Hello, Hola, Hallo, and Bonjour!
So, i need to talk about my SUPER exciting trip to Anadlusia this past weekend. It was amazing. I just love the south of Spain. It was cool to finally go somewhere and feel like I was living the stereotypical Spanish life, the one everyone in the USA things about when they hear "Spain."
On Friday we left for Cordoba at 8:30 in the morning. It is a 6 hour bus ride because we have to stop for an hour halfway through (its a law that the busdriver has to stop and rest for an hour...oh, Spain). It was a beautiful drive down south and it was sunny the whole way! When we got to Cordoba, we checked into our REALLY nice hotel (Hotel Serrano....i recommend it to ANYONE visiting Cordoba) and then walked over to the Mezquita. Holy moley...that place is gorgeous. When you walk in, there is a huge plaza full of orange trees, but you cant eat the oranges because they are super sour. Then the inside of the building is breathtaking....the red and white arches in long rows. I felt like I was in that scene from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in the Moria mountains. AWESOME. Then as you are walking through all this beautiful Arabic architecture, you walk into this huge, random Gothic cathedral. There is a cathedral inside this old Islamic mosque. it is crazy and very beautiful. its such a contrast from the dark and orthodox mosque to the tall, luminous cathedral. I really enjoyed the Mezquita alot. After that we went to the Palace where Isabel and Ferdinand( The Catholic King and Queen) met with Columbus and we walked throug the beautiful gardens there. We also visited some old baths during the reign of the Moorish Caliphates in Spain. FUn times. We then had free time and so we went to this cafe that had like, 1.5 ft long bocadillas....and i got one with tortilla espanola and tomato. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! it completed my day.
Saturday we got up early for a nice continental breakfast, provided by the hotel, and then got on the bus for Sevilla. Sevilla is about 1.5 hours away from Cordoba. We first visited the cathedral in Sevilla, the 3rd largest Gothic cathedral in the Europe behind St Peter's Basilica in Rome and St Paul's in London. That place was cool....plus it also had the tomb of 10% of Christopher Columbus' bones. ;) that was an interesting story. haha. After the cathedral we went to another palace where all the business was conducted if someone wanted to come to America. If you were in Spain and want to visit America, you HAD to go to Sevilla. Then we had free time for lunch....i had an amazing one too. I got the menu of the day, which consisted of Gazpacho(cold tomato based veggie soup), chicken and potatoes, a drink, and a dessert for 9 EURO. it was a steal of a deal. :D and the food was fantastic. After lunch we met up again and got on the bus for the Plaza de Espana. The second Star Wars Episode (attack of the clones) had a scene filmed here, at the Plaza. It is beautiful and full of again, Arabic architecture. I took quite a few photos here. All in all, Sevilla was gorgeous...OH and the weather...wowzers. it was like 68-70 degrees all day. It was awesome, for being in the middle of November. ( Now all of Spain is getting wind and snow. its just cold, cold, cold.) We drove back to Cordoba after visiting the Plaza and I watched Lord of teh Rings: Return of the King with my roomies and some friends. A fantastic day, i if i say so myself.
Sunday we got up to have yummy breakfast again and then we set off from the hotel to the Jewish neighborhood of Cordoba. We walked around there for a while and visited the old synagogue. Then we got on the bus again for an old ruined Caliphate town called Medinat Az-Zahara. That place was like a labryinth but sooo cool. The sun was also out, providing mid-upper 60s for the day. We walked around there for about 1.5 hours and then got on the bus for the ride home. It was long...and we watched two of the saddest movies in Spanish....one i liked even though i cried a TON. The other i had seen before. The first movie was "Las 13 Rosas" and the other was "El Laberinto del Fauno" aka Pan's Labyrinth. The Rosas movie was sooooo sad but both were about the SPanish Civil War here and when Franco came into power and stuff. When we got back to Segovia, I went and got churros with some friends and then i walked home to some yummy home cooked food from Julia.
Now, it is the 26th of November....Christmas is less than a month away and I will be home in like...24 days! That is just crazy....and i turn 21 in 23 days. I know that i just threw alot of numbers at everyone. my apologies. :D I love it here, but I am getting quite ready to come home. I have found a job here in the meantime to earn some extra money before i return home. Maybe i can get myself some cute boots that EVERYONE seems to wear around here. hehe. Tomorrow though is THANKSGIVING. i love this holiday. we even get to celebrate it here. A restaurant has agreed to help prepare turkeys for us and we students all have to bring a side dish. I am making mashed potatoes and am sooo excited. I cant wait cause I also do NOT have classes tomorrow. Thank you Marian for unerstanding. ;)
Well, my other class is going to start soon and so I must get going. May God Bless everyone who is traveling this holiday weekend and let us all be thankful and grateful for what the Lord has done in all of our lives. I know that i am INCREDIBLY thankful to be here this year. I have loved this experience, that is once in a lifetime. :) God has been gracious to me throughout ALL my life and even more here in Spain. I am also thankful for my loving family....i miss you all, i love ya'll, and cant wait to see you. I am also thankful for my friends at Concordia...I miss you all more than you can ever know. And last but certainly NOT least, I am super thankful for my boyfriend, Caleb Abraham. He is my best friend and I am so glad that we are together. I love you. :D :P
Bye, Adios, Auf Wiedersein, Au revoir!!
PS- pictures are up on photobucket! if you have problems viewing them, please email me ehmuhlee1219@yahoo.com
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