Cordoba and first day in Sevilla (poquito tarde)

Well we are in our hotel in Sevilla but our Internet is not working so I’m going to write my blog and post it when I can. Today has been a bit of a blur but it has been wonderful! We left Madre at 8:30 this morning. It was a bittersweet goodbye. I gave her my present last night and of course she could not understand why I had brought her something but she was so thankful. We made the trek on the metro in perfect time to meet our group to leave for Andalucía! We had about an hour bus ride until we made a quick stop at the windmills that were pare of the famous Spanish novel Don Quixote! It was absolutely beautiful! We were driving through the countryside up into this beautiful small town surrounded by mountains and plains, all different colors from the crops they were growing. It looked like a patchwork quilt. We were only able to stay for a while, and then stopped for a phenomenal lunch in about another hour. I ate “pesto.” It was basically a vegetable soup with tomatoes, peppers, and I’m not sure what else. When they described it I was not sure how I would feel, but as soon as I saw it, I couldn’t resist. They served bread with it…mmm. I also bought probably the best apple I have ever had at the market. We then hopped on the bus again to head to Cordoba. This was about another two hours (For some reason this was the most miserable bus ride for me! I slept a lot but finally I went to play with my friends that were a little livelier in the bus. I can’t believe I didn’t bring anything to do other than listen to my music). When we arrived at Cordoba it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! They are known for their famous Mezquita (mosque). Originally there was a Catholic basilica. Jews and Muslims actually used to pay for rooms here to use for worship. Eventually, however, the Muslims bought the whole church and had it destroyed and built a new mosque. Since then it has gone from mosque to Catedral again (when the national religion became Catholicism). This place of worship was breathtaking. Every time I see these buildings I cannot rap my head around how they were able to construct something so beautiful by hand (so many years of work!). A neat tid-bid is that there are several columns in the building and they were taken from ancient ruins at the time so they are all different! After some helado we headed back on the bus for another two hour bus ride or so to Sevilla! When we arrived in Sevilla I was so excited! It was BEAUTIFUL. It is a large city, but not as large as Madrid. It has a lot more character and quaintness to it. I love it! I feel like I could live here. When we got off the bus, we had to take all of our luggage with is to the hotel. It was a bit of a trek through the back alley roads but we made it. When we walked into our room (that was thankfully on the 1st floor and room 417- birthday ;) ). It is BEAUTIFUL! Two twin beds, a closet, a bathroom with tub and shower, two sinks and a little patio. The best part is that when we stand on our patio, there are four rooms above us where all our friends can open their doors and we can all talk to each other like one big happy family! So fun! Although we have to be careful because they can hear everything we say (almost shared a very personal conversation with about 8 other people, haha) My favorite part, however, is the telephone in the TOILET! Yes, that’s right, just in case you fall in… there is a phone. I love it. I asked my professor and he said it really is just so you can answer if you are in there getting ready or… doing your business. We then had a little time to freshen ourselves and went through the tunnel of our beautiful hotel to the dining room for dinner. We had a fabulous three course meal. The bread was SO good. The first part of the meal was interesting. It looked almost like tofu with mushrooms on it. However, it was some sort of squishy texture with vegetables in it. I ate as much as a could but the texture was hard for me. The second course, however, was chicken and potatoes. MMM! For dessert, we had a little helado-lemon and some sort of custard flavor in a cone bowel. After our great dinner we went to explore a little of Sevilla before it got dark. We found a beautiful little park, with painted cows! Haha. Then we went to get a little tea or coffee and came back to the hotel. There is a piano bar here, and several people have been taking turns playing beautiful music for us while some use the internet and others of us patiently hope it will start working. I’m really looking forward to our time in Sevilla and this week. Originally I had my idea of how much I wanted to see and do and experience on this trip and I feel like I have done A LOT. Now I just want to enjoy and not stress about it. Novel idea right? Hasta luego!