Amigas, Sevilla, Friends for Life

(For those of you who didn't understand the Cheetah Girls two reference in the title I am very disappointed in you).

This week I'm here to tell you all about my weekend in Sevilla and Granada. This trip was organized by IES Abroad so my entire program travelled together by bus to the south of Spain for three days. Honestly there was a lot more driving than would've been desired but all in all it was definitely worth it.

Friday we left bright and early so that we could make it to Sevilla by the afternoon. Once we arrived we went on a tour of the cathedral. It was so pretty and ornate, honestly I still can't believe that people like actually took the time to design the architecure so intricately. While in the Catedral we got to see a tomb that holds Christopher Columbus's remains. That was pretty cool, until I found out that it was only 500 grams of his remains, essentially the size of a Big Mac. The fact that there was an entire intracate display set up just to hold the Big Mac sized Christopher Columbus is a little baffling to me, but still cool nonetheless.

After the cathedral we went to the Plaza de Espana. This might've been one of the coolest buildings I've seen so far. My friends and I participated in all the touristy things (even those little bikes you rent to ride around the park....lol we're losers I know). Probably the coolest part about Sevilla was knowing that they filmed parts of Game of Thrones there (I'm currently on the second season and have become addicted). All in all Sevilla felt very similar to like the West Coast of the U.S. (not that I've been there but still). It was much more open and spread out than Salamanca and Madrid and had more colors, palm trees, and a lot of influence from Arabic culture. It felt very warm and beachy.

The next day we headed to Granada where we spent most of our time at La Alahmbra. This is an area that was created during the time when the Arabic people had control over the south of Spain. It was a fortress/palace and is incredibly beautiful. The design and intricacy was amazing to behold. I can't even imagine how long it took for someone that make it or how focused they've have to be to achieve such perfect symmetry. The gardens were also super amazing and had so much life and colors. (I kind of want to live there honestly). The rest of the day was spent exploring the city (seeing another cathedral) and then attending a flamenco show at night. (To be honest flemenco is cool and all but I can't force myself to watch it for two hours straight, it was a cultural experience nonetheless).

The next day we headed back to Salamanca but made sure to stop along the way in order to see the windmills that were made famous by Don Quixote. Once again the view was spectacular, you could see for miles and miles.

Today I am very tired and in much need of a full night sleep but getting to visit southern Spain was definitely worth the exhaustion that I have now. I feel like I now have a better understanding of how Spain's culture, geography, and influence is different all over the country.

Much love from Spain,

Julie