El Sur: Sevilla Edition

Sorry this post is so late!
Our last stop on our trip to the South was Sevilla. And despite the oppressive heat (42 or 43 degrees Celsius, which is about 108 Farenheit), we still enjoyed it. We started our two days there with the Alcazar, which was once inhabited by the mayor of Sevilla. It was huge and we spent several hours there. The inside of the Alcazar reminded me a lot of the tiling that we saw in the Alhambra in Granada. I thought the gardens were more impressive in the Alcazar, though. They were bigger and even had baby peacocks! In the gardens is one of only four hydraulic organs in the world. This one used to play using only air, but has since been refurbished and plays with water each hour. Of course, we stayed until the turn of the hour to hear it play.

One of four hydraulic organs in the world. 

Gardens of the Alcazar (and Tarah).

Mama peacock and her baby. ¡Qué linda! (How cute!)

Fountain in the Alcazar. 

Inside the Alcazar. 

Next to the Alcazar is the Sevilla Cathedral. It is the third largest cathedral in the world behind St. Peter´s in Rome and St. Paul´s in London. And it was huge! It had nearly 2 dozen chapels as well as the main sanctuary. Christopher Columbus (or at least part of him) is buried in the church as well. We also saw the chapel where Ferdinand Magellan came to pray after circumnavigating the world for the first time. We also were able to climb the Giralda, which is the bell tower. The bells are huge! The tower provided a great view of Sevilla and it was easy to see how large the cathedral really is. After exiting the church, we went into the Orange Tree Courtyard (lots of orange trees, but unfortunately, they aren't edible), which is one of the oldest parts of the Cathedral left from the days when it was a mosque before a cathedral.

Inside the Cathedral

Outside the Cathedral

View of Sevilla and the top of the Cathedral from the Giralda (tower in the Cathedral).

We found a restaurant with air conditioning for lunch and cooled off for a while before heading out to see more. We made our way to Parque de Maria Luisa and Plaza de España, which were sprawling and gorgeous. I hadn´t seen much greenspace in Spain (in the cities, anyway) until then. By this time in the afternoon, it was really, really hot, so we went back to our hostel and took a siesta and cooled off.

Plaza de España

In the evening, we made our way to a section of town that the hostel recommended for cheap tapas and cañas (beers). The food wasn´t great, but it was definitely cheap, and the area was full of locals rather than tourists, which was really nice. Our goal had been to see Flamenco dancing on Saturday night, but everywhere that the hostel suggested was quite pricey, even with student prices. They did suggest La Carbonería, a small bar near our hostel that had free shows in the evenings. When we had passed by it on our way to dinner, it was closed. However, after dinner, we were looking at a map and trying to figure out where to find Flamenco, a lady stopped and asked if she could help us. We told her we wanted to find Flamenco nearby that wasn´t too expensive, and she too recommended La Carbonería, but told us the shows were at 9 or 10pm, (It was only 8:30ish at this point). So we made our way back toward La Carbonería (stopping for ice cream on the way), and arrived at 9:15pm. Luckily for us, the show didn´t start until 9:30, so we were just in time. It was a small, crowded bar. Although it seemed to be known only by word of mouth, there were definitely tourists there, judging by the lack of Spanish being spoken and the number of cameras. But nonetheless, we were able to hear some very traditional guitar music, singing, and Flamenco dancing. There were only three performers (guitar player, singer, dancer), but they put on a good show. Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so I don't have pictures.
Sunday was almost as hot, but we didn´t pack it quite as full. I went to Mass in the Cathedral and then we ate breakfast at a cafe (they had eggs for breakfast! Something we hadn´t had while in Spain. I´ve only had fried eggs or tortilla de patata for dinner. I have toast and wafer cookies for breakfast every day). We walked toward the river and saw the Torre de Oro (Gold Tower) that now houses a maritime museum, and also saw the bullring. We tried to find the Inquisition Museum, but no one seemed to know where it was, so we ended up just wandering the streets of Sevilla for a while. After lunch (at the same restaurant as Saturday because it was air-conditioned, relatively inexpensive, and the food was good), we made our way back to Parque de Maria Luisa for a little while, and then to the bus station that would take us to the airport.
We didn´t arrive back at our houses until around 11pm. It made for a very full and tiring weekend of traveling by bus, plane, and train, but it was a great weekend! Granada and Sevilla are probably my favorite cities in Spain (so far, anyway).

