This weekend (May 30th to the 31) my CEA Study Abroad Summer Program went to Cordoba and Sevilla for the weekend to explore the history and culture of this ever changing country.
(photo courtesy of google images)
Groggy and sleep deprived we set off at 8 am sharp for Cordoba and our first adventure of the weekend....after a three hour snooze worthy ride. Unfortunately I was only able to doze slightly here and there, being motion sick does not always enable one to sleep in a moving vehicle.
However when you can't sleep you can get some pretty cool pictures here and there, such as this little field and mountain shot taken and edited by yours truly:
Or of these amazing fields of sunflowers stretching out as far as the eyes could see all over the country side as we drove on:
After the long (and tummy turning) trip we finally made it to the beautiful city of Cordoba. Below you can see a picture as we come up to the city taken by Anna Barshinger (seeing as my phone decided to stop working the pictures from this on in Cordoba were all taken by her).
Our first stop was at the Mezquita aka the Mosque of Cordoba. This amazing and beautiful infrastructure held the religious practices for the Muslims for hundreds of years and later to the Christians and Jewish practices as well. There was even a time when the three religions were able to peacefully practice together in this amazing space (unfortunately such peaceful existences never last for long).
Above is a quick peek inside this beautiful structure where we can see the first section of it and the very specific type of arches. These were the typical design of Islamic architecture of the time era (beginning in 786 and enlarging over the next few centuries).
As the mosque was enlarged over the years the people added more elaborate decorations and symbolic images to depict their beliefs in their holy place, such as the addition pictured above.
When the Christians regained control over Cordoba they converted the mosque into a cathedral adding more elaborate pieces to the building such as this piece, covered in gold depicted the angles and christian kingdom.
The rich history and amazing archeture in this building left many awe-struck. The ability to see the changes as different reigns of people and religion took over inside the structure was watching history come to life in so many ways.
After our tour we proceeded outside where we went on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter which surrounds the Cathedral. Every building was white (much like most of Spain) but with the added colors of windowsill flowers and decorative flags and tapestries throughout it all. However the streets were narrow and the tourist where plentiful (us included of course) which made it hard to see and appreciate all that was offered to us. However Anna did get an awesome picture of some houses with a classic statue of Spain's Torro in the middle of them:
After our tours we split off into groups for free time to relax and eat as we enjoyed the sites and waited for our bus to return. We saw many parties dressed up in all sorts of get ups as men and women celebrated their bachelor/ette parties in traditional manners throughout the city.
With so much excitment I quickly passed out on the bus as we drove to Sevilla where we checked into our hotel and later had dinner. Though I tried to stay up with some friends as we watched a movie in Spanish I soon knocked out and did not wake up again until morning! (though apparently I contributed a few grunts to the conversations my friends were having throughout the evening lol)
The next day was another full one starting off with a buffet style breakfast (if only the coffee was better) and a quick pack up and check out as we loaded onto the bus to begin again.
We started off at the Plaza de Espana which was built in 1928 as a free public and open library, unfortunately all the books are now gone, even though the township tried to restock a few months ago.
These first few pictures is where all the books were kept. There is a seat for every province in Spain, here we have on example. Each was decorated to represent the province within the color choice, the picture depicted in the back, along with the flowers and animals throughout the seat.
A close up of where the books were held.
Our tour guide for the day posing for me. She was wonderful I have to say!
Here is me standing outside of the entire building
Some wonderful ladies that I have been blessed enough to meet
Above and below are close ups of the building and fountain in the middle of it all.
We were even able to go inside where we saw more of the amazing architecture that Spain has to offer us. In this panoramic picture we can see all of the flags that represent each province (much like the seats outside) as well as our guide talking with our wonderful CEA adviser Jorge.
A close up of the flags and architecture.
As we were leaving I was able to even get a picture of it's front entrance, this place was beautiful.
Here we have the entrance to the patio of the Palace (not the actual entrance itself) with the royal symbol above the door to signify who lives there and their religion.
Above is a picture of the entrance into the palace with our lovely tour guide leading the way (seriously this woman was awesome!) while below we have the entrance from the other side looking back out onto the street.
Though there are people in the way here are two pictures of the actual entrance into the "house" itself as we began our tour. Take note of the intricate design surrounding the doorway itself, though it all looks like it was chiseled from rock, most of it was either carved wood painted, or plaster. HOwever on the top you can also see tile but it was fun to look at it all and know for myself that it was not just all tile or marble (the more you know).
Here we have the interior patio (a side note, the bigger the water feature the more important and the wealthier the family who lives there). A closer look at the massive amounts of detail in the arches in the picture below. And below that one is the original detail in the sides of the walls close up.
Above we have the adorable Elyssia next to the tiled walls. Though they appear to be just another geometric design they are also representative of the Islamic religion with the different colors and patterns all representing different laws and ways of life for their people.
Here we have a view into the beautiful gardens that surround and are found throughout the palace. They pictures do not do themj justice, but when all you have is an o0ld smart phone what do you expect?
At the end of the tour we were allowed to walk around a bit before leaving, here I found a small (well smaller) water feature tucked away in the corner of one of the many gardens. Everything about this palace was beautiful and I am blessed that I got to see and learn so much about it, it´s history and the history of some of the Spanish people. And to think, this is all someone´s house!
After our visit to the palace we went on a walking tour of Santa Cruz (the city that surrounds this magnificent palace) as well as climb to the top of the Cathedral Tower, this Cathedral is the third biggest Catholic Cathedral in the world and the biggest Gothic Cathedral. We were able to climb to the top of it's tallest tower where we got the most amazing view of Sevilla!
These next pictures were all taken by the fabulous Jasmine Fanning who always has my back when my phone dies!
Our view from the top
Inside the Cathedral was amazing. The grandiose aspect of every fine detail was mind blowing. Everything was either coated in or made from solid gold. And though I was amazed by it all, I could not help but think how at the time most of this was built the people of Spain were going through hardships and religious wars. Yet all of this was still possible, to me it left a bitter after taste as I stood there in awe
By the end of the day my feet were swollen and I was ready to call it quits in my bed for a nice long snooze. Though I was locked out for about ten minutes (there are different ways to lock and unlock doors here in Granada and I did not know that) I was able to take a nice hot shower and do just that!
Until next time!
-Little Red
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