Field Trip: Explorations in the South with Spanish418

This past weekend for my Spanish Culture and Civilization class we took a class trip to southern Spain to see the sights of Granada and Cordoba.  So, at 8:30am on Friday morning I hopped on a fancy bus with big leather seats with my professor and 20 other classmates and embarked on the 5 hour journey to our first stop in Granada.

We arrived in Granada at around 2:00pm and put our bags in our 4-star hotel (they charged us an arm and a leg for this trip so I guess that's where all our money went).  Right away, we all met in the lobby and went on a guided Spanish tour through some of the older parts of town and through the chapel and cathedral, both of which were very pretty.

Outside the Cathedral of Granada

Inside

After the tour, we went and explored the hippie-Moroccan-gypsy part of the city which was super cool and we saw a few hippie vans fully equipped with beds and dressers.  We got some dinner at a little restaurant we found which had delicious eastern European food and a fun atmosphere.  We hung out for awhile and walked around town then decided we should head back as we had a long day ahead of us.

Saturday morning, we woke up to our first breakfast buffet we've had the luxury to have in Spain thus far.  After being used to eating a piece of toast and cup of coffee EVERY morning, the array of eggs, bacon, fruit, and everything else you can imagine was a real treat.  Of course, being on the Spanish schedule, we left a little later than planned but finally we began our tour of the much anticipated Alhambra, the most visited site in Spain.  The Alhambra is a huge palace and fortress that was built under the Islamic rule and then taken over by the Catholics as the last Spanish city to be conquered by them in 1492.  It has beautiful and intricate Islamic architecture and is set in a heavily wooded area with pathways and gardens surrounding it.  It was the perfect day to enjoy such an amazing piece of Spanish history, with no clouds in the sky and temperatures in the 70's, although I did manage to get a decent sunburn unfortunately.

Some of the class in front of the Alhambra in the distance

Professor learning about Castanets

Kenzie and I outside of the Alhambra

View of the City

The Alhambra reflection pool

Right after this visit, we were all shuffled onto the bus again and headed out to the next stop on our trip, Cordoba, about 2 hours away.  Upon arriving there, we had the whole night free so we decided to grab some dinner and walk around.  While we were eating, a girl in our class informed us that she found a Flamenco show down the street from our hotel that she goes to with her father every year.  She said the man who runs the place remembered her and offered us all half-price tickets to the show.  Not having experienced this part of Spanish culture yet, I, along with many other classmates, jumped at the opportunity.  At 10:30pm we all went to the show which included a glass of wine and we learned that the performers were actually award winning dancers and so we were really lucky to even be able to see them at all.  Needless to say, the show was amazing, with the guitars and singers and the intricate dresses and dance moves.  This was a great way to experience the traditions of Spain and I am so glad I got to see such an amazing performance.  Two hours later, though, I was ready for bed and a little bummed that it had finally reached the date of Spanish daylight saving's time and we would be losing an hour of sleep.

Welcome to Cordoba

Flamenco Show

Favorite act of the night

Ole!

After missing our alarm, Kenzie and I did manage to run downstairs and make it in time to eat some of the amazing breakfast before heading out for the day.  We met up with our tour guide outside of the hotel and went across the street to the main site of Cordoba, the Mezquita.  The Mezquita was originally built as a Muslim mosque in the 8th century and then when the Catholics conquered the Muslims in the Reconquista in the 15th century, they captured it and turned it into a cathedral.  Inside the Mezquita is the most amazing combination of Moorish-Muslim style which transitions into plateresco Renaissance grandeur of the Catholics.  It is almost like walking through completely different buildings and feels a little bit like a time warp with such stark contrast in styles and yet both are beautiful in their own way.

Bell tower of the Mezquita

Muslim influence

Little bit of Muslim/Catholic mix

Transitioning styles

Catholic chapel inside the Mezquita

Goodbye Cordoba!

After this tour, we had enough time to grab some lunch and then we were on our way back to Madrid.  At this point we were all tired and ready to be home, but of course, Spanish law says that you have to stop for half an hour for every given amount of time (I'm not sure the exact law) so we had to stop twice for half an hour each to allow our bus driver to leisurely eat, watch a bit of futbol, and smoke a cigarette.  Needless to say we were all pretty grumpy by this second stop and were so happy when we finally got home to Madrid!

Madrid: Yes, I do Actually Still Live Here...

