córdoba

so, as you prolly guessed from the title of this post, we decided to go to córdoba this weekend. more on that in a minute. since last post, danielle and i met with our "intercambio" (literally interchange). she is a sevillano from triana (the barrio, neighborhood, across the river from sevilla) named rocío who is going to the university of sevilla to become an english teacher. she is very nice, but it was a bit awkward meeting with a complete stranger and being expected to talk to her (in spanish) about life in general. but whatever. oh well. we also saw a few processions for san fernando around the city. such as this one (click on any picture to enlarge):

the next day (saturday) we spent the day shopping in sevilla, and then did dinner as tapas. this is where you get basically a little appetizer and a drink and it only costs about 2-4 euros. then you go to a different restaurant and order another tapa. it's really fun to get the house specialty, and a great way to try new foods. here is a picture of us at one of the restaurants. yes, that tiling is all over, and yes, it is gorgeous (l-r: tiara, katie, sam, me, danielle):


on this same dinner expedition we trekked across the river and saw the torre de oro lit up at night (la giralda is in the background):


then sunday we (danielle, katie, sam, and i) went to córdoba, which is just north and east of sevilla. we took the train, and it took us about an hour and a half to get there. right outside of the train station is this amazingly large stretch of roman ruins that we got to hike all over. this is a picture of my favorite part. you can still see (obviously) and use the archways and windows. crazy!


after this we found ourselves in a park, and there was a playground! yes, we did play on it. hey, i never said we were mature...

after this little detour, we went to see the old roman baths, which were super interesting. then we headed to the mezquita, or mosque. it is absolutely amazing. it is an islamic mosque, but there is a cathedral smack in the middle of it. crazy. i will let the pictures speak for themselves. gorgeous. this is right outside the walls into the orange tree courtyard that goes into the mosque:


and these are the arches. the first one is the double arches that are either painted to look like brick and mortar or actually are. they're all about optical illusions here, and it is a mix of both methods. the second is the more ornate arches:


this one is my favorite (one of the ceilings):


and if that weren't enough, this is the cathedral /inside/ the mosque:


another site on our day trip was the puente romano (roman bridge). that is the city in the background, and yes, the water really is that color. why? no idea...:



unfortunately, because we went on a sunday, everything else was closed. so we did not get a chance to see the palace or any of the museums. sad. but it was still a great day. hope your weekend was as great as mine :o)
-kl