The heat in Spain falls mainly on Sevilla...

I´m back from the quick weekend. Time passes so strangely in Spain. I feel like it was a long time ago that I left for Sevilla, yet I do not feel as though I did very much. It was a fun weekend overall. We arrived in Sevilla late Friday night and checked into our hostel. Our professors had told us how intense the heat would be, so it was the first thing on everyone´s mind when we arrived. Honestly, I didn´t think it was that bad at all. I think the average temp in the day was around 103 degrees, but it´s a dry heat, so I did not sweat much at all. Just drank a ton of water! We checked into our hostel and it was very warm. The rooms were not air conditioned, so we asked about it and had to pay 5€ a night for air... completely worth it! We slept very comfortable, if not cold. That first night we went out into the town surrounding our hostel (it was in the middle of the historic district, with buildings so close together our bus could not even drive down the streets.) and had tapas and a much needed cold drink. And the sleep was sweet in Sevilla!

Saturday morning we woke up, showered in the one shower on the hallway, shared between 13 people (sounds like I´m back at Tania´s!), and headed to a precious (overpriced) cafe for breakfast. The morning was actually very cool in Sevilla. Before the sun heated the streets it felt really nice. From the cafe, we walked the streets and arrived at the palace for our first tour. The palace was built by royalty when Sevilla was inhabited by Muslims in the early centuries. But like every structure in Spain, the Christians reconquered the ground and built their architecture on top of the Arab symbols. Did you know that in Islamic design they never use plants, animals, or human figures because they do not wish to "re-create God´s creation"? That is why their style is so marked by geometric patterns. Interesting, huh? The palace was beautiful. I felt like a princess just touring it. It even had a maze built out of cypress trees and hedges in the courtyard, that was very difficult to get out of. I had a lot of fun playing in the palace... and learned a lot too.
From there, we toured the cathedral in Sevilla. Again, this was a mosque that the Christians turned into a cathedral. (We can talk later about my thoughts on Christians "conquering" places.) We climbed to the top of the bell tower, which was the Muslim´s call to prayer tower, and could see the entire city. Gorgeous! and there was a breeze at the very top! I appreciate the beauty of the cathedrals we have visited; they are breath-taking. But I am not a fan of the "chapels" inside where people pay to be buried beneath tons and tons of gold and jeweled depictions of Christ on the cross. And the "chapels" are gated off. It just seems like a strange way to express adoration to such a humble Savior. But I need to read more about it.
The rest of the day in Sevilla was relaxing. After leaving the cathedral, the group decided they were very hungry, so we walked down a street hoping to find a quick place to grab lunch. Somehow, we ended up walking for about 45 minutes searching for a place with an open table and affordable menu. Eventually, we decided we would head back to the hostel to eat close to it. And right then, we stumbled into the open doors of an Irish Pub. The bartender, in his British accent, said to us, "Ya hungry?" and in unison we all screamed "YES!" because someone was speaking our language and reading our minds. I had a club sandwich... yum! The rest of the day was filled with siestas, shopping, and cold showers.
We left Sevilla this morning around 11am and headed to Cordoba to stop and see the ancient Mosque there. Oh. My. Gosh. Incredible! To get into the city, the bus had to drop us off at a 2000 year-old Roman bridge because it, obviously, was not made for automobiles to cross. That bridge was the first of many ancient artifacts I observed. I saw columns from the 5th century. I took several pictures and will upload them when I can borrow a laptop. It was totally worth the stop in Cordoba.
So I´m back at Teresa´s for my last week in Madrid. I am so sad about that! I hope to make the most of this week and do more in the streets, the city, the parks, and leave no stone unturned in Madrid. I am really thankful that I get to spend 9 days in France with Laura so soon! It will be a great vacation. Sorry that I can not upload pictures now, but I will have hours of pictures to show you when I get back.

What shall I bring you from Spain?



We all wore our Southern Miss shirts on Sunday to support our World Series Golden Eagles! We were cheering for them all day and will do the same again on Tuesday. Southern Miss... to the TOP!