Alliterations seem to be the theme this week. So along with this week being fun, fantastic, and (f)gorgeous…shoot, that last one didn’t quite fit in. The last three days were spent travelling with the school ILACA group, it was fun getting the whole group together again and getting to know everyone better after being in different Intensivo classes throughout January. Wednesday we spent the day in Cordoba primarily to see the mosque but also spent some time at an Arab bath house. The mosque was interesting even though the tour guide wasn’t. I’m getting thoroughly sick of tours so maybe it’s not all his fault though he did seem to talk endlessly. But it was cool getting to see firsthand a place that’s overly represented in pictures of southern Spain and of religious architecture. The place is pretty iconic. I’m posting a picture with this post of the place, though without a tripod (not allowed, though I don’t have one here anyway) the darkness of the mosque keeps it from being the best picture ever, it’s still enough to get an idea of what it looks like. The Arab baths were cool to actually get to swim around and hang out in the same rooms and pools that people hundreds of years ago used as well. Got my first massage too. Why have I never had one before?! They’re so relaxing! Except for the random butt grab (not so much a fan, and neither was anyone else I talked to who had the same lady) I could happily go back to the place for…ever. A bath a day keeps the stress, and dirt, away.

We headed that night to Seville, one of the bigger cities in Spain. It’s interesting to get to go around and compare places and really get a feel for the country in general. Seville itself has more greenery than Granada and is a bit more spaced out with buildings and such, making everything look more open and inviting. It is also home to Europe’s biggest cathedral: my absolute must see and first place I headed to during free time. From the outside, it looked nice and gaudy as any gothic cathedral should. But on the inside, oh my. I took a first step into the main section of the cathedral and my jaw dropped instantly, it was like time stopped for a second. I’ve never felt so incredibly small. It would take about ten people holding hands to make a ring around just one of the pillars, and there were about a dozen of these things in a line along with a few deep. Like any respectable cathedral, there were also dozens of stained glass windows and paintings hanging around (no pun intended) though it was the architecture that captured attention to the point of exclusion. A friend and I also hitched ourselves up 35 (I counted) flights of stairs to see the bell tower to see the city. Almost better than being able to see everything was looking out the windows on the way up to get a closer glimpse at the intricate details and gargoyles decorating the building. So much detail work was put into this thing it’s ridiculous.

Our group went later on to spend time in the palace next door. That’s one thing I’m loving about Europe, castles and palaces are everywhere. One friend commented that they’re like the acne of the continent though I’d like to think they’re something more pleasant like seeds sprouting up everywhere or whatnot. We got to see where Isabel, THE Isabel that gave permission to Columbus to go discover America, lived and where she spent her days. Like the Alhambra, it was an icebox, but it was an absolutely gorgeous freezer of a palace. The gardens alone were enough to convince me to want to live there. Some friends and I spent a good hour just traipsing around the orange tree filled pathways and taking pictures of everyone and everything. With the rain that day everything felt a bit more like home in Washington and the colors popped against the grey, I absolutely the way that overcast skies make hues more vivid. Got some pretty great pictures too :] I’ll have to put them on flickr later.

The bus ride back was one of my favorite parts of the trip. There’s got to be something wrong with me, I enjoy the act of travelling almost as much as actually being at the destination. Stick me by a window any day any time and I’m happy as a clam just to sit and watch. Give me rolling scenery of gorgeous, endless green hills with miles of olive trees set against a setting sun and you’ve made my day. There were only eight of us returning as most people decided to stay for the weekend or leave for another trip. With fewer people it was easier to talk and move around so we had fun just hanging out and pot-lucking food around for a few hours.

After so much travelling and walking, my feet protested any idea of more exercise so today was spent at home hanging out with my host sister that normally lives on her own. We watched “My Best Friend’s Wedding” in Spanish, odd. I somehow found out she had never had a real chocolate chip cookie (only packaged which doesn’t count), was flabbergasted and decided to fix that. The supermarkets here don’t quite have the same supplies though, as I was about to discover. Vanilla extract isn’t sold and there were thirteen (thirteen!!!) different types of flour. It was a blind this-one-looks-nice choice and I headed home with a bunch of baking supplies in my bag just like the beginning of last semester. Thankfully though, this time it was considerably less than twenty pounds worth. From the start, I was a little worried about everything working out. It didn’t. We ended up with a bunch of puddle cookies which I felt pretty bad about because she was so excited about eating American cookies. Considering we were using scales to measure everything, had different supplies, and most likely had bad flour choice it’s not surprising though I’m going to chalk up most of our failure to bad baking soda. At least I think it was baking soda, it was some random thing with “alkdf;alksl soda” in the title so I figure it would work. Turns out “kfakjaskjf;akj” doesn’t mean “baking” in Spanish. Oh well, they tasted fine even though they were perfect little puddles. What really matters is that Elena and I got to spend time together and had a fun afternoon. Hopefully she’ll let me in the kitchen again soon.

Sitting here after an amazing week--writing, listening to King’s Singers, and just got off Skype with Lisa-- life is pretty wonderful.