Tour al Sur!!

Just got back to Madrid from a whirlwind tour of the south of Spain. During the program, USC has organized two entire group tours of other parts of Spain, and last Wednesday we set out for the south of Spain. The trip was incredible! We spent two nights in Sevilla, two nights in Granada, and just a few hours in Cordoba on the way back up to Madrid. Each of the cities were distinct and absolutely beautiful, filled with reminders of Spain's history and the years of Muslim control of much of Spain.

Our first stop, Sevilla, was my favorite of the trip. The city is a strange mix of modern and old, but it seems to work. On our first day there, we took a bus tour of the city. Our guide explained that the city has changed a lot in recent years because it hosted an Iberian American Exhibition in 1929 and a World's Fair (i think) in 1992. So the city is filled with pavillions built by each country represented in the Iberian American Exhibition and then also with modern looking structures (like bridges and arenas) for the more recent exhibition. After our bus tour, we stopped in the Juderia, the old Jewish neighborhood from before the Spainish Inquisition. This part of town has maintained its old world feeling, with tiny streets and whitewashed houses with potted plants spilling off the balconies. From there, we walked to the Cathedral, which is one of the most beautiful things I've seen on my trip so far. The current Cathedral was built in the same spot as Sevilla's old mosque and some of the mosque's features have been preserved (like the orange tree filled patio and the minaret). We took a tour of the inside and then climbed the 41 floors to the top of the minaret for spectacular views of the city. So beautiful!

After a group lunch (meals on the trip were paid for by the program so that was fabulous), we were given some free time which most of us used to nap because we had to be at the train station ridiculously early that morning. Then it was time to explore Sevilla's nightlife. The city has a large university so there are a lot of students and a lively nightlife. It was one of my favorite nights out!

Our second day in Sevilla, we took a bus to the site where Columbus set sail for the Americas. We visited the monastery where he sought support and then got to play on replica's of his boats. It was a fun excursion, although we had one of the grumpiest tour guides ever. We got back to Sevilla just in time for another fun night out and then early the next morning, we set out for Granada.

When in Granada, we toured the old part of the city up on the hill, just at the foot of Spain's Sierra Nevada mountains. From there we got an incredible view of the Alhambra and got to soak up some sun at the lookout point. We saved our Alhambra tour for the next day, which was a bit unfortunate because the next day, the temperature dropped about 40 degrees and rained consistently, so the Alhambra trip was a bit miserable. However, it was still breathtakingly beautiful with its manicured gardens, fountains and beautiful architecture. I think I'm going to need to go back when it's sunny though to really appreciate it fully.

After two exhausting days and nights in Granada, we took a bus to Cordoba where we toured the Mosque (in which is housed a Catholic cathedral because they didn't want to fully destroy the mosque). It's a beautiful city, but I think we were all tired and ready to get "home" to Madrid so we didn't spend as much time there as we could have.

Sadly, it was not a good technology weekend for me. I stupidly dropped my camera and it broke right before we visited the Alhambra so from that point on, I don't have any pictures to share. :-( However, I'll be sure to steal some of my friend's pictures and try and post those. Haha. Also, my phone just decided to stop working so sorry if I don't keep up with my phone calls or return messages for a few days.

Anyway, hopefully I'll get those things fixed soon...hope everything is well in the states! I need to get back to my reading. :-)

Hasta luego!