Sevilla y Lisboa

Sorrrrrry I haven't written anything in here. But in a way that is good news, as it means I've been busy doing way more fun stuff than writing in my blog.

So two weekends ago, CIEE (my program) took a trip to Cordoba and Sevilla, cities in SW Spain in the province of Andalucia. Naturally they are totally blended together in my mind now, as we went directly from Cordoba to Sevilla. But I will tell you all of what I remember.

Cordoba basically is not that big a place. The river there was as nasty as any I have ever seen (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003). We saw a mosque which had been converted into a cathedral (I'm pretty confident this is commonly referred to as "La Mezquita"). It was cool, but they didn't let us use flashes on our cameras... and thus all of my pictures are blurry! But at least I have something to remember it by. It was an impressive building for sure, but overall Cordoba didn't make much of an impression on me.

Sevilla was much more interesting (possibly because we spent 3 times more time there). There's a cathedral there which is massive (the 3rd largest in the world), with a tower on it called La Giralda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giralda). I took a crapload of pictures from up there (starting here:http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632915&id=1107720003&fbid=1257667117615 just keep clicking for more). So that right away was a very impressive part of Sevilla. Then that night we went out to a Flamenco bar (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632920&id=1107720003&fbid=1257667397622) which was pretty sick. At first they were just singing and playing guitar, which was alright, but then this chick got up and started dancing... but not just dancing. FLAMENCO dancing. I cannot do it justice, but look it up on youtube or something... definitely worth watching. Crazy tapping and all kinds of weird movements to an already weird beat... very entertaining.

So anyways, the next day we walked around the city some more, saw some more monuments and a flea market and all that. Then that night we went out to the waterfront (The Rio Guadalquivir, the same nasty river from Cordoba except it wasn't quite as nasty down in Sevilla). I took a few pics (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632928&id=1107720003&fbid=1257667717630), overall it was a very impressive city by night. We hit a bar for tapas, which I must say were not up to par with tapas from Madrid but that's my bias. So then the next day (sunday) we checked out this plaza:http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632933&id=1107720003&fbid=1257667957636 and then we headed back to Alcala de Henares!


Segwaying into this weekend...

So this past weekend a group of 5 of us headed to Lisbon, Portugal. This was by far my favorite city that I have been to. Starting here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632938&id=1107720003&fbid=1257668157641 you can see all my pictures from Lisbon, which probably are worth more than anything I could write. But nevertheless, write I will.

So we get in on Friday and we check out the waterfront. BEAUTIFUL. Then we head to the trolley stop, take a trolley like 30 minutes south along the coast and we check out that part of the waterfront, compete with the Monument to the Discoveries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%A3o_dos_Descobrimentos for info and http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30633025&id=1107720003&fbid=1257683758031 for my snapshots). 52 meters up. That thing was ginormous, and we climbed all the way to the top for the view. It was insane.

I think later that same day we went to this sacred pastry shop or something, it's like an ancient tradition of a special order of monks, and they guard their recipe for their Pasteis de Belem, which is basically a handheld form of Creme Broulet (or however you spell it). Only 3 people in the world know the recipe. I tasted both the legit version and the ripoff version at another shop... sadly the ripoff was better, but still, I am glad to have tried the original as well. Anyways this is the pastry shop: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632986&id=1107720003&fbid=1257682197992

The next day we scooted around the trolley system of Lisbon. It took us many attempts at boarding the correct trolley (we knew which one we had to take but it kept arriving at our stop completely full, so we took one in the opposite direction until the very last stop on the system, then took one from there back past our original stop and towards our destination), but eventually we found our way to this one flea market, which unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of. But I did buy a sweet Portoguese bracelet, woohoo. After this flea market we were all starving so we headed back to the hostel and made ourselves some spaghetti (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632999&id=1107720003&fbid=1257682718005). in total, 1 euro for each of us. Booyah. (yes I still say booyah.)

That night was Karoake night in the hostel. It was awesome. I took part in Poker Face (Lady Gaga) and Love is a Losing Game (Amy Winehouse). Hostels can be ridiculously fun if they are run the right way... which this one was for sure.

So the next morning was our last in Lisbon. We headed to this thing http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30632731&id=1107720003#!/photo.php?pid=30632990&id=1107720003&fbid=1257682357996 early, before our flight, because I had wanted to see it before we left. So I whined and complained until everyone agreed to get up with me. Anyways it's called the Santa Justa Historical Elevator, totally sick. I got some final pictures (because clearly I hadn't taken enough to that point) and then we headed back to Alcala!


I hope this update has been sufficient, especially given my abscence these past few weeks... listen to me. As if I owe you all anything. Ha!

Well anyways, I'm sure I will be getting back on here soon enough... hopefully with tales of glory from my upcoming trip to Valencia for Las Fallas. Until then... peace out, suckas!