Córdoba

It was time to move on again, this time to Córdoba. The first thing we visited in Córdoba was the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. By this point, we were getting a bit tired of old palaces/fortresses with huge gardens, but I really loved the long pools in these gardens.

They had lemon trees with HUGE lemons growing on them.

I have NO idea what kind of plant this is.
I think it looks like a thistle. Except as tall as me.

The next day we visited something I had been wanting to see ever since taking World History class in high school and seeing pictures of it in my textbook: la Mezquita. This is a mosque that was later turned into a Catholic cathedral. It was so cool to see the juxtaposition of the Arabic architecture with that of a Catholic cathedral.

The mosque part

The cathedral part

Something else that was really cool was that a wedding was taking place in one of the side chapels and we got to see the bride make her entrance.

Here you can kind of see the bride & groom exiting after the ceremony.

Finally, that night a Feria was going on in Córdoba. I was expecting it to be like the one in Oviedo, with handmade crafts and traditional dance demonstrations, but I was severely disappointed. There was an area with rides for little kids and a food/drink tents area. We didn't have any little kids nor did we want to deal with drunk people, so after walking around for about 30 minutes, we decided to head back and look for supper elsewhere. The one thing that was really cool was that at least 50% of the women and girls where dressed up in the traditional Andalusian flamenco dresses.

La Alhambra

Once it was our time, we entered first Generalife. This was mainly gardens and a few buildings around the actual Alhambra fortress itself. Then at our appointed time we entered La Alhambra itself.

The crest of Ferdinand and Isabella

The UNI student & grad in front of UNI colored flowers.

Granada

It was time to move on from Sevilla and on to Granada. The main attraction in Granada is the Alhambra which was used as a palace and fortress. Tickets for the Alhambra and Generalife have specific times for entrance. Our tickets were for the afternoon, so in the morning we in the Albeicín, an area where gypsy caves are carved into the mountain, and to a gyspy cave museum. I really enjoyed the museum because we got to see how the gypsies lived and what the inside of their homes would look like.

La Alhambra in the distance

Living room & bedroom in a typical gypsy cave.

Day Trip to Jerez and Cádiz

The next day we took a day trip from Sevilla and our first stop was Jerez. Jerez is known for sherry, so we booked a tour of a bodega, which is where they make sherry. The bodega we toured makes sherry and brandy including Harvey's Bristol Cream which can be found in the United States. In addition to a tour, we were able to sample some of their sherries and brandies. It was a little awkward because we were the only ones on the tour, maybe because it was at 10 a.m., but other than that it was really cool.

Cádiz

After that we hopped on another train to Cádiz, a cute little town on the coast. We basically just ate lunch there and then walked around some before catching the train back to Sevilla.

Sevilla: Day 2

We began our second day in Sevilla by going to Casa de Pilatos, which is basically a mansion. It was really cool architecture though. I loved the ceilings. Every room had a different ceiling.

The courtyard

An ornate ceiling

That afternoon my parents tried churros con chocolate for the first time.

And that evening we attended a flamenco show in the Flamenco Dance Museum.