Visitors in Andalucia

Hello Everyone!   It has been a while since I have been in touch. So much has happened! As I mentioned las post, this past week was my spring break and I can tell you now I could not have asked for a better trip.

(I have no idea why the following paragraph is underlined, and I can't seem to make it go away...oh well)

On Saturday (April 4th) Jordyn arrived in Cordoba!  She had been in Granada visiting her cousin Kendra. Kendra and Kendra's roommate from UCLA, Drew, both came with Jordyn to Cordoba and then after two nights there we all traveled together to Sevilla. It was a great weekend with really good company. And it was so exciting to be able to show off Cordoba! 

I met Jordyn, Kendra, and Drew at the bus station midday on Saturday and then walked with them over to their hostel to check in. Afterwards, Jordyn and I went back to my apartment for lunch with Pilar! Pilar had made Tortilla Espanola and Salmorejo so that Jordyn could have a traditional Cordobese meal. After lunch, Jordyn and I reunited with Kendra and Drew to walk around the city and see the sites. We went into the Mezquita, walked around the Juderia, and got some ice cream. At the ice cream stand we went to, there were three size options: one scoop, one large scoop, and two scoops. I thought that one large scoop sounded like a happy medium. What I had not anticipated was that the "bola grande" came in a larger than normal cone. Let me also add that the normal size spanish cones are already bigger than the American sugar cones we are accustomed to. My "bola grande" sure was grande. 

After ice cream, the four of us walked around some more, this time over the Puente Romano to see a lovely view of the city and walked down to the Roman Ruins that I had explored with Tara the day before. Tara was one of the other few PRESHCO students still in Cordoba at this point, and after our ruins exploration, the four of us went over to Tara's apartment for some dinner. Tara is not with a host family, but rather lives in an apartment with a couple of other PRESHCO girls and several Spanish students. All of her roommates were gone for the vacation, so we had free run of the living room and kitchen. It was great to get a chance to cook for ourselves and the food was delicious! Stephie, an international student from Austria who is also studying at the University of Cordoba, also came over and our dinner turned into quite the multilingual and multicultural event. We had several Spanish speakers, Three German speakers, and all spoke English. We could also throw in some French and Italian (thanks to Jordyn and Stephie). Conversation and great company kept the dinner event going until it was time to turn in for the night. It was a great evening. 

The next day, as everyday of our journey, was up bright and early for a full day ahead of us. First we stopped off at the train and bus station to arrange our methods of transport for the coming days. Then we got some breakfast at the bakery on the corner by my apartment and ran into Pilar there (a funny coincidence). After breakfast, it was time for the Zoo! We were practically the only people at the zoo when we arrived (it was pretty early on a Sunday morning by Spanish standards), so it was just us and the animals.  After the zoo, we headed across the street for a bit to the Botanical Gardens and then I headed home for lunch, a skype date with my parents, and to pack. Then we met up again for more exploring of the city. With a request for a coffee break, we took a pit stop at one of my favorite places in Cordoba, Salon de Te. It is a lovely little arab tea shop in a traditional Andalusian patio. After the tea shop we walked through the rest of the city to find the pasos. 

Pasos are catholic parades that go on all during Semana Santa (Holy Week) all over Spain, though certain cities are known more for this celebration. Cordoba is one such city that is very dedicated to the Semana Santa celebrations. The pasos begin with crowd of hooded people walking with candles and crosses. The costumes worn in the processions looks very similar (well pretty much exactly the same actually) as the outfits of the KKK. This is an unfortunate association that we have as Americans, but it is important to keep in mind while watching the pasos, that the KKK got the costume from the procession, not the other way around. Followed by the hooded men, comes the float. Float is really not the right word to use, but I can think of no other word that may be appropriate. These "floats" are adorned with religious images, statues, candles, and other elaborate decorations. They way up to 5 tons and are carried on the shoulders of many men, who walk hidden underneath them.  Because of this extreme weight, the processions proceed rather slowly. Following the float comes a brass band playing what sounds mostly like a funeral dirge. It is a somber sight to see, but also incredible. I was very glad we got a chance to catch some pasos before leaving the area. Though our paso viewing in Cordoba was not from the best viewpoint. We got a much closer look the next day in Sevilla. 

Monday we were up once again bright and early and off on the train to Sevilla. The city is beautiful! I loved it and we of course had lovely weather. We walked around down by the Cathedral, which I believe is the biggest Cathedral by volume in Europe (If not in the world). We walked through gardens and then headed back towards the hostel to check in and get stuff ready for lunch and the rest of the day. For lunch we sat by the paso route and were able to see very up close the paso procession. 

After watching the paso, we headed down towards the river where we rented paddle boats! It was so nice to get out on the water and a fun way to get another view of the city. We even got to watch some pasos going over the bridge.

After the paddle boats we went further down the river and to a park where we rented another fun form of transport, a surrey! It was a really nice park and a hilarious way to make our way around it. 

After the surreys we decided to head back to the hostel to clean up a bit before dinner. Little did we know how difficult that would be. Instead we found ourselves literally spending hours trying to work our way around the pasos which now filled the city in order to make our way back. It was impossible. We ended up literally across the square from our hostel, but simply could not cross. We had to throw in the towel and get some dinner while we waited for the paso to pass by and leave an opening before the next one came through (they continued until 3am!). At this point, we were no longer particularly big fans of the pasos. But we did finally find our way back and while Kendra and Drew headed out to find some Flamenco, Jordyn and I stayed in. We had to get up at 5 the next day to go off to the airport and fly to Italy!

I will try to get an update on Italy up soon, but for now have to head off to class. Hope all is well with everyone!

Adios