Been a couple weeks since I last posted but I have been very busy!
Since March 1st I have been to Cordoba and the Mezquita, Alcazar in Sevilla, Barrio Santa Cruz, La Caridad Hospital, Italica and this last weekend I went Madrid!
Cordoba was a very cool visit but was tainted by perpetual pouring rain while we were there. Our main visit there was the Mezquita of Cordoba which is the largest Muslim Mosque in all of Spain. It was a very cool visit.
Alcazar was next up in our monument class. It is a tremendous palace that seems endless. It has a huge garden as well but unfortunately we were unable to tour it as it was raining. I intend to visit again as the gardens are very much a highlight.
Barrio Santa Cruz and La Caridad Hospital were next in our monuments class. Barrio Santa Cruz was the old Jewish part of the city and do to this the architectural style is very different than much of the rest of the city. It has very narrow roads with white buildings which makes for a beautiful sight. Unfortuneately it was raining so we had to move through the tour rapidly. You may be beginning to notice a common theme. It rained almost everyday for about 2.5 weeks. Luckily the weather seems to have improved. La Caridad was later that week. It is a building in very baroque style which is why we were studying it. Currently it is an active charity hospital which was cool to see in action.
Finally this last weekend we went on a program trip to Italica which is a Roman city just outside of Sevilla. It has the third largest roman ampitheter and also has a small neighborhood where the Roman elites lived. There ruins are in surprisingly good condition and it was awesome to see things that were built around 2000 years ago.
That Friday night a few friends and I made our way to Madrid. Saturday morning we first tried to go to Museo el Prado and yet again it was raining. We saw a line and waited in it but it turned out to be a line for people with tickets already. So unfortuneately we were unable to see the Prado. We then made our way to the Reina Sofia which is the modern art museum. We thankfully were able to make it into that museum. Later we toured around the city a little bit. We saw some of the major plazas and parks. That night was Saint Patrick’s day so we made our way to an Irish Pub and had a great time. The next day we got brunch and headed back to Sevilla.
This next week is Semana Santa or Holy Week. I have off from school and my parents are coming! I’m very excited to show them around Sevilla. We’re visiting a couple towns a near by a little later. Very exciting stuff!
Pictures:
-Aaron Tesch