Hola,
Boy did I have a full weekend. Here's the short version. Woke up about 6:30 am to make to the bus by 7:45. We arrived in Sevilla around 11:30 and walked to los Reales Alcázares, which are the royal places and gardens in Sevilla. The gardens and grounds a los Reales Alcázares are open to the public except when the royal family is in town. Whenever the royal family is in town they shut down the place and house them in the fancy rooms at the palace, which are always shut off to the public. This luxury is available to any member of the royal family or a friend of the royal family, i.e. a diplomat or even an American president. The gardens and grounds were beautiful. It was really interesting to see the mix of art and architecture on the grounds because it was not just catholic art. Although the royalty that built and designed this palace, as well as the royalty still in power, were catholic, there are heavy influences of Islamic art (there are many horseshoe arches), as well as, some Jewish art (there are crosses of David sprinkles throughout the palace). You would think those who lead the Reconquista to rid the Iberian peninsula of the Muslims, and Jews for that matter, would not want any trace of Islam or Judaism in their lives, but that is not so. After the los Reales Alcázares, we went to el Barrio de Santa Cruz, which is where the Catedral de Santa Cruz is housed. Many fun facts about this cathedral. One, it is the third largest cathedral in the world. Two, the tower attached to the cathedral is actually a Islamic tower which previously was attached to the Mosque that later was torn down and made into the cathedral. Three, Sevilla and Kansas City are sister cities. Finally, four, there is a replica Santa Cruz tower on the Plaza in Kansas City. After our tour of the cathedral we had some free time. My friends and I decided to go to the world fair that was in town for dinner. At the fair there were tents from a bunch of different countries with the traditional food from each. We decided to go to the Argentina tent and bought delicious sausages. Then we hit up the France tent and got chocolate crepes. It was all delicious. After that we went to a Flamenco show, which was amazing, and then hit the town for awhile.
On Saturday, we left the hotel around 11 and headed to Ronda. In Ronda we toured the Plaza de toros and Ronda's bullring. We got to see where they keep the bull before the fight and what they do to the bull to rile him up. In the back of the stadium there are tunnels that lead the bull towards the ring with doors that close behind the bull ever so often so he can't retreat. While this is going on, there are guys above taunted and poking the bull with poles, trying to get the bull mad. The idea is, once the bull is finally released, he is so flustered at this point that he will just shoot into the ring at full speed. Pretty cool to see up close. After the tour of the bullring, we went on a tour of the city, which is tucked up on a mountain overlooking a beautiful valley, and saw the remnants of the cities Arab baths. The concept of the Arab baths is really interesting. Back in the day, when people did not have private baths, they would travel to their cities bathhouses and spend hours, at least 5 hours, steaming, scrubbing, bathing, etc. This outing was seen, not only as a needed cleansing of the body, but also a social gathering. Men would finish business deals, women would gossip and try to find suitors for their daughters. It was quite an event. Furthermore, bathhouses were often by mosques and the revenue from the bathhouses were typically used to fund the mosques. Very interesting. After the town tour, we hopped back on the buses and headed back for Granada. We I got home I went out for dinner and hung out with some Spaniards before retiring home for the evening.
On Sunday, I slept late and did homework most of the day. At lunch I had my first pomegranate. Pomegranate are the fruit of Granada and here are simply called Granadas. It was delicious. In the evening, I headed out to explore the festival of the Virgin that was taking place in Granada. All weekend there have been food tents, vendors, rides, music, etc. all over the city. And yesterday evening there was a big parade. It was a huge procession of priests and church people (I'm not entirely sure who they were) carrying a huge, golden statue of the Virgin and holding candles and crosses. People piled into every tiny corner of the city. There were so many people. My Senora told us that many people from the villages travel to Granada for this weekend. She was not exaggerating because there were more people in the city than I have ever seen. Also, they have this pastry that is traditional to this festival. It basically looks like a huge pizza but is just a huge pastry with cinnamon filling in the middle and sugar on the top. It was delicious. We were told there are other kinds, possible chocolate, but I didn't see any. After the procession, I grabbed a delicious schwarma and stopped by the English bar that has football (norteamericano) before heading home.
Hasta luego!
Ashley
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