I'm not sure about my other classmates but when we left for Córdoba and Sevilla, I was not expecting it to be a trip of a lifetime. Two smaller cities that I had never heard of, how exciting could it be? I'm pleasantly surprised to say I was wrong.
Córdoba is a beautiful city in which a couple hours was not able to do it justice. It's known for its blend of cultures and the influence of Muslim, Christian, and Judism. It's rare for two religions to coexist peacefully together, but to have three such prominent religions all in one city is astounding. The history in this city is fascinating and it's definitely a place I wouldn't mind going back to.
In Córdoba, the Mezquita is considered an old building, which in Spain means hundreds, yes I said hundreds, of years old. It's a blend of of Muslim and Christian influences. Part is an Muslim mosque and other parts have Christian statues. My favorite fun fact about the temple is that the artists inscribed their signatures on some of the columns.
The river was on our way to and from the Mezquita and offered great views all around. It was a gathering place for local venders and I saw a couple of interesting figures as I crossed the bridge.
Córdoba is known for their absolutely gorgeous patios. This part of the stay in Córdoba was undoubtedly my favorite section as I imagined how amazing it would be to live in such a beautiful place. I imagined running around as a niña and relaxing as an adult. I think it's definitely a decorating style that gets overlooked too much en los Estados Unidos.
Next on the agenda was a trip to my favorite city so far in Spain, Sevilla. I'm sure many of us we exhausted after a long day of sightseeing in Córdoba, but we couldn't let that stop us from seeing as much of the city as possible. After all, we only had about 24 hours.
After checking in, we trudged up to our hotel rooms. The first priority for me was dinner. I personally was starving and couldn't help myself from glancing at the clock every five minutes or so. It wasn't what I expected, mostly meat, something a vegetarian couldn't have. But my good pal Jorge helped me out and one of the sweetest looking older men I've ever met brought out a vegetarian pasta dish especially for me. It was touching after all the warnings of the typical seafood diets in Spain.
After dinner it was time to go sightsee, which for jovenes means going to a bar and hanging out with other jovenes. There was an interesting mix of Americans, Italians, and Spanish. Might have been a few other nationalities but I didn't meet them. I learned an important lesson that night, a lesson I wasn't expecting. When you take a minute to just relax instead of thinking how impossible something might be, before you realize you're doing it! Once I stopped thinking so hard, I started to actually talk in Spanish and it just came naturally. I'm sure my accent was terrible and there were still a ton of words I didn't know, but the people I talked with understood me and that's the entire point of learning a language. I found a life lesson in one quite an unlikely place.
The next day was tourist time. First stop: Plaza de España. This giant plaza was amazing, and I don't have words to describe the impact it has on me. Relatively new, this plaza is only about a hundred years old but is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. They decided to do something a little atypical, and I loved the effect. Instead of the typical Muslim or Christian style of architecture, they relied quite heavily on hand painted tiles that I thought were absolutely amazing. The fountain, the pond, the tower in the background, I loved everything.
An example of some of the beautiful hand painted tiles.
More of the Plaza de España.
Next up was the Reales Alcazares. To be honest, I thought it looked a lot like the Alhambra so I wasn't impressed until we got to the gardens. The only word I have is wow. Because that's where the similarities ended. The garden there was definitely smaller it seemed but there were peacocks, places for the royalty to eat meals, and a ton of beautiful flowers and intricate landscaping. The gardens were my favorite part of our trip to Sevilla.
Next but not least was the Catedral de Sevilla. Large and imposing, the architect was a genius. It must've taken an unbelievable amount of time, money, and talent to make such a large and beautiful building. I've got to be honest, as a practicing Catholic, I wasn't super thrilled by all the tourists. Holy places in my mind are supposed to be holy, not attractions or sources of income. I spent most of my time there trying to find a place that called to me. The closest I got was the top of the tower, which has 34 flights of stairs in case you ever decide to go. Not all was for nought, the paintings and ceilings was breathtaking and it's pretty cool that Christopher Columbus is buried there.
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