My 21st Birthday, Trip to Córdoba, Sevilla, and ROME!!

I’m back and safe and sound. So there is so much to tell, I don’t know where to begin.

I am going to try to do this chronologically.

Sunday January 28

Maritrini took Courtney and me on a paseo (or walk) to a small pueblo outside of Granada for lunch. We took a bus from the center of Granada to somewhere in the country and then walked on a pathway that is used by locals to get from their pueblo to Granada. It was so nice to see grass and trees again (they are not as green as at home, but they will have to do.) At the pueblo we met up with Maritrini’s two other sisters, a friend of theirs and two other students in our program (they are staying with one of the sisters). We ate at authentic Spanish restaurant, including foods like paella that came in a HUGE pan that they put on the table. I am not sure what type of meat it was (including bones) but I ate it and it was delicious. The paseo and lunch took about 5 ½ hours to get there, eat, and walk back. Later that night, my friends and I went out to celebrate my 21^st birthday at midnight in style. We had a great time. Don’t worry, I remember everything and we were safe.

Monday January 29 (MY 21^st BIRTHDAY!!!)

So after sleeping in a long time Maritrini made lunch for Courtney, myself, Ana (Maritrini’s sister), and herself. It was so sweet; Maritrini had gone out that morning and gone shopping for my birthday. After we finished eating lunch, she brought out a cake roll thing (made of chocolate and mousse stuff) and champagne from the kitchen. She also gave me a gift, a beautiful brown scarf, and then Ana and Maritrini sang me happy birthday in Spanish. It was so sweet. I will always remember that moment. Later that day I hung out with friends until returning home to a nice warm bed.

Tuesday January 30

Our program got up early to leave for our trip to Córdoba. While in Córdoba, I tried the best olive oil ever. I should have bought some, but I didn’t. We visited the Mezquita, which was beautiful. It was built in 785 by Muslims and then turned into a Catedral after the conquered Córdoba in 1236. So pretty another really old, cool building. Later that day our program went to an original Arab bath and we all got massages. Our program knows how to treat us right. Then we were off to Sevilla.

Wednesday and Thursday January 31 and February 1

Sevilla, the city that does not like me. We saw some pretty amazing things in Sevilla, like the Plaza de España, Roman ruins of a city and coliseum, the largest gothic religious building (Catedral de Sevilla), etc. I will put up pictures. So why does Sevilla not like me? I am not sure but here is a list of all the things that happened to me while I was there: the tour bus left with me on it still (I had to run back to my friends but they were not there, so until I found them I was alone in Sevilla walking around, it was only about 10 min. but still little scary), I stepped on a dead pigeon (the whole bird not just part. I got pigeon blood on my shoe and a little on my pants. PS I was distracted because we were watching a couple make-out in a park while walking down the street), my bed tipped over on me while putting my shoes on at the hotel, I ran into a pole while rolling my suitcase on the sidewalk and hit my head (I made the cartoon dong sound and all), and I got to huge blusters on my feet that came with me to Rome. There is more but not worth mentioning, I am already writing a book here. I am not sure if my body can take another trip to Sevilla. I will have to wait and see. On Friday a group of us headed to Rome!!!

Friday February 2

Courtney, Laura, Zach and I flew out of Sevilla for Rome on Friday morning. After figuring out the train and metro system, we made it to our hostel, where the four of us stayed in one room together with a bathroom to ourselves. That night we went out on a search for good Italian food and found some at place where some the staff spoke English, thankfully. So good, it was nice to be in a place that believed in spices and flavor. Since we had dinner late we headed back to the hostel to sleep and prepare for the next day. Also, that night we were just walking down the street and ran into the Coliseum and the wedding cake of Rome (I forget the actual name for it, but that is what all the Italians call it because it is so gaudy and extravagant). I later found out that a building we had walked by at least 20 times was Mussolini’s headquarters and living quarters in Italy. Pretty interesting, you could even see where he made speeches from.

Saturday February 3

On Saturday we walked around Rome, exploring the city and the sites. We ate pizza on the Spanish steps, well more like the side because the guards would not let us eat on them. Later we visited an amazing park and rented a bicycle cart for 4 and rode it around. Trying to peddle around 4 people up and down hills is a lot harder than you would think, but it was worth it. After that we went to a museum called Borghese The artwork was so beautiful. We got more pizza for dinner and saw a movie being made, not sure which one or who is in it though. (For breakfast everyday we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We bought it at Corte Ingles, it was a wise investment.)

Sunday February 4

After some good PB&Js, we went on a walking tour with another woman from Australia. We toured the Roman Forum, which included the original Roman Senate building, what is left of Julius Cesar’s tomb, 3 original Arches of Triumph, multiple Roman temples, Pantheon, and much more. We also saw Trevi Fountain and threw in a coin in order to guarantee a return trip back to Rome. Our tour guide was nice and knew a lot since she had a doctorate in archeology. For lunch, I had the best lasagna ever for lunch at a nautical Italian restaurant. After a little post card shopping, we came back to hostel to get ready for the pub crawl that Courtney, Laura, and I went on. It was the only night we went out since, we were all exhausted otherwise, but I highly recommend doing a pub crawl in Rome. We met some really cool Americans, Australians, and Brits.

Monday February 5

One of the longest days in Rome. We made our way to St. Peter’s Basilica and to the Vatican museums. A guide gave us a free 20 minute tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, he also told us that the Vatican Museum was going to close in 20 minutes (and then you can stay an hour past closing once you are inside). So we speed walked/ran up the hill to the entrance to and made it in. I wanted to pass out. I cannot describe what I saw inside the museum from Raphael’s most famous work to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. I had to pick my chin up off the floor after sitting in the Sistine Chapel for a half hour until they kicked us out. I have to go back again someday, no question about it. We had a little pizza and gelato for lunch (I tried to have gelato everyday, it is the only way to go. I don’t Ben & Jerry’s will ever be the same.). Then we returned back to St. Peter’s Basilica, the second largest Basilica in the world (the largest is on the Ivory Coast of Africa), and walked around to take in everything. It was last night in Rome so we explored a little more had some more pizza and gelato (you guessed it) and packed for our early flight.

Tuesday February 6

Flying and bus ride day. Pretty much we used every type of transportation possible in one day, starting with the metro (with a smelly homeless man leaning over me, not one of my best moments), train ride, flight back to Sevilla, short city bus ride, and then long 3 hour bus ride back to Granada. The funny part is we were all happy to be coming back to Granada, where we could understand and talk with others, know where we were going, sleep in our beds, and only have to walk 2-3 hours a day.

Now I am in my warm little room with my bunk bed. Classes for spring started on this past Tuesday. They all seem good, a lot of lecturing but I will survive. I am excited because I don’t have class tomorrow, no class on Fridays. Yay!!! Tonight I think a group of us are going to see “Dreamgirls” in Spanish. Wish me luck. It is good to hear from everyone and I hope you had fun reading this excessively long novel (also forgive me for any grammatical mistakes). Pictures coming soon.

Hasta Luego,
Tara