06/02/08
Bueno, I’m sitting on the bus headed to Cordoba, the past two days in Seville have been amazing! We left Alcalá at eight, and rode about two hours to Mérida, which was once a very Romanized city around 20 B.C. It was so neat being in a city that was so ancient! Spain was home to the second greatest number of Roman citizens behind Italy, so there influence was very strong in certain parts of Spain. My favorite part about the city was visiting the Roman Amphitheatre. The Roman pillars and stage have all been well preserved, which helped me to be able to visualize the plays and performances held there. I just could not get over how old everything was that where I was sitting was built before the time of Christ’s birth. After several hours of exploring the Roman ruins we got back on the bus headed towards Seville. We arrived around ten, checked into the hotel and then walked around the city a little bit. The next morning Sarah, Suzy, Dani, and I went for a run around eight- we didn’t go off the main road too much because we had no idea if we’d be able to get back to our hotel. We came back, got ready for the day, and then enjoyed the amazing continental breakfast! I was so grateful for the yummy food because the hotel in Toledo gave us two sugary muffins. Hotel America definitely delivered for us. Then we headed off to the cathedral, which was beautiful. We were able to climb 35 floors to the top of the church and look out over the whole city, it was breathtaking! After the cathedral we went to the Alcazar, which is my favorite place ever! Some of the walls were the prettiest yellow, contrasting with others that were bleached white. With almost every street lined in orange trees there was the most amazing scent of oranges in the air. Everything about Seville reminded me of being close to the beach, the air, the colors, the palm trees, yet we weren’t, but the Guadalquivir River did run around it. The Alcazar was the royal palace of Seville built in 913, and King Pedro the Cruel was responsible for most of the renovations. Although Christians built the palace, the architecture was Moorish and it was so intricate and fabulous. They used a lot of tile, which made everything more beautiful. Everything was gorgeous, the ceilings, floors, windows, you get the picture. The endless gardens were my favorite, full of fountains, oranges, and the loud chatter of birds. This was definitely my favorite palace so far, everything about it made me smile. I can see why many of the royal families would live there during the summer months. It felt like mid-May in Seville, like 70 degrees beautiful. The sun felt amazing on my skin; I could have laid in one spot all day and been content, well not really, but yes maybe. Underneath the palace Pedro had a gigantic bath built solely filled with rainwater for one of his favorite wives, don’t worry he had about 800 women in his harem! I hung out with mostly Sarah, Rachel, John-Charles, and Erica and we had a great time. During each of the trips the big group somehow splits into smaller ones and then you pretty much hang out with them the whole day. After walking around the palace for a few hours, we ate our sandwich we had made from the food at breakfast- best idea ever. Then we walked along the river, enjoying the brilliant sunshine. I talked to one older Spanish man for awhile about the elections going on in the U.S., it was great being able to talk in Spanish; unfortunately, when we are in a big group it seems like we always talk in English and I don’t like it. We went to a few museums, one full of mudejar artifacts. Mudejars were the Muslims who remained in Seville when they were ordered to leave. The tension between Muslims and Christians was an endless battle in the history of Spain; the two groups found it very difficult to convivencia, or live together. That night we grabbed some dinner and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with the big group going to a flamenco show. The flamenco was amazing! I loved the castanets, the giant flower on top of the women’s heads, the dresses, the clapping, ‘olays’ and the passion of the dancers. It was almost two hours long and we all came out as flamenco wannabes, stomping our feet and clapping our hands, it was great. This morning four of us went for the best run along the river as the sun was rising and then back through the city. The weather is so amazing in Southern Spain! Then we packed up, ate some breakfast, and then shopped around a little bit before the bus arrived.
