Cordoba and Granada

This past weekend we took a long weekend trip to Cordoba and Granada which are cities to the east of Seville. Friday we left Sevilla very early in the morning and drove about 3 hours to Cordoba. Cordoba is smaller than Sevilla and has a huge mosque in the center than we toured. The majority of the mosque has a lot of Arab influence from before Cordoba was conquered by Spain. Part of the mosque turns into a Cathedral similar to all of the others that we have seen that was a result of the Spanish taking over Cordoba. It was very interesting to see the direct contrast between the mosque and the Cathedral all within one builing. Although the Cathedral part was really impressive, I like the mosque a lot more because it was really unique and unlike anything I had ever seen. Walking through the mosque it really didn't feel like we were in Spain anymore!

The Mosque

A view of the Cathedral part of the Mosque

After the tour we had free time to walk around the city for a few hours. There wasn't too much else to see but we had fun exploring all of the narrow, windy streets. We then got back on the bus and rode about an hour and a half to Granada. The ride was really beautiful because we were going through the countryside with many olive trees and the mountains. There were hundreds of huge fields filled with millions of sunflowers- it was one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. When we got close to Granada I was suprised to see that there was snow on the tops of the mountains! Granada weather is a little cooler than Sevilla's, and it gets much colder and snows during the winter.

After getting to our hotel we all relaxed by the pool for a little bit and then went to the dinner that was included with the hotel. We were all so excited to see the salad bar and American style food, but we are used to eating small dinners here and we all were so stuffed afterwards! After dinner we walked up many small streets to the top of a hill that overlooks the Alhambra which was all lit up and really pretty at night. Afterwards we explored the streets. I was really suprised to see how much different the atmosphere was then Sevilla. There is much more Arab influence in Granada because it was the last major city in Spain to be conquered by the Spanish from the Moors. Instead of bars or pubs there were many Middle Eastern restaurants with foods like hummus and filafel. Also, there were so many hooka bars they serve hundreds of different types of tea and many flavors of hooka. ALthough I still like the atmosphere in Sevilla more, it was nice to see different types of architecture and stores. I felt like I was in Morroco!

On Saturday, after an American style breakfast at the hotel (aka more than just bread and cheese) we walked into the center of the city and toured 2 cathedrals. They were both very beautiful but I am getting a little tired of touring Cathedrals, especially because one of our professors gives us the tours (he comes on the trips with us) and he talks about just about every single aspect so the tours are always at least 2 hours long and in Spanish, which makes it really hard to concentrate and understand what we are actually seeing. After the tours we explored the city for the afternoon. There were many spice markets set up outside which were really unique and definitely more arab influence. One thing that I didn't really like about the city is that there were so many gypsies in the streets begging for money and trying to force you to be their spices.

After walking around the streets a group of my friends and I found a great tapas restaurant with really good food. I had sliced tomatoes with olive oil and goat cheese and then cooked spinach and garbonzo beans- my favorite tapa out of all the ones that I have tried. For the rest of the afternoon we just napped by the pool and did homework, then went to the buffet dinner again and went to a discoteca (dance club) later in the night.

On Sunday morning we woke up early to go tour the Alhambra, the most famous sight in Granada. It it a large Moorish palace full of many different gardens and plazas and lots of Moorish architecture which is really different and unique to see. Before going into the actual palace we also got to climb up a tower to see a great view of all of Granada.

Part of the Alhambra

View of Granada

Unfortunately, there was a 24 hour stomach bug going around and a few students, including me, were the first ones to get it on Sunday right during our tour of the Alhambra. The teachers were understanding and let us take it easy and went pretty slow through the tour but it definitely took a lot of my interest away from the Alhmabra becasue I really didn't feel well. As for the sickness, it lasted for our bus ride home to Sevilla and through Monday morning but I am back to normal now and glad that it didn't last too long. Overall, I really like Granada but I think Sevilla is still the perfect city to be in and I was glad to get home.