El Sur de España: Granada

Last weekend, a small group of us took advantage of our three day weekend (no classes on Friday) and went to the south of Spain. Ryanair doesn't fly to Granada, so we flew into Málaga on Thursday night, only to leave on a 9am bus to Granada on Friday morning. Luckily, as we quickly found out, there isn't a whole lot happening in Málaga, so we weren't missing out on a whole lot there. Tarah and I did run to the beach in the morning, though, so we could say we have touched the Mediterranean Sea. The bus ride from Málaga to Granada was only about an hour and a half and was very pretty. Mountains and orange trees. The bus had a display of the temperature and we could only see it continually rising. By the time we got to Granada around 11am, it was already at least 80 degrees.
We found our way toward the main cathedral in Granada and stopped for a cafe con leche (although what possessed us to order a hot drink, I'll never know). Once we had a bit more energy, we walked toward the Albayzin area of Granada, which is the part that has an Arabic influence. We wanted to find really good Middle Eastern food, but we essentially just walked up and down neighborhoods of the infamous white-washed houses. We ended up back by the Darro River where we had started as there was a full street full of restaurants. We knew we weren't going to eat for a while, so we all got the Menu del Día. Gazpacho, paella, warm bread, and hummus. And chocolate cream (actually, it was just pudding with whipped cream) for dessert). By this time, it was after 2pm and the sun was high in the sky. It was above 90 degrees, which was the hottest weather I've been in during my time in Spain. If it hits 70 in Santander, that is considered a hot day. We asked our waiter how to get to the Alhambra, our afternoon attraction. The Alhambra dates back to the 9th century! We could see it at the top of a hill from the restaurant, but weren't sure the fastest way to get there. Turns out the fastest way is to cross the river and make the steep climb up the hill. The climb was worth it though! We had tickets to see the Nasrid Palaces at 5:30pm, which meant we had about 2 1/2 hours to walk around Generalife (the gardens) and the Alcazaba (the fortress part). The gardens were beautiful with flowered arches and trimmed hedges. I really liked the cyprus trees that lined the walkways. We were able to climb up one of the towers in the Alcazaba, so we had great views of Granada. The palaces were huge. There were colored tiles on nearly every wall in shades of blue, green, and yellow. Throughout the palace and gardens were fountains and running water. You could definitely see the mix of Muslim and Christian influences in the architecture. After spending nearly 4 hours at the Alhambra, we found our way down the hill and to the train station for our late train to Sevilla. We were only in Granada for about 10 hours, but it was worth it to see Spain's most visited site.

Alhambra and fortess

One of the many water features in the Generalife.

The view from the fortress tower. 

Some of the many tiles that lined nearly every wall of the palace.

A garden in the palace. 

More to come on Sevilla!

Barcelona!

This post is long over due, but last weekend I spent a couple of days in Barcelona. We flew in Thursday night so that we could have all day Friday and Saturday to spend in the city. The only flight out on Sunday was at 7am (flying Ryanair, the super cheap airline), so that was when we left. But, we took advantage of our two full days and saw as much as we could.

La Boquería

On Friday, we started out with a breakfast of fruit and pastries at the famous La Boqueria market, a giant market in Las Ramblas, a bustling section in Barcelona. From there, we walked toward the water and saw the Christopher Columbus statue and the port, which had probably over 100 sailboats in the marina. We then walked to the Gothic Quarter, where we visited Santa Maria del Mar, a beautiful, old cathedral in Gothic style. There were some remains buried beneath the church and the inscriptions had skulls and crossbones on them. The pews had ship steering wheels carved in them and on the altar was a small wooden boat. Very nautical themed! We went to the Picasso museum and found out that our student IDs get us in for free! Even though the museum didn't have any of Picasso's major works, I loved the way the museum was set up. It was chronological with each room being a different time period in his life. It was interesting to see how his work changed from simple landscapes to the very distinct cubist style that he is so well-known for. We had a typical menu del día for lunch (2 courses, bread, a drink, and dessert for a reasonable price) and then set off to see more of the city. We walked by the main cathedral (we didn't think about the dress code and were all wearing shorts, which isn't allowed, so we couldn't see the inside). On our way to Parc de la Cituadella, we found a beach. Parc de la Cituadella was worth the walk!