07/02/08
We arrived in Cordoba, checked into the hotel and then headed off to the Mezquita. It was so beautiful and warm outside as we were walking to the once Islamic mosque built in the 700s, but as we walked in the temperature dropped and the lights went dim. As my eyes adjusted to the lighting I saw the endless red and white arches, they seemed to go on forever! It was absolutely incredible; I could not get over how massive and empty the building was, 85,000 square feet! It was a place of worship for Muslims until the 1200s when Cordoba was taken over by the Christians, and unfortunately during their reign they built a Roman Catholic cathedral right in the middle of the mosque and it looks somewhat random because of the extreme contrast in styles of architecture. Although it was pretty strange to see the cathedral, I thought it was a great representation of the mixing of cultures that occurred as Christianity began to spread throughout Spain. I walked around for quite awhile admiring the architectural feats of the building and then we left to walk the streets of ancient Cordoba. The buildings are all white and most of them have beautiful hanging pots of flowers randomly placed all along the walls. The streets are all cobblestone, like every city in Spain, and oh so narrow! I just love walking around with no destination in mind. We crossed the Roman bridge as the sun was setting and I swear at that moment I could not have been happier. I swear that is like every moment here in Spain though; everyday is the best day ever. For some reason the question came into my head that sometimes people ask, “If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would you be?” and let me tell you that it is the most incredible feeling to say “Right here!” A small group of us walked around all afternoon and evening and around eight we walked into a plaza where there was a group of gypsies dancing around in a circle, one was playing the guitar, another the violin, and a woman was singing along, surprisingly very well. Of course we quickly joined in and they invited us into their group instantly- it was so sweet, I mean you can not beat dancing with gypsies. At this time it was Brock, John-Charles, Rachel, Sarah, and I and we walked to a park and sat down by this pretty fountain and were telling funny instances involving our host families- we were laughing so much, and talking in Spanish, it was great. On the way back to the hotel we saw Professor Shumway and his wife Cathy holding hands going out to dinner, and it made me so happy that they are having some time to themselves here in Spain, I can’t imagine bringing seven kids here! I roomed with Sarah last night, wow I love that girl. She is so funny and we have the best time together. This morning we caught the sunrise again and ran around the city a little bit and then headed back to the hotel for breakfast, yummy bread and hot chocolate. After that we got ready and then went to the Alcazar. Cordoba was one of the chief cities of the inquisition and we actually walked up to the tower of the Inquisition and it felt a bit scary and sad knowing that so many people were tortured and killed in that exact location. I am so grateful that I am able to practice my religion freely. The castle was amazing; I loved exploring through it and the gardens surrounding it- so beautiful! I love all of the fountains here in Spain. After our exploration we found a market, bought some pan, meat, and cheese and made ourselves a bocadillo for the trip to Granada. I am so excited to get there and see the Alhambra, but we still have about another two hours on the bus! Adios.
09/02/08 1:00 PM
We are on the road back home and I’m somewhat sad that I have to get back to classes and studying. I loved my time in Granada, the Alhambra was absolutely gorgeous. We entered around four and spent two glorious hours looking at the palace, the Alcazaba, and my favorite the Generalife gardens. The Moorish architecture in the palace was so intricate; I could not believe the detail! Every wall, ceiling, and ar
chway was so ornate and fabulous. The Alcazaba is another part of the Alhambra. It was the strongest Muslim fortress, until it fell to the Christians in January of 1492. As I was climbing through the castle I tried to imagine what life would have been like for the Moors trying to defend themselves against the powerful Ferdinand and Isabella. I imagine there was a lot of fear amongst the people because their odds of winning were very small, seeing that every other Muslim fortress in Spain had been conquered. As Sarah and I were walking through the gardens outside of the castle we were also trying to imagine the life of the young people during this time. The Alhambra was full of Muslims because when each city was conquered, many would flee to Granada for safety. The city is so beautiful and the gardens and fountains in the Alhambra are enchanting and romantic in every way. I bet there were some great love stories that came out of this city! It is hard to fully capture the magnificence of the gardens in words or pictures. Every time I would take a picture I always felt that the photo did not do justice to what my eyes