Sevilla and Córdoba

This weekend was extremely busy. Friday, we went to the Alhambra, the Moorish palace for which Granada is famous. There are a few different buildings within the palace and beautiful gardens. It was so hot that I spaced out about 20 minutes into our guided tour, but it was still fun. We went up to the tour and got to look over the entire city of Granada. I have a decent amount of pictures of that and of the gardens. The Alhambra is set up on a hill above the rest of the city. We took a bus to get there, but the program didn’t get one for us to come back! But we just ended up finding our own because we weren’t about to walk back to the city and then the 4 mile walk home after that.

Friday night we went to Chile Grande, a Mexican restaurant Jose told us about. We got Margaritas and got nacho tapas. Carina, David, Elyse, and I took a tequila shot, too. (Hey, we were in a Mexican restaurant). We asked for Jose Cuervo but she told us she didn’t like Jose Cuervo and it wasn’t Mexican enough?

Saturday, we left for Sevilla and Córdoba for the weekend. We spent the day Saturday in Sevilla walking around and shopping. Michelle, Melissa, Daniell, Carina, and I took un coche de caballo (horse and buggy) ride through the whole city. We saw the cathedral and the Plaza de España. I sat up front with Joaquin because there were only four seats in the buggy. We became friends. We compared our tans and he said if I drove a horse around all day I’d be as dark as him, but I said I’d probably just be more red. After, we took a tour of the Alcazar (?). Our tour guide for this was way better than the one we’ve had in Granada. She spoke loudly and didn’t mumble, so I actually heard her. It was an old Moorish palace/mosque but was later turned into palaces for the Catholic kings. We learned that the motto on the Spanish flag was changed from Non Plus Vltra to Plus Vltra because it originally meant there was nothing more than Europe and Africa.

Saturday night we all went to dinner. I got pork loin, fried eggs, and French fries with white wine. After, we met up with Veronica and went to a Flamenco show. The dancer was amazing. It was a little like tap, but very intense. There were two singers, two guitars, and hand drums. The dancer, Belén López, won a contest of young dancers. She was between 18-22, but was incredible! Veronica took us all out for drinks after and then mostly everyone just went back to sleep.  I roomed with Michelle and Melissa. We couldn’t figure out how to turn on the TV so someone from the hotel had to show us. Melissa asked him to put it on Disney Channel for us and he thought we were weird.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel. It was so good! Usually we just have cereal or bread, but they had eggs, fruit, bacon, toast, yogurt, and cereal. I miss having big breakfasts! Then went to the Plaza de España and took pictures. Then we took a 3 hour bus ride to Córdoba. Once we got there, everyone seemed to be on a mission, so Danielle, Melissa and I just walked around the little shops. I found a bunch of stuff for Nikki and something for my mom. The three of us went and got lunch together and then walked around until 4 when we met up with the group for a tour. We toured the Mezquita-Catedral. It was originally a mosque and the only reason it was not torn down by the Catholics was because they built a church inside it. The decorations were incredible. We didn’t have a tour guide so Veronica explained what she knew and we just got to look around. It was nice not having someone talk about each room for 20 minutes. After, Veronica bought us ice cream and then we got back on the bus for Granada. I’m exhausted!