Looking back on all of my posts, it dawned on me that I have very little on here about Madrid as I have been mostly talking about my travels to various other locations.  I do, however, spend most of my time in Madrid but I figured countless blog posts about my classes would result in losing my small but loyal following.  Finally, I have some points of interest from my "hometown" to talk about though so here goes.

So, for a few days I had been passing the Palace on my runs and I noticed that they were building some sort of temporary clear building outside it on the plaza and I was thinking that maybe there was going to be a concert or something but I wasn't sure.  Then, one night we came home from class and the building was finished and there was a red carpet rolled out down our street from said building into the Opera house which is across the street from us.  There was a large crowd outside despite the rain and a lot of police and guards at all the doors and lining the gated red carpet.  We had no idea what was going on until we asked our host mom who told us that the event being hosted was the Premios Goyas which are the Spanish Academy Awards, the biggest film award show in Spain and all of the famous actresses and actors and such were there.  So, from our balcony we got to watch all of them walk down the red carpet and even though I didn't recognize a single one, it was still really cool to witness just knowing that everyone else knew who they were.

The Academy Awards!
Couldn't get great shots from the balcony, not that I would have recognized anyone anyway...

On Thursday, I went to my first European futbol (soccer) game- Real Madrid vs. Malaga.  We got the cheapest nosebleed seats we could get which were still 20 euro but it was something I was told I had to experience and I am very glad that I did.  Now Madrid has two futbol clubs, Real Madrid and Atletico, and you support one or the other and by support I mean you are a die hard fan with a bitter rivalry against whichever Madrid team you don't support.  My knowledge really only went about that far, but it was explained to me that Real Madrid is like the Yankees of Spanish soccer.  They are very commercialized, wealthier, and more well-known but in general I guess their fans are pompous and obnoxious.  I, however, had a fantastic experience at my first game and loved all of the chants and cheers of the fans.  Despite being in the fourth tier, I got to watch Cristiano Ronaldo score a sweet goal on a penalty kick.  At another point, he got a goal off a header and my roommate Liz turns to me and goes "DID YOU JUST SEE THAT? HE HEAD-BUTTED IT IN FOR A GOAL!!!?"  I thought that was pretty hilarious, needless to say, she had never played soccer before.  Madrid won the game 7-0 and the bantering from Madrid fans to the Malaga fans was ruthless but very entertaining.  The atmosphere was super energetic and everyone was so into the game, I now hope to make it to an Atletico game to see for myself the difference.

Cristiano Ronaldo (my future husband) #7 on the field but #1 in my heart..

"He headbutted it in!"

No mercy.

Malaga made a valiant effort but it's hard to keep up with the big leaguers.

Real Madrid C.F.

While my friends back home were busy celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend, we here in Spain were celebrating Carnaval which is essentially their version of Mardi Gras mixed with Halloween.  All weekend, there are crazy festivals and everyone from kids to adults are dressed up in costumes from Disney princesses to witches to Mardi Gras-esque jokers.  On Saturday, we went to a huge parade in Parque Retiro and saw some really cool floats and costumes.  Our favorite by far was this crew of kids from age like 12 to 16 dressed up as nuns and priests and cardinals doing a fantastically choreographed dance down the street to "Everybody Dance Now" blaring from the truck.  From there, everyone goes out to this huge night club in Casa del Campo (a park on the outskirts of town) and that was fun but a little overwhelming in sheer size and number of young adults all in one place.  On our way back, we finally caved and got our first Spanish McDonald's meal, only because everything else was closed.  I had my first Happy Meal since I was about eight years old last night, but at least I got a water with it!

Flipping over five men, no big deal.

The dancing nuns! 

Space creatures emerging from the smoke

All done..Feliz Carnavales!

Today, I finally took some time to recover from the stress of all the traveling and midterms and escaped for an afternoon to go meander through another park by the river and just hung out with my roommate Stephanie laying in the grass, a very precious commodity here in urban Madrid.  That is one thing I do miss, seeing grass and yards is a foreign concept here.  If you you go off the beaten path though, it appears greenery does exist...in beautiful, yet generally crowded parks.  I also realized today that I am about halfway through my time here which is insane! Time is flying over here across the Atlantic, I'll be back home before I know it. So until then I will do my best to make the most of my experiences and share the best of them with you all, or if people have given up on this blog then it will at least make for good documentation for my own personal reflection in the future : )