were seeing. We were walking through the gardens as the sun was setting, the sun was shining on the flowers and shimmering on the water of the ponds and in the distance I could see the outline of the castle walls and towers. Every part of me was smiling! The Alhambra closed at six, so we left and hiked up the steepest street in history for about twenty minutes to watch the sunset over the city. I was sitting up on this very high wall with a guitarist, playing songs with the rhythm of Jack Johnson but in Spanish, to my left and people from the group to my right overlooking the lights of Granada and the glowing Alhambra. I love my life. We walked down the steep hill awhile later and we all stopped in at a Kebab restaurant, which changed my life. I had never had a kebab before. It is a type of sandwich/hamburger/amazing type thing. They have this huge thing of meat rotating on this machine and they cut it off the bone and put it in the yummy bread with lettuce and salsa. Wow, my mouth was so happy! We went back to the hotel after walking around for a bit and we found out that Caitlin had bought a guitar that day so Brock started playing it and we were all singing. It was the perfect ending to the great day. This morning we woke up and had an amazing breakfast at the hotel and then walked around in the city. I bought an awesome bag and some cool head band type things that make me feel like a Moorish princess. I absolutely loved Granada, it is so beautiful and full of history, and every minute was amazing.
09/02/08 10:30 PM
Amy and I are home! Wow what an incredible viaje, it could not have been any better. On the six hour drive home we stopped at the windmills that inspired Cervantes to write Don Quijote. It was so windy, but it felt great to stretch our legs and run around a little bit. We got home about an hour ago and we met the other student who will be here for a month who is from Japan. She is darling, but the poor thing hardly knows any Spanish at all. Ana had an amazing dinner ready for us; it felt so good to see her! I really do love her so much. After dinner she brought out a huge plate of crepes that she and her sister had made earlier today, wow I was in heaven! It feels good to be home!
Bueno, I’m sitting on the bus headed to Cordoba, the past two days in Seville have been amazing! We left Alcalá at eight, and rode about two hours to Mérida, which was once a very Romanized city around 20 B.C. It was so neat being in a city that was so ancient! Spain was home to the second greatest number of Roman citizens behind Italy, so there influence was very strong in certain parts of Spain. My favorite part about the city was visiting the Roman Amphitheatre. The Roman pillars and stage have all been well preserved, which helped me to be able to visualize the plays and performances held there. I just could not get over how old everything was that where I was sitting was built before the time of Christ’s birth. After several hours of exploring the Roman ruins we got back on the bus headed towards Seville. We arrived around ten, checked into the hotel and then walked around the city a little bit. The next morning Sarah, Suzy, Dani, and I went for a run around eight- we didn’t go off the main road too much because we had no idea if we’d be able to get back to our hotel. We came back, got ready for the day, and then enjoyed the amazing continental breakfast! I was so grateful for the yummy food because the hotel in Toledo gave us two sugary muffins. Hotel America definitely delivered for us. Then we headed off to the cathedral, which was beautiful. We were able to climb 35 floors to the top of the church and look out over the whole city, it was breathtaking! After the cathedral we went to the Alcazar, which is my favorite place ever! Some of the walls were the prettiest yellow, contrasting with others that were bleached white. With almost every street lined in orange trees there was the most amazing scent of oranges in the air. Everything about Seville reminded me of being close to the beach, the air, the colors, the palm trees, yet we weren’t, but the Guadalquivir River did run around it. The Alcazar was the royal palace of Seville built in 913, and King Pedro the Cruel was responsible for most of the renovations. Although Christians built the palace, the architecture was Moorish and it was so intricate and fabulous. They used a lot of tile, which made everything more beautiful. Everything was gorgeous, the ceilings, floors, windows, you get the picture. The endless gardens were my favorite, full of fountains, oranges, and the loud chatter of birds. This was definitely my favorite palace so far, everything about it made me smile. I can see why many of the royal families would live there during the summer months. It felt like mid-May in Seville, like 70 degrees beautiful. The sun felt amazing on my skin; I could have laid in one spot all day and been content, well not really, but yes maybe. Underneath the palace Pedro had a gigantic bath built solely filled with rainwater for one of his favorite wives, don’t worry he had about 800 women in his harem! I hung out with mostly Sarah, Rachel, John-Charles, and Erica and we had