The saying "time flies when you're having fun" is real and I'm experiencing it first hand. Oh, and it sucks. In 15 days I will be back on US soil and I'm not going to lie, that's kind of bittersweet. Don't get me wrong, I miss all my friends and family (and Starbucks), but I've fallen in love with Spain so much. I never want to leave, so I've decided you're all coming to live with me now. Pack your bags.
This past week we didn't have any excursions so I spent my time at school, relaxing, shopping, and eating plenty of tapas. However, on Saturday we got up bright and early for a day trip to Seville.
I absolutely LOVED Seville, despite it being 105 degrees and humid. I wish we had been able to stay overnight to see more of the city, but we would've missed our trip the next day to Córdoba. After a healthy breakfast of Doritos and a chocolate pastry, we arrived in Seville and walked to our first tour site, the cathedral. Fun facts: it's the 3rd largest catholic cathedral in the world and part of Christoper Columbus is buried there. Personally, I liked the Granada cathedral better, but this one was also very beautiful. At the end of the tour, we were given the option to climb the bell tower and get a breathtaking view of the entire city. It was breathtaking mentally and physically. We ended up climbing 34 flights, but the view was completely worth it.
After our workout, we sat down in the courtyard of the cathedral and like the true adults that we are, we pulled out the bagged lunches out moms made us. To make it better? We had juice boxes, fruit, and little sandwiches. People stared a bit but I just like to think they were jealous.
An hour later, we met up with the group to tour the Royal Palace of Seville. It wasn't nearly as large as the one in Madrid, but it was beautiful! I also geeked out a bit cause it's where Game Of Thrones has been filmed.
We ended our tour, what felt like 40 miles of walking later, at the Plaza de España. It was probably one of my favorite places we've seen so far. It's HUGE and so beautiful. Not to mention, Star Wars was filmed there once (see: nerd). It was a great way to end our trip.
The next morning, we left for Córdoba once again, bright and early. Halfway there we stopped at an olive oil shop/restaurant/rest stop. We were given a ton of bread, tomatoes, olive oil, and ham to taste. I think America needs to adopt the "only carbs for breakfast" mentality.
After breakfast (which we later found out wasn't breakfast, but an olive oil tasting), we walked through the narrow streets of Córdoba. Córdoba was beautiful, but it wasn't nearly as large as Seville, therefore not as much to do and look at. The white buildings were decorated with blue pots holding colorful flowers, and I think that was my favorite part of the city. We were given 2 hours of free time before heading to the Mosque-Cathedral. Once again, the cathedral was STUNNING, but once you've seen one cathedral, you've pretty much seen them all. Not to mention, our tour guide talked a lot. Like, a lot. I don't think we saw as much as we could've because she would keep us in one spot for 30 minutes at a time. Once we left the Mosque, we were given 5 minutes to "quicklimente" get ice cream (quicklimente isn't a word, but our guide kept saying it). Instead, a few of us ran down to the river to take some pictures because we didn't want to miss out on seeing it. Unfortunately for us, we ended up walking down there with our group later, and we missed out on ice cream.
To add on to the fact that we were tired, done with learning, and hot, we sat in the back of the bus thinking we'd have more room to stretch out and sleep. However, whenever we went up a hill, the back of the bus overheated and sent HOT air onto our feet for a solid minute. Needless to say, we were more than happy to get home that night.
On Monday night, we toured the Alhambra and it was beautiful! It's the highest point in Granada, so obviously the views from the top were incredible. The architecture was insane and the gardens were a dream. It was a ton of walking, though. I'm talking 3 miles solely at the Alhambra. Yesterday I walked a total of 11.5 miles, so yeah, my feet are done for.
Today, I got a tattoo. I got a small pomegranate on my right ankle, and I love it so so much. For those of you who don't know, pomegranate is Granada in Spanish, and is the official symbol of Granada. I love that I'll have Granada with me forever.
(Photo 4 is a look inside my school! It's definitely a lot prettier than some of the buildings at ECU)
