended to a 2 or 3 star hotel here. Our room had an interesting stint, a flat screen TV with no way to change the channel, and a roof view. We were lucky in that the air condition worked extremely well and we never had to use our hand-painted fans to find comfort.

NOTE: Hotels in Europe are extremely energy efficient. After 5 minutes of failing to be able to turn on a ceiling light or lamp, we realized our hotel key had to be placed in a holder next to the door in order for electricity to function. This brilliant idea, yet sometimes inconvenient, keeps lights and AC off when guests not present in the room. In addition, in order to use the hair dryer I held down a button the whole time. I guess they had a challenge with people keeping the hair dryer going on at night… Nonetheless, I appreciate the economic consciousness of Europe, and as I adjust to this culture, I want more to have a vacation home here… Maybe one day a second casa 8 hours away will be feasible.

Last night we attended a Flamenco dancing event. We are gracious for the private donation to this program where we were able to take the group to this event, free of charge to us. It took place in a courtyard outdoors with about 150 white fabric covered chairs placed everywhere. Waiters served you drinks as we marveled at the art of this sensual artistic dance. The women’s costumes consisted of long curve fitting dresses with ruffles at the bottom and tap dancing shoes. Men wore dress pants and a button up. At the second half of the show, a guy with long curly hair came on stage to dance. He only became more attractive as the show progressed, as anyone who can dance can woo my heart… J. In addition, not only were the dancers magnificent, the guitar players can move their hands and create sounds I have never heard before. Singers accompanied them with songs resembling what I would imagine as a morning song for those in worship. You can also think of Lion King with the whole, awoooooo akebahh. I hope this provides some auditory example.

This morning we visited the famous Mezquita (mosque) of Cordoba. The mosque, built in the ninth century, is one of the world’s must see sites with vivid expression of both the Muslim and Catholic cultures. During the Inquisition, when the Church slowly took over Spain, the mosque was to be changed into a cathedral. In order to keep the history and magnificence of the mudéjar (Muslim) style and significance, the outer of the mosque remain untouched and the cathedral was built only in the center. The wall facing the Mecca still stands in great condition on the far side of the building. The Muslims built horizontally and thus the building has a large land area. Catholics built vertically and so the center of the building is taller with high, decorative ceilings and gold covered sculptures.

After the visit to the Mezquita, we walked across a bridge that provided a panorama view of the city’s architecture. Cordoba is a beautiful city with a laid back lifestyle. Restaurant service is leisurely and enjoyment of life is top priority. While we waited for our food, that never came, we noticed women and men of all ages dressed as if they were about to attend a high school prom. Long dresses, hair styles from the beauty shop, and tuxes with tales lined the streets. When we asked our waiter the occasion, as we all felt very under dressed in our outfits from H&M, we found out this is the proper dress for weddings. Can you imagine going to the beauty parlor and buying a $100 dress for every wedding you attended… If I take up this tradition in the US, whenever I do get married, the attendance list and thus price of the wedding may reduce significantly... Mom & Dad would like this, right?

We arrived home today around 5:00pm. I went to church at the local cathedral and then uploaded pictures from the trip to Facebook. Heading to bed and going to catch up on some sleep. We do not have AC and the room is quite toasty… I do hope I can buy a fan very soon and that my family will not mind if I run it all night. Before I left home, the AC was out. I believe this prepared me for Spain, unexpectedly.

New classes begin tomorrow. I am taking Spanish Civilization and Spanish Commerce. I expect that commerce will introduce me to the business side of Spain and Civ will provide a background on my new culture. 38 out of 60 people in the group leave tomorrow morning for the states. The group will reduce in size, but I am looking forward to a close group and another awesome month in Europe.

Hasta luego amigos!
Thank you for following me on this journey. I love sharing my experiences with you.

Kristina