a great time. During each of the trips the big group somehow splits into smaller ones and then you pretty much hang out with them the whole day. After walking around the palace for a few hours, we ate our sandwich we had made from the food at breakfast- best idea ever. Then we walked along the river, enjoying the brilliant sunshine. I talked to one older Spanish man for awhile about the elections going on in the U.S., it was great being able to talk in Spanish; unfortunately, when we are in a big group it seems like we always talk in English and I don’t like it. We went to a few museums, one full of mudejar artifacts. Mudejars were the Muslims who remained in Seville when they were ordered to leave. The tension between Muslims and Christians was an endless battle in the history of Spain; the two groups found it very difficult to convivencia, or live together. That night we grabbed some dinner and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with the big group going to a flamenco show. The flamenco was amazing! I loved the castanets, the giant flower on top of the women’s heads, the dresses, the clapping, ‘olays’ and the passion of the dancers. It was almost two hours long and we all came out as flamenco wannabes, stomping our feet and clapping our hands, it was great. This morning four of us went for the best run along the river as the sun was rising and then back through the city. The weather is so amazing in Southern Spain! Then we packed up, ate some breakfast, and then shopped around a little bit before the bus arrived.
07/02/08
We arrived in Cordoba, checked into the hotel and then headed off to the Mezquita. It was so beautiful and warm outside as we were walking to the once Islamic mosque built in the 700s, but as we walked in the temperature dropped and the lights went dim. As my eyes adjusted to the lighting I saw the endless red and white arches, they seemed to go on forever! It was absolutely incredible; I could not get over how massive and empty the building was, 85,000 square feet! It was a place of worship for Muslims until the 1200s when Cordoba was taken over by the Christians, and unfortunately during their reign they built a Roman Catholic cathedral right in the middle of the mosque and it looks somewhat random because of the extreme contrast in styles of architecture. Although it was pretty strange to see the cathedral, I thought it was a great representation of the mixing of cultures that occurred as Christianity began to spread throughout Spain. I walked around for quite awhile admiring the architectural feats of the building and then we left to walk the streets of ancient Cordoba. The buildings are all white and most of them have beautiful hanging pots of flowers randomly placed all along the walls. The streets are all cobblestone, like every city in Spain, and oh so narrow! I just love walking around with no destination in mind. We crossed the Roman bridge as the sun was setting and I swear at that moment I could not have been happier. I swear that is like every moment here in Spain though; everyday is the best day ever. For some reason the question came into my head that sometimes people ask, “If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would you be?” and let me tell you that it is the most incredible feeling to say “Right here!” A small group of us walked around all afternoon and evening and around eight we walked into a plaza where there was a group of gypsies dancing around in a circle, one was playing the guitar, another the violin, and a woman was singing along, surprisingly very well. Of course we quickly joined in and they invited us into their group instantly- it was so sweet, I mean you can not beat dancing with gypsies. At this time it was Brock, John-Charles, Rachel, Sarah, and I and we walked to a park and sat down by this pretty fountain and were telling funny instances involving our host families- we were laughing so much, and talking in Spanish, it was great. On the way back to the hotel we saw Professor Shumway and his wife Cathy holding hands going out to dinner, and it made me so happy that they are having some time to themselves here in Spain, I can’t imagine bringing seven kids here! I roomed with Sarah last night, wow I love that girl. She is so funny and we have the best time together. This morning we caught the sunrise again and ran around the city a little bit and then headed back to the hotel for breakfast, yummy bread and hot chocolate. After that we got ready and then went to the Alcazar. Cordoba was one of the chief cities of the inquisition and we actually walked up to the tower of the Inquisition and it felt a bit scary and sad knowing that so many people were tortured and killed in that exact location. I am so grateful that I am able to practice my religion freely. The castle was amazing; I loved exploring through it and the gardens surrounding it- so beautiful! I love all of the fountains here in Spain. After our exploration we found a market, bought some pan, meat, and cheese and made ourselves a bocadillo for the trip to Granada. I am so excited to get there and see the Alhambra, but we still have about another two hours on the bus! Adios.
