It started yesterday morning at 8:30am when Kim and I trudged to Hotel "Feo," our usual meeting point by a big ugly modern hotel and met our fellow Preshquitas in the pouring rain. Now I know that a few days ago I wrote that I don't melt in the rain, and I still don't, but a pair of rainboots would have been lovely. I have all the other rain gear, though, so it was just my feet that suffered a bit. It was truly a downpour. Unfortunately we didn't leave the rain behind in Cordoba either; Sevilla was just as wet.
Luckily, our first activity was touring the Sevilla Cathedral, which has the most total area of any Cathedral (including the Vatican) of anywhere in the world. Like the Córdoba Mezquita, the Sevilla Cathedral was originally built in phases as a mosque, and was converted around 1300 CE into a Cathedral during the Spanish re-conquista. Sevilla was a popular port during this time, and was home to Christopher Columbus, so as a honor to his "discovery" of America, his remains are immortalized in an above-ground tomb in the main hall of the Cathedral:
RIP, Cristobal Colon
We also climbed to the top of the Cathedral bell tower, which was once the minaret from which the imam called the muslims to prayer five times each day. The original tower is pretty high, and since the imam had to go up and down multiple times each day it was constructed with 34 ramps so that the imam could ride a horse up and down. It's fascinating, at least for me, how different religious groups justify constructing and utilizing architecture to suit their varying religious practices. Regardless of which religious group is currently utilizing the building, the walk to the top of the tower was well worth the effort, even on a rainy day.
Bell tower
View down to the street
Another side view down to the plaza
Walking down the ramps form the tower- I had to stop and take a picture. The light of the clouds blowing clear was so pretty.
And then, by the time we left the Cathedral, the sky was perfectly blue and we had a beautiful day to tour the rest of the city. So lucky!
Our next stop was the Reyes de Alcazar Gardens, which are a lot like Reyes de Alcazar Gardens that my house here in Córdoba backs up to. They're old royal gardens and palaces that were used to house kings, religious officials, and other important passers-through for centuries. Thank goodness it had stopped raining by the time we toured the gardens and old buildings, because it would have been so muddy. I suppose rain or no rain, though, it would still be beautiful. I particularly enjoyed the Iznik tiling, which I studied last semester in my Islamic Art and Architecture class. I never though it would be useful knowledge to know about Iznik tiling, but here I am...
Central Garden
Roof in one of the atriums
Exterior "hallway"
Iznik- classic blue
Water from the fountain spraying in front of another building.
After our garden tour we had the option to check into a hotel that PRESHCO got for us, or to travel home on the tour bus. I decided that I wanted to stay in Sevilla and see a bit more of the city, particularly since our hotel was covered, which was evidently a great idea. Sevilla is a really fun city; its about two or three times bigger than Córdoba, so it has a lot more things going on, but it still has the same flavor of antiquity and the old stone streets and sights. For example, there is a commuter rail that goes right through the street along the side of the Cathedral, and continues down the street a few blocks to a discoteca. Cities that have that eclectic mixes of old and new have such interesting appeal.
My only real complaint is that wherever I went, regardless of whether I spoke in Spanish or not, all the local people spoke to me in English. Yes, Sevilla is the most popular destination in Spain for American students to study abroad. However, I don't care whether I'm in the city or the countryside, I'm hear in Spain to learn Spanish so when I speak to someone in Spanish, I'd really like for them to speak to me in Spanish, too. If anything, it made me appreciate how I'm forced to use my Spanish here in Cordoba. Of course I have moments when I struggle to communicate certain things, but I'm learning all the time whether I'm aware of it or not, and I'm speaking Spanish automatically! That being said, there are some funny moments when people try to communicate in English, such as this hotel sign we walked past...
The rest of the afternoon I spent wandering around the plazas and scoping out food for dinner. I happened upon a restaurant called "Los Coloniales," where Kim, Ben and I got a really inexpensive but satisfying meal. I got grilled eggplant and salmorejo- very simple- but it was so nice to have basic veggies.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel and just ended up hanging out in various people's rooms until late. None of us really wanted to go out and party, but everyone was game to sit and drink wine in out sweatpants. It may have no been a typical party night in Sevilla, but it was just fine by us.
This morning we got up relatively early to explore more of Sevilla, including a fish and produce market, crossing the river to see the view of the city, and scoping out a middle eastern place to eat lunch at. Unfortunately we had to carry out backpacks with us the whole day, but I guess that's a small price to pay for getting a free hotel and the opportunity to spend another day in a cool Spanish city.
Fish market
Snail mating... some of the Preshquitas have eaten snails with their host families, but I don't think I could stomach it. Delicacy or not. No way. Too slimy.
Crossing the river. The tower is the Torre de Oro, which used to be the city headquarters for hundreds of years when the city was a busy port town.
Torre de Oro and the Cathedral in the background
Lunchtime salad (and humus and peta, not pictured) at the middle eastern restaurant. More veggies! Yay!
Dessert, a meringue-filled waffle, from a café next door.
From the café, a bunch of us walked back to the train station to come back to Cordoba and have a bit of time here to do things like take a run (hurray!) and do some schoolwork. Kim and I thought we wouldn't be back until after dinner, so Maricarmen didn't make us anything and we ended up cooking our own food, which was great. We made carrots sauteed in olive oil and nutmeg with a little bit of salt and pepper, and a side of bread. I cannot express how happy my tummy is right now after consuming two veggie-dominated meals in back-to-back.
Since dinner I've been uploading pictures and cleaning my room a bit in an effort to start the week off without mayhem. Tonight it actually rescheduled Halloween in Northampton, so I got to Skype trick-or-treat for a while with my Mom from her friend Karen's really busy porch. I saw a few of the little kids I babysit for and got to watch the parade of costumes for a good long while. I'm so glad I could "be there" passing out candy. Thankfully I had some of my own Reese's to enjoy from my Nana, too.
OK, es muy tarde. I'm off to bed so I can recuperate from all this travel. Also, I need a productive work day tomorrow to make sure I'm ahead on projects before my mom arrives in two weeks! Adios.
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