Sevilla and Cordoba: I Might Just Move There

This weekend, I traveled with my program to Seville and Cordoba, which are in the South of Spain. I have already seen so many fantastic places and traveled a lot, but Seville may just be my favorite yet (if I had to choose). To me, Seville did just say "Spain," it showed it with character and charm. Narrow cobble stone streets housed flamenco dress shops, little cafes, tapa bars, with peach and white colored buildings and orange trees absolutely everwhere. Also, there is something to be said for Southern hospitality, even in Spain, and the city's people were just as charming as its streets.

Because I went on the trip with my program, it was nice to be able to show up and have everything all planned out for me. I was able to take interesting tours and learn much about the city and Spain's interesting religious history and situation. Spain's history has been characterized by tension, conquests, and persecutions between Christians, Jews, and Muslims, with the Spanish Inquisition as the most obvious example. Many of the churches were build right on top of mosques. We saw some unbelievable churches, one of which included the tomb of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. My favorite part was probably when we climbed up to the bell tower of the Cathedral. We had a view of the whole city.

On Saturday we took a bus trip to Cordoba, which is two hours out from Seville. Besides the sweet Moroccan mirror and tapestry I bought, the highlight of the trip was seeing the Cathedral/Mosque there. It was so crazy/awesome! It was literally a church AND a mosque. I had studied it in my Art History class at TU, so it was really neat to see my text book pages come to life.

Saturday night, it was back to Seville, where we went out for a flamenco show. The dance and music was full of emotion, and flamenco tells a story of love, betrayal, passion. Check out video on my Picassa. Just follow the photos link.

We topped the trip off on Sunday with a visit to the royal palace, Reales Alcazares. All I have to say is I want to be a Spanish princess so I can live there! There was an interesting mix of Muslim architecture, although it is a palace for the Catholic kings, who still use the palace today if ever they are in Seville. The day ended in Placa Espana, which was beyond beautiful of course. Interesting fact: Seville and Kansas City are sister cities, and the Kansas City Plaza is modeled after Seville. I was certainly proud to be a Kansan, but I must say, I would choose Sevilla over KC!