Córdoba and Sevilla

So NYU takes us grad students on one weekend-long trip each semester. Last weekend we all went to Cordoba and Sevilla, two major cities in the region of Andalucía (mainly most of the southern part of Spain). Next semester we'll go to Basque Country (Bilbao and San Sebastian) - which I'm really really excited about, but thats months away.

Anyway, we left before the crack of dawn on Friday to drive by bus to Cordoba. There we saw a few of the main attractions - the Roman style bridge, the mosque-turned-cathedral, and also the Jewish quarter with one of the oldest synagogues still standing in Europe. These buildings also represent the coexistence of three cultures/religions in the Iberian Peninsula at the time (under Islamic rule): Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. (This all came to an end in 1492 when the Islamic government surrendered to the Catholic kings, Isabel and Ferdinand.) Aaanyway, I'd seen this stuff all before when I was last in Spain (with NYU, too), and I wish we'd had more time to see other things in Cordoba (example: the Alcazar), which was the capital and a pretty important city during Islamic rule and the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, we continued on to Sevilla after a few hours in Cordoba. That night we had free time to do whatever, since we got there at about 8 p.m., but since we'd all been up so early in the morning, we just got dinner and went to bed.

Saturday was a packed day. We started by visiting the Alcazar, or the Royal Palace, which is HUGE. The buildings themselves, along with some courtyards, are pretty extensive, and the gardens keep going on and on as well. I really liked the gardens - there are a lot of flowers, plants, trees, etc., and there's also a labyrinth! Pretty sweet, huh? After visiting the alcazar, we saw the cathedral. Now, this is a very nice cathedral, inside and out (though still not as pretty as the one in Segovia), but we were in there for about two hours, listening to our professors go on and on about lord knows what (pun semi-intended), including about half an hour inside the Royal Chapel (which we got to visit even though it's not usually open to the public). I like visiting churches, but I'm still going to need a while before I can stand to see another...

After the cathedral and lunch, we visited the Hospital de la Caridad, which was, yes, a hospital that was built in I think the 15th century. I think we visited it because the architecture (in particular of the church in the hospital) is Baroque style, but quite frankly I was so tired and bored at this point that I don't really remember much of what we were told there. (And also, for some reason old buildings that were once hospitals creep me out a bit.) Then we passed by the Torre de Oro and the bullfighting ring (one of the more important ones in Spain), where we were told about bullfighting in Spain...fun.

Then free time, thank god. A friend and I walked through the Barrio Santa Cruz for a bit. Later one we went to see the Plaza de Espana, which is really pretty and probably would have been equally nice during the day also. It was built in 1928, along with the Parque de Maria Luisa that surrounds it, for a world's fair the following year (Ibero-American Exposition of 1929).

Sunday we visited a convent, the Convento de Santa Paula, which is still in use but open to the public at some hours of the day. I think it was originally built in the 15th century, and there's a little museum inside that shows its history. Interesting, I guess...not sure I fully understand the point of going there but it was definitely interesting. After visiting the convent, it was back on the road for the six-hour drive back to Madrid...