Cordoba y Granada

Each program through CIEE, which is the organization that my program is a part of, goes on a weekend trip. It's part of the excursions that are included in our program, Ceuta was a day trip with my program and there have been a few other things that I have done, such as intercambios with university students and a Don Quixote play.

Anyways, this past weekend I went to Cordoba and Granada with my program.

Weather:

Okay, so if I am repeating myself I apologize but I had to dedicate part of this post to weather, but it's not all bad. Friday, our only day in Cordoba was, to simply put it, miserable and it had everything to do with the weather. We walked throughout all of these winding streets and I would have loved to have been able to see it and enjoy the sights. However Mother Nature did not want this to happen, she also wanted me to spend the day in wet shoes and socks. Luckily the weather was nice for our walk back to the bus so I was able to enjoy the sights a little bit. That changed shortly after and stayed that way for most of the night.

Luckily Mother Nature decided to let us enjoy Granada with giving us perfect weather for the weekend. It was a little but cold but that was due to the higher altitude that Granada is at, not the weather.

Food:

Granada is known for many things, one of them being a free tapa with every drink, regardless if it has alcohol or not. Friday night a bunch of us went to a bar called La Bella y la Bestia (The Beauty and the Beast). It was my first experience with the free tapas and I was kind of weary of it because you don't get to chose your tapa. But it ended up being really good, some of the best tapas that I have had while in Spain, and it was a lot of fun even though it started to pour down rain.

Breakfast and lunch were a buffet at the hotel and it was so weird for me. It was the first time since I have been here where I have been able to chose the amount of each food. My meals at my home stay in Sevilla are decided by my host family, not me in any way so it was such a nice change for the weekend.

Places:

La Mezquita

This was the highlight of our visit to Cordoba and it was spectacular. The combinations of both religions was amazing and the detail in every aspect of the place was amazing!

The weather was nice as we were leaving

La Alhambra

It is considered the 8th man-made wonder of the world and it surpassed every high expectation that I had about it. It is so hard to describe how amazingly and breathtakingly beautiful it was and the gorgeous weather made it perfect. It is located in the mountains that surround the city and with the snow-capped mountains behind it with the blue sky and white puffy clouds above it, it was definitely a sight to see and be in awe in. Every corridor we went down and the staircases we climbed brought us to another breath taking sight. La Alhambra is definitely a place that I will recommend to everyone to visit in Spain. We spent about 3 hours visiting La Alhambra, which was a good amount of time but I could have definitely spent more time there.

After lunch at the hotel we went for a tour of the other side of Granada, which gave us an amazing view of La Alhambra. After spending sometime exploring that neighborhood of the city we made our way down to the city center. Along the way we stopped off at a convent to buy some pastries. It was a really interesting experience because the nuns were not allowed to look at us and communicated with us through a rotating door. And in the end I got one of the best pastries that I have ever eaten :)

After spending some time in La Capilla, where the last Catholic King and Queen are buried, we had free time for the rest of the night. I ended up hanging out with a friend from America. We met about 4 years ago through a leadership program where we spent 10 days one summer in Washington D.C. Since then we hadn't seen each other, kept in touch via Facebook with three of our other really good friends. We knew that we were both in Spain since January but haven't found time to visit one another until this weekend trip. 

We hung out for a while and talked a lot and then went to a free flamenco show with her sister and a few friends in a bar that was about 10 minutes away from the amazing view point from earlier that day. On the way there we saw a procession, like one from Semana Santa. I later asked my host mom and she said it normally happens after Semana Santa when the procession was unable to return to the church due to bad weather. As for the show we were the only Americans in the bar and I loved it because it was definitely an authentic experience and the show was amazing. There wasn't any dancing but the singer and guitarist were spectacular! After the show we walked to the viewing point and talked for a while before heading our separate ways. Seeing La Alhambra at night was spectacular!! Pictures can't do it justice how gorgeous it is, especially at night. I was so glad that I got to see my friend and it was so cool to see each other in Spain!

The following day was spent exploring a science museum and then heading back to Sevilla. I really enjoyed the weekend and I am so glad that I am getting to go back in May with my parents.

Next post is going to be about my week long trip to Morocco! ¡Hasta luego!