Parc de la Cituadella

 It was huge and had a lot of greenspace, which was something there wasn't much of in Barcelona. After a very tiring day, we went back to the hostel for a short siesta. I tried my first Doner Kebob for dinner, which is essentially a pita stuffed with meat shaved off of the rotisserie right in front of you, along with lettuce and sauce. It was great! We found our way to the Magic Fountain, but not without accidentally getting on a train instead of a metro and ending up at the end of the line before realizing we were in the wrong place. The Magic Fountain was spectacular, though, and well worth the difficult time getting there. The show lasted about 30 minutes (and then it would replay) and there were great songs like ones from Pirates of the Carribean. It was a great ending to our first day.

The Magic Fountain

Inside La Sagrada Familia

On Saturday, we got up bright and early and made our way to La Sagrada Familia, the unfinished church designed by the architect Gaudí. We walked around the inside and outside, as well as a tower on the Nativity Facade, for about a two hours before our guided tour, which we loved and the whole place made a lot more sense after the tour. The inside of the church is huge and open and the stained glass covers the wall. There are some windows that are in the process of being finished, while others are completely finished and some haven't even been started.

The outside of La Sagrada Familia. 

Only 8 towers have been finished, but eventually there will be 18-12 for the apostles, 4 for the Gospel writers, one for Mary, and one for Jesus. The Nativity Facade on the outside is finished and has a lot of symbolism. It is covered in different Bible stories made of stone. The Passion Facade is unfinished, but has a lot fewer figures and they are done in a much different style since the Passion is a lot less lighthearted. The figures are simpler and look less lively. After spending a lot of time at La Sagrada Familia, we trekked across the city to Park Guell and Gaudí's house. By the time we got there, we were hot, hungry, and tired, so we probably didn't enjoy it as much as we could have, but seeing the green space in Barcelona was nice, and it was a great view of the city! For dinner, we met up with another group from our program and had dinner at a pizzeria. All in all, it was a tiring, but fun weekend!

Week #2 is Over Already?

It is hard to believe I've already been in Spain for about two weeks. Sometimes, it feels like I just got here. Other times, I feel as though I've been here for months since home seems so distant. Even though I'm taking classes, it is finally beginning to feel like summer. The sun was out all afternoon today, which is a rarity as it rains nearly every day here, and it was warm. I spent most of the day by the water (rough life, I know), but not actually swimming as I didn't have my swimsuit with me and the water is a tad chilly.

This is what I get to see every day! 

While walking to and from Mass at the Cathedral, we had to cross one of the main streets near the water. Today was a traditional festival and there were cows walking down the street with loud cowbells and ribbons. Lots and lots of cows. And baby calves, too!

Yesterday was our first of two group excursions. We visited the city of Bilbao, a city of about 350,000 east of Santander in Basque Country. In the last several years, Bilbao invested a large amount of money to revitalize the city through modern architecture, a tram/metro, and tourism. They did a great job and the buildings are all very interesting! First, we took a bus tour to see a few different places including their community center where there were 43 columns that each represented different cultures such as Greek, Chinese, etc, and were styled in that manner. There also was a pool above us that you could see into because the bottom was glass. We spent our free time in Casco Viejo (the older part of the city and ate typical pinchos for lunch (essentially little pieces of meat or cheese or fish on top of bread). We also wandered into a bakery and a meat store. It is definitely different to shop for food here. You can go to Lupa, the supermarket, or you can go to a series of stores-frutería, panadería, carnicería. In the afternoon, we visited the famous Guggenheim Museum. It is contemporary art and more abstract than your typical Picasso or Monet. They have an exhibit by Yoko Ono, the wife of John Lennon, which was cool. There was also a gelato shop across the street...that was definitely a good choice for the end of the day.

One of the columns in the community center. 

The streets of Bilbao look very European with the tall, colored buildings and flowers on the balconies. Like out of a movie! 

One of the churches in Bilbao. There was a wedding going on, so we couldn't spend much time inside. 

Carnicería. So. Much. Ham. There were also large pieces of meat hanging from the ceiling. 

Guggenheim Museum

A bridge next to the museum that is very modern. 

That's it for now, but I scheduled trips to Barcelona, Granada, and Sevilla for June, so more to come!