Going Down South

Wow what weekend! We had our last Emory excursion to Andalusia, the southern part of Spain. We saw three cities in four days. I was exhausted by Sunday! We went to Cordoba (stayed for a few hours), Granada (stayed a night), and Seville (stayed two nights). The weather, though not rainy, was FREEZING, which was unexpected for most people on the trip. Despite the weather, I had a wonderful time, and it was a great trip to have towards the end of the program.

Cordoba: Our first stop was Cordoba, and because we were on a tight schedule, we only stayed for a few hours. We walked around the city a bit, and we saw an incredible mosque/cathedral. The mosque was built in the 700s by the visigoths, but during La Reconquista, the Spanish Kings edited the building and transformed it into a Cathedral. It was massive, and it was really cool to see the mixture of Islam and Christianity mashed into one magnificent building.

The outside was a bit unexciting, but here's a picture of the interior of the mosque/cathedral.

Granada: Our next stop was Granada, which (fun fact) means pomegranate in Spanish. We got in around dinner time, so my friends and I enjoyed some traditional Middle-Eastern food typically found in Granada. It was so nice to eat something other than potatoes and eggs! I'm a bit tired of Spanish food, and although it was no Roman pasta, it hit the spot. After dinner, we went to a view point of the palace Alhambra lit up in the night. It took us a while, and we passed some creepy looking men wandering about, but we made it, safe and sound! The view was gorgeous, and my pictures don't even begin to give it justice.

We spent most of our Friday exploring the inside of the Alhambra, which was absolutely wonderful. It was freezing, but the palace and gardens were breathtaking because, like the mosque/cathedral in Cordoba, the palace had a mixture of Islamic and Christian influences. At the beginning we had a bit of an unfortunate circumstance, however. One of the girls on our trip got a little close to the edge of the pond and fell in, soaking herself completely! When our program director Carlos tried to help her, he got pulled in as well! They both had their phones, and the girl her purse, camera, and tablet. It was quite a scene, and they had to miss out on the rest of the tour to go dry off. I don't think that happens to frequently because the people who worked there looked alarmed and had no idea what to do! All in all, it was awful, but luckily they were okay!

Group picture at the Alhambra! (only half the group)

Seville: Our last two days were spent in Seville. On our trip, we saw the Plaza España, the cathedral, the view of Seville from the cathedral tower, and a flamenco show. I will skip talking about the cathedral because although it was gorgeous, the program directors made us walk around for over an hour and discuss all the details. On top of that, it's at least the seventh cathedral we've explored in depth. So onto the flamenco show! It was incredible! I've never seen anyones feet move so fast! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos. Both the female and male dancer wore traditional clothing (a suit for the man and a floor length, long sleeve dress and shall for the woman), and they danced separately. I can't believe they didn't die of heat up on the stage! It really was an amazing performance, and I would definitely see it again.

La Plaza España

Erica, me, and Neha at the top of the cathedral's tower.

As with most of my trips, I wish we had had more time to explore the city. I would have loved to study in Seville! It was so much bigger and more alive than Salamanca. I will have to go back when it's a bit warmer, and maybe I won't have a strict agenda to follow :).