La Alhambra, Sevilla y Córdoba

        A few Sundays ago, we finally went to La Alhmabra, the famous Islamic palace that was converted into a Christian palace when Los Reyes Catolicos, Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the city.  Interesting fact, the name of the palace comes from the Arabic "red" because the building was built with red stone. It was a beautiful day to visit, and set against the blue sky, the buildings were gorgeous. We saw the Palace of Carlos V, which he built to show his power and influence as the king. We learned about his Palace in my art history class, so I knew that the palace has never actually been used as a residence, (nor a bull ring, which many people think because the center is a circle). Actually, the construction of a circle within a square is supposed to represent the universe (circle) and the four corners of the square represent the four cardinal directions of the earth, demonstrating Carlos V's immense reign.
           We got to see the old baths, but only the top parts that were above ground because the inside is too unstable. But if you look at the pictures, it looks like the pods from the movie Cocoon! My favorite parts were definitely the architecture, the mosaics and the gardens. I love seeing the ornate and detailed wall carvings, all with different elements of nature and Qur'an quotes. The mosaics...oh, they are breathtaking. After this trip, I've decided I want to have a patio in my backyard with mosaics like the ones I've seen in Spain because they are absolutely beautiful.  I hope I'm able to go back to the La Alhambra before we leave because I'm sure the gardens will be even more beautiful in the Spring when everything starts blooming.
             A few weekends after La Alhambra, our program took us to Sevilla and Córdoba, two cities in Andalusia which are very close to Granada. We first went to Sevilla, which wasn't too long of a bus ride. We stopped at Plaza España, a famous plaza that has beautiful mosaics for every city in Spain. After a few pictures, we went to our hotel and dropped off our things. Then, we walked to the Cathedral, which was across this beautiful bridge. Oh, how could I forget? Before we actually got to the Cathedral, we went to Starbucks. Still isn't good, even in Spain, but it got the caffeine job done! The Cathedral is very impressive in size, but the inside is much to dark for me. It is a Gothic design, so all the art work is very dark and scary, and there didn't seem like there were enough windows. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the famous altarpiece because it was under construction. But, we did get to see Christopher Columbus's tomb (well, of his body, his head is somewhere in Latin America). That was pretty cool.
           My favorite part was climbing up el torre Giralda, a tower that was originally a minaret of the Mosque that the Cathedral was built upon. One really cool thing about the tower was that it's matching twin is the one at the Mausoleum of King Muhammad V in Rabat, which we saw during our trip to Morocco! There are a series of 34 ramps to the top, and the view is incredible! It was such a hot day and from the top, we could see rooftop pools and all of us were like "LET'S GO!"
           After seeing the view, we came back down and then it was time for lunch. We sat in the patio of the Cathedral and soaked up some sun while eating. After lunch, we went to get ice cream and I had turron and dark chocolate, which was delicious! We then met up with the rest of the group and went to the Palacio Real,  which is no longer sued by the royal family, but more of a park now. There are beautiful gardens and decorative Arabic influenced patios. We walked through and took a lot of photos because the whole place was really picturesque. We also got to see some great art work, even one painting that we later talked about in my art history class!
            We had free time after, so Claudine, Caitlin, Sam and I went to 5pm mass in the Cathedral. After mass, we went back to the hotel for a nap. (Siesta is crucial!) We got ready, then went out for dinner with our friends Jackie and Ellen at this cute restaurant. There was great sangria, and I had some pasta as an appetizer, which was alright, nothing compared to my mom's though! Then I had a paella mixta as the main meal which is paella with both seafood and meat. We also had a dessert, which was basically whipped cream in a cup with cocoa powder on top, so it was very light. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for our early morning wake-up.
          The next morning we stopped in Itálica, an ancient roman town, for breakfast to see some Roman ruins. Breakfast was a shot of espresso and a tostada with tomate, olive oil, and some jamón. The ruins were cool to see, but after a while, we were ready to leave. It was a short bus ride to Córdoba, and there, we saw the Mezquita, the famous Islamic mosque that was converted into a Catholic Church. It has the beautiful red and white striped arches and it was amazing to see the fusion of an Arabesque arch with the iconography of Catholicism. In Córdoba, we ate lunch at a cafe outside in the sun, and I had some awesome gazpacho that was perfect for the hot day. I also had a "panini" with ham and cheese, but it was really an open tostada that was grilled on top. The restaurant had a large variety of gelatos, so I tried the banana one, it was good, but not the best I've ever had. After our fun and busy weekend, we were all ready to go back to Granada, which thankfully was only a few hours away!