Andalucía Day 7 – Sevilla & Córdoba

Our last day in Sevilla consisted of visiting the Real Alcázar, a royal palace. This place is renowned as being one of the most beautiful places in Spain. To be honest, when I went inside, I had severe cathedral/castle fatigue, so it didn’t look as impressive as the La Alhambra. But, after wandering around this UNESCO World Heritage site, it was indeed beautiful. It was also really cool to go here because while we were in Sevilla, Game of Thrones Season 5 had filmed at the Real Alcázar.

Courtyard of the Maidens

Hall of Ambassadors

Unfortunately, after lasting the entire trip, my camera battery ran out. All lackluster photos you see throughout my blog are probably from my phone. 

The gardens on location were on point. I actually enjoyed the greenery more than the architecture. Sadly, I don’t have many pictures of the gardens, but I guess you’ll just have to go see for yourself.

Water organ inside the gardens that plays on the o’clock. I didn’t get to hear it, but it’s one of the oldest water organs in existence that still works.

After saying goodbye to Sevilla, we drove a couple of hours north to the city of Córdoba for the last leg of our trip. It has been estimated that in the 10th century under Islam rule, Córdoba was the most populous city in the world and the center of Islam education also.

Córdoba (Roman bridge)

Frankly, we were all exhausted when we got to Córdoba, not to mention it was getting dark, so we didn’t really pay attention to where we were going. Highlights included Calleja de las Flores, Calahorra Tower, Roman Temple of Córdoba, and the Plaza de Potro (where the building Posada del Potro is and was mentioned in the book Don Quixote).

I couldn’t decide which was better

I couldn’t decide which was better.

Calleja de las Flores

Calahorra Tower

Roman Temple of Córdoba

Kitty!

Residents of the temple

Our teachers took us to a plaza that served as the city square and told us that on the o’clock people would come out and sing in the bell tower, but they didn’t show.

Kylia & I

Me, Indira, Carmella

Me & Indira with Carmella creepin’

Yadira & I

Afterwards, we were told to eat dinner and find our way back to the hotel by ourselves (of course). I opted for food to-go and went back early to the room to rest up and pack.

Andalucía Day 6 – Sevilla

Sevilla has definitely become my favorite Andalucían city. It has just the right amount of old to keep me interested in the culture and history, as well as new, so I can get my Starbucks fix or visit restaurants reminiscent of America. Because it was the Sabbath, we didn’t have any particular plans except to have a small worship at the Parque de Maria Luisa.

At the park before we went to worship, we gathered around a statue of man and three women. Anna briefly explained that this statue was to remember the romantic poet Gustavo Adolfo Becquer and the three women represented “hopeful love,” “love possessed” and “lost love”, representing the rhyme “love happens”, composed by himself. There are also two bronze figures representing “broken love” (reclining figure), and the other is a young cupid or putto as “love hurts”.

After this, Anna then proceeds to call out all the couples in our group and had the guys read romantic poems to their girlfriends. Sigh, one day.

After this, we moved locations and had a Sabbath school activity where we had to go out and find something in nature and correlate it to the Bible, then have a group representative explain it (in Spanish of course). Afterwards, our resident pastor who was studying with us for a couple of weeks, gave us a sermon. After worship, we all headed over to the Plaza de España to take a group picture.

Nestled within the Parque de Maria Luisa, the Plaza de España is hard to miss. With it’s looming buildings, massive center fountain, as well as a small canal that goes throughout the plaza (you can even rent boats!), it is well worth the look.

There was a place where all the provinces of Spain had a special mural and of course we all crowded towards Valencia to represent our hometown.

Sagunto and feet.

I saw a cute couple rowing in the canal with the woman rowing hahahaha.

My friend Kylia and I.

I found Sagunto!

My roommate and I.

My friend Jene and I.

Afterwards, we were given some free time, and my friends and I continued to explore the park and had a little picnic under a pavilion with the food we bought from the market the day before.

After our picnic lunch, we made our way back to the hotel to take a much needed siesta. After the sun went down, we went to back out to the city of Sevilla to have a girl’s night out. We had a nice dinner and grabbed gelato afterwards. Unfortunately, we stayed out too late (it wasn’t even that late maybe midnight-ish) and the buses stopped running so we ended up walking for about 45 minutes to get back to our hotel.

My girls 🙂

Night time in Sevilla

Chicken and fries.

Amaretto gelato. A bit pricey, but they used organic ingredients and it was authentic Italian.

Andalucía Day 5 – Sevilla

After our adventures in Morocco, we made our way to the city of Sevilla. After a two hour drive, the bus dropped us off a little ways from the city center. Sevilla reminded me of a more European Valencia (if that makes sense), and I fell in love with it instantly. After a short walk, we reached the Catedral de Sevilla. From afar, you could see it in all it’s gothic glory. Pictures don’t do it justice. Ana explained that while inside, we would not go around together, but we should still try to spend at least an hour inside as well as to climb the adjacent bell tower. 

Catedral de Sevilla

The Sevilla Cathedral is the 3rd largest church in the world, the first being St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and the second being the basilica located in Aparecida, Brazil. This cathedral is famous for it’s gothic architecture, as well as supposedly holding the body of Christopher Columbus (We can’t be sure on this because different places such as Cuba claim that they also have his body). Another thing to note inside the cathedral was the massive gold altarpiece created by Pierre Dancart, which is considered one of the finest altarpieces in the world.

Altarpiece inside the cathedral.

Details

Details

Tomb of Christopher Columbus.

I also climbed the bell tower, but the view at the top wasn’t as impressive as the one in Valencia. The only thing special at the top was the tower had large bells and the way up was significantly easier because it was a series of ramps rather than stairs.

Lackluster view of the city.

Bells at the top.

After exploring the cathedral, my friend and I grabbed lunch at an adorable restaurant just outside the cathedral and had gelato.

After our free time, our teachers surprised us by renting out 15 horse-drawn carriages which then proceeded to take us around the city of Sevilla and through the Parque de Maria Luisa. I got to ride on the top of the carriage with the driver, and that made it extra special and a bit more fun, in my opinion. One thing that was a bit scary was the fact that we shared the road with all the other cars and buses, but the horses and other modes of transportation didn’t seem to mind.

All for us.

Going through the park.

Carriage selfie.

Sharing the road

Afterwards we were given some more free time, and I indulged in a Starbucks (they actually spelled my name right, which never happens in America) and people watching until it was time for us to leave to our hotel. 

Lindsay. Not Linzy, Linsey, or Lindsey.