Sevilla y Córdoba

This weekend the program headed south to spend two nights in Sevilla and a day in Córdoba.  To the surprise of my host mom, however, I found my one day in Córdoba to be much more interesting than my two in Sevilla.

In Sevilla, our main points of interest were La Catedral and it's Giralda, and the Alcázar the following day. La Catedral (de Santa María de la Sede) is the third largest church in the world and a UNESCO Heritage Site.  Inside the church is Columbus' tomb, however I was wary to get excited as there is much debate as to wether the explorer is actually entombed inside.

La Giralda is the cathedral's bell tower, though it was originally an islamic minaret, and, at the time of its construction, the tallest building in the world.  Every day guards would ride their horses to the top of the tower to call the people to prayer, and so, rather than stairs, there are ramps leading up the inside, thus the ascent to the top of this 90m tower was actually quite easy.  And if you look at my pictures you will be able to see the amazing views from the top.

Later that day, Antonio, the director of our program, treated us to fino and tapas at a nearby tapas bar.  The fino was very dry, but perfectly complemented our delicious croquetas, and spinach and garbanzo beans.  Additionally, we happened to be in the oldest tapas bar in Sevilla, which certainly added to the experience. Antonio was proud of us that every table finished its bottle, as most of the students in the past have been turned off by the dry fino.

After saving money by eating pan, jamón y queso in my hotel room with my roommate, she and I headed out to get a taste of Sevilla's nightlife.  We had to be up early the next day, so we didn't stay out late, but we impressed ourselves by stumbling upon the "hub of the tapas scene," the Plaza de la Alfalfa (Lonely Planet), and speaking all night to each other in Spanish.

The next day we visited the Hospital de la Caridad, before heading to the Alcázar.  I could not help comparing this stunning palace to the Alhambra which I visited two years ago, nevertheless Seville's palace held up well against the tough competition.  My favorite part of the Alcázar was its lovely gardens.  I imagine that they are even more lush during other parts of the year, yet they were impressive now in November nonetheless.

After the Alcázar, the program treated us to a decadent midday meal, involving bread, olives, salad, three separate appetizer courses, a main course, dessert, and coffee.  The most entertaining part of the meal, however, was when an orange fell without warning from a tree above, and struck one of my table-mates on her arm.  Neither she nor our companions knew from where the orange came, and it was sometime before I could catch a breath from laughing so hard to tell her I had just seen it fall from the tree.  Once the meal was over, I could hardly move after eating so much food, so I headed straight back to our hotel for a long siesta.

The next morning we were all up by 6:30am to pack and eat breakfast before catching the train to Córdoba.  This city is absolutely marvelous.  We had a wonderful tour guide who lead us through the winding old city, which is apparently in somewhat of a crisis as most of the houses are abandoned due to their distance from the metropolitan center.  (Anyone looking for a place to retire?  Consider Córdoba's old city.  It's beautiful, and you'd be helping to maintain the city's history!)

The highlights of this day were certainly the Puente Romano and the Mezquita.  We discovered the ancient roman bridge on our own during our midday break, and a friend and I made it to the far end to visit the museum in the Torre de la Calahorra, which made us a little late to meet the group back at the Mezquita, but thank goodness we made it before too late!

View of the Mezquita from the top of the Torre de la Calahorra

This mosque dates back to 785, and is 23,000 sq metres in total.  It is truly stunning.  What blew me away about this mosque was the combination of two religions that have spent many, many years since warring with one another:  Christianity and Islam.  Somehow this majestic Mezquita survived the Inquisition, but today it shows the marks of Catholic Spain.  Right in the middle of the enormous place of worship is a catholic cathedral, and around the mosque are crosses, stained glass windows, and Christian religious images interspersed among the Muslim arches and patterns.

These sites were all that one day in Córdoba allowed us time to see, and we were soon on a train back home, eager to collapse into our beds.  The advantage of taking part in such a comprehensive program is that we have the opportunity to visit amazing places such as these, however it also means that we're subject to the hours the program wants us to keep!

Un beso.

"Here lies in dust, ash, and NOTHING Dama Ynes Henriquez Valdes"