09/02/08 1:00 PM
We are on the road back home and I’m somewhat sad that I have to get back to classes and studying. I loved my time in Granada, the Alhambra was absolutely gorgeous. We entered around four and spent two glorious hours looking at the palace, the Alcazaba, and my favorite the Generalife gardens. The Moorish architecture in the palace was so intricate; I could not believe the detail! Every wall, ceiling, and ar
chway was so ornate and fabulous. The Alcazaba is another part of the Alhambra. It was the strongest Muslim fortress, until it fell to the Christians in January of 1492. As I was climbing through the castle I tried to imagine what life would have been like for the Moors trying to defend themselves against the powerful Ferdinand and Isabella. I imagine there was a lot of fear amongst the people because their odds of winning were very small, seeing that every other Muslim fortress in Spain had been conquered. As Sarah and I were walking through the gardens outside of the castle we were also trying to imagine the life of the young people during this time. The Alhambra was full of Muslims because when each city was conquered, many would flee to Granada for safety. The city is so beautiful and the gardens and fountains in the Alhambra are enchanting and romantic in every way. I bet there were some great love stories that came out of this city! It is hard to fully capture the magnificence of the gardens in words or pictures. Every time I would take a picture I always felt that the photo did not do justice to what my eyes were seeing. We were walking through the gardens as the sun was setting, the sun was shining on the flowers and shimmering on the water of the ponds and in the distance I could see the outline of the castle walls and towers. Every part of me was smiling! The Alhambra closed at six, so we left and hiked up the steepest street in history for about twenty minutes to watch the sunset over the city. I was sitting up on this very high wall with a guitarist, playing songs with the rhythm of Jack Johnson but in Spanish, to my left and people from the group to my right overlooking the lights of Granada and the glowing Alhambra. I love my life. We walked down the steep hill awhile later and we all stopped in at a Kebab restaurant, which changed my life. I had never had a kebab before. It is a type of sandwich/hamburger/amazing type thing. They have this huge thing of meat rotating on this machine and they cut it off the bone and put it in the yummy bread with lettuce and salsa. Wow, my mouth was so happy! We went back to the hotel after walking around for a bit and we found out that Caitlin had bought a guitar that day so Brock started playing it and we were all singing. It was the perfect ending to the great day. This morning we woke up and had an amazing breakfast at the hotel and then walked around in the city. I bought an awesome bag and some cool head band type things that make me feel like a Moorish princess. I absolutely loved Granada, it is so beautiful and full of history, and every minute was amazing.09/02/08 10:30 PM
Amy and I are home! Wow what an incredible viaje, it could not have been any better. On the six hour drive home we stopped at the windmills that inspired Cervantes to write Don Quijote. It was so windy, but it felt great to stretch our legs and run around a little bit. We got home about an hour ago and we met the other student who will be here for a month who is from Japan. She is darling, but the poor thing hardly knows any Spanish at all. Ana had an amazing dinner ready for us; it felt so good to see her! I really do love her so much. After dinner she brought out a huge plate of crepes that she and her sister had made earlier today, wow I was in heaven! It feels good to be home!
2 comentarios:
omnrxgerin,
I'm so so glad you are keeping such a detailed journal of your adventures. This will continue to bring it all back to you as you "come back to reality"!! I'm always so happy to read your explanations....it sounds like you are sitting here telling me all about everything. Talk to you tonight! love you-Mom
Good stories and details so thanks! tell John-Charles to get his butt in gear and update! ;)
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