Weekend Excursion to Sevilla and Córdoba

¡Hola!

After our fourth week of classes, CEA took us on a weekend trip to Sevilla and Córdoba! We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, and took a nice lengthy nap-worthy bus ride to Sevilla. Once there, we toured the Reales Alcazares, which we learned was the inspiration for the building of the Alhambra here in Granada. I was definitely able to see some similarities between the two. A lot of the tile work was similar, as was the reflection pool! After a much needed tapas break on a scorching hot day, we were guided towards the Catedral de Sevilla. According to our tour guide (or my imagination, but I'm pretty sure the tour guide said this), it is the largest Catholic cathedral in the world. And I would have to agree. It was enormous! At the end of the tour we were able to climb up 35 ramps (ramps so that horses could access it way back when) to the top of the bell tour. The view of the city was absolutely breathtaking! It was a wee bit busy, but very breezy up there. At one point, the bells started ringing and it scared the living daylight out of me.

I thought Reales Alcazares and the Cathedral were wonderful to tour, but my favorite part of Sevilla was Plaza de España, right next to María Luisa Park. Plaza de España was decorated with bright beautiful colors and tiles and in the middle of the plaza, people were setting up for a large event. We were given a few hours to walk around the area on our own, and I stayed at the Plaza for the entire time. It was gorgeous.

When we returned to our hotel, we learned of a parade going on in the streets, where apparently every 50 years a virgen saint reveals herself. What are the odds that this would fall on the evening where we visited Sevilla? We followed the one float down the street for a bit, but the streets were completely flooded with people. The float looked a bit shakey and unstable, but then we were told that it was because it wasn't a float on wheels, but instead the large and elaborate float was being carried by 30 people.

The next day we ventured into Córdoba and visited the Mesquita. This was a church that later became a mosque, and again became a church. It was interesting to see the influences of both religions in each addition to the Mesquita. We had a lot of time to ourselves where everyone was able to explore the city on their own, which was quite fun! We grubbed on some tapas, explored the outskirts of the city, and ended up at a playground. Typical. Then we had some time to shop around the city. The weather was beautiful for a good majority of the day, then it started raining. At the end however, I was quite exhausted, and immediately fell into a deep slumber on the bus ride back.

I'm so glad CEA was able to show us the two cities! The weekend was definitely one for the books.

Until next time,

Halie