Córdoba

On Friday night my friends and I decided to go to a bar called La Carbonería to see some live flamenco in a fun environment.  Before going we all went to a restaurant near our school to get tapas for dinner.  The tapas I had were delicious:  tortilla de patata (made of egg and potatoes - a dish typical of Sevilla and one I eat in my homestay as well) and spinach croquetas (hard to explain, but kind of like spinach and cheese in a ball with a fried breading on the outside).  We were very excited to go to the Carbonería and the place was crowded with local Sevillanos.  The flamenco show was traditional with a dancer, singer, and guitar player, but was a very different type of dance than I had seen during orientation...remember that flamenco is not just the dance, but either of the 3 parts by themselves, in a pair, or all together.  Since the environment here is more casual, some of the flamenco is improve and less strictly bound by traditional flamenco.  I had a blast here!

Natalie, Andrea, Dominique

Alison, Courtney, and I 

On Saturday I got up bright and early to go on a day trip with our program to Córdoba, a city in Andalusia about an hour and a half northeast of Sevilla.  When we stepped off the bus I was instantly impressed by the Puente Romano bridge crossing over the Guadalquivir River.  The river is just as important to this city as it is to Sevilla - in the past it has been essential for transportation, trade, and as a water supply.  After crossing the bridge we began our tour of the city.  The first stop was the Jewish barrio to see one of the only remaining synagogues.  The importance of this synagogue is the fact that it remained with the original architecture and decoration throughout the Christian rule (where no religion besides Christianity was tolerated).  We then passed through some narrow streets to the Zoco - a market where lots of leather and silver pieces are sold, which are both typical products of the city.  Our guide explained that Córdoba also is known for its beautiful patios.  In fact, there is a festival where everyone opens up their doors so neighbors and community members can walk in and see their patio and then vote on who has the best patio in the city.  People here still take a lot of pride in grooming beautiful patios and decorating them with geraniums and fountains.  Next was the Alcázar of Córdoba.  Like in Sevilla, this is the royal palace where the king and queen would stay...although we were all biased and think that the Alcázar of Sevilla is better, this was definitely very beautiful and had large gardens with towers that you could climb up to get a better view of the area.  The palace was built over the same land that was once a Roman building because they had one part of the floor opened up so you could see the Roman pillars beneath (the palace was constructed about 30 feet above the floor of the building before it).  Then, lunch time!  My friends and I went to sit outside at a restaurant and ordered a delicious four cheese pizza.  We soaked up the sun and relaxed before meeting with our group to tour the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba.

You really can't go anywhere in Spain without seeing the Muslim - Christian mix of influences and construction.  The site was originally a Visigoth Christian Church turned mosque turned cathedral.  It was a little surreal when I first walked in because there are a copious amount of distinct arches that I vaguely remember learning about either in a Spanish class or an art/humanities class.  The building had also been expanded several times and there were vary obvious changes that signified the end of one era and the beginning of another.