Córd-villa

Bus. Like all day, people. It was sooooo long! I usually travel really well, but by the end of the day I couldn’t sit up straight. Talk about your spinal cord being jammed up into your brain. Yep, I said it. You’re all grossed out. Don’t worry, I didn’t need surgery… but I’m still feeling the affects and this four hour ride we have today should be… delicious.

The good thing is, I have a great time when we ride the bus! Love talking to the girls, it really is a good time to just chill out, and if we’re completely honest, driving around the countryside throughout Spain is absolutely breathtaking.

I need to preface this trip: this is the trip I have been waiting for all semester long! These are the sights you learn about all throughout Spanish classes all throughout your life, seeing pictures and not really understanding their importance. This was really exciting!!!

Wednesday is the day I’m talking about. When we weren’t driving, we were in Córdoba. Córdoba, where the Muslim capital was during the 900 year reign. Home of the palace where Christopher Columbus came to consult with King and Queen. Home of the other palace, right next door, where Orlando Bloom filmed the movie Kingdom of Heaven (?). Home of that picture, the one I know you’ve seen, where there are arches and arches, all exactly the same, under a roof of wood, that reach for such a distance it doesn’t seem to end. That mezquita/cathedral was so incredible! I have wanted to see it for many years, and it was magnificent in person. This structure has been in place for over a thousand  years, it’s built on top of a Visigoth church, and after the Christian conquering, a cathedral was built right smack in the middle of it. Here are a couple of pictures (pulled from the internet… my camera is still broken. Shame ):

The Mesquite- the arches are of Roman influence and so beautiful. All the same!

From the outside

The cathedral part

After Córdoba we made our way to Sevilla. Se-vil, as some people pronounce it, is the stereotypical Spain… Flamenco, Guitar, Bull fights, parks, beautiful ancient buildings… they had it all. The first night, we got to our hotel, Laurs cut my hair (it’s a buzz :P) and we watched Baby Mama while we ate chocolate covered pop-coan. I love popcorn! And I hadn’t had it in forever! I was out in 2 seconds once I laid my head down on that pillow and woke up the next morning to…

The longest tour of my life.

Okay it was great, seriously. The tour guide kept us entertained and she had lots of information about all of Sevilla. We saw the Cathedral, the Giralda, la Plaza de España, the Alcazar de Sevilla (which looked Arabic but was in fact built by Christians!), and lots of puddles with rain. I loved climbing the huge Giralda. It is a tall tower on the side of the Cathedral that was built by the muslims during their reign. It was used by the king to pray every day, 5 times a day, facing Mecca as is the Muslim tradition. However, in order to get up to the top, he had to somehow make his way up 34 steep ramps. Yeah, talk about sweet calves. Except for the fact that he used a horse to get up there every time. We made our way right up to the top, and arrived huffing and puffing to one of the most beautiful views I have seen. Every side of Sevilla held something unique, and all of it was breathtaking. Mountains to one side, city with carriages and a large park to the other, and everywhere the poetic gray sky framed the white, yellow, and red buildings. It was beautiful. I met a couple of boys from Holland up there that were really nice and kind of crude. They were funny and we had a good talk. They knew where Idaho is, and they proceeded to tell me how Americans are, like how they don’t know anything about geography, and stuff about our elections and things. Whew. Patience. That has been hard… seriously. A lot of Europeans like to tell me about why Obama was the better choice, American’s traditions and why Spain’s are better… the list goes on. Oh, and how I should eat. That seems to be another common theme. I get a little spicy sometimes about these topics… that is all.

We went out that night to see a flamenco. It was so thrilling! What a cultural experience. We made our way into a tiny little room with a wooden stage in the middle, with people sitting in wooden and medal chairs around the edge of the room. It was barely lit, and Spanish culture oozed out of the walls in the form of vines crawling down the back stone wall and pots full of flowers in the background. First, a guitarist came out and began to play the beautiful and delicate chords that make up classical Spanish guitar. Another man began to sing. And then the dancer came out. She was stunning with harsh features and beautiful eyes. Her hair was wavy and pulled back in a slick bun and her black skirt was covered in layers of ruffles. The dance began, and it was not what I had expected. She had a look of intense emotional pain on her face the whole time, and her feet were fast and furious and loud against the wooden stage. It was beautiful. When it was the man’s turn, the dance framed his masculinity perfectly- he was strong and neutral in expression, but incredibly talented in his footwork and form. It was incredible! I will most likely be bringing my Daddy to a flamenco when we have time together in Madrid next week.

Wow, and the city was absolutely gorgeous at night. The fog lay over wet stone against the dark sky, and the cathedral stood out with the yellow spotlights that lit up all of it’s features. The night was beautiful- full of rain drops, happy trees, fog, and handsome Spanish men. We walked around, got some dessert in a coffee shop, and made our way back to the hotel with raindrops as our background music and the tranquility of the city as our scene. There was a band that was playing below the bridge, all boys. It was fun to flirt from up top… haha so much easier in a big group of girls. We have fun :) but we aren’t dumb!

Anyways, yesterday and today we have been in Granada, and I’ll talk about that next post. We have a 7 hour bus ride today in which I plan on studying for finals, writing postcards, and sleeping. Tonight I finally get to skype with my Mammy :) and tomorrow I get to sleep in. Life is beautiful! It is. I am so grateful for prayer and for friends. Communication is a blessing. Oh, and today is my 6^th day anniversary of having my papers in! WOOT!