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Published: September 26th 2011
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SANGRIA
This is a big moment for me. My first glass of Sangria in Spain. It was PERFECT. On Saturday morning Hayley and I met up with the other 6 API students and our director, Juan, at the train station in Cadiz. It only took two hours to get to Sevilla (or Seville for English speakers) and it was well worth it. Sevilla is incredible. The first thing we did after checking in to our hotel was a three-hour bike tour. Everything about the city was beautiful, the parks, the classic roman style houses, the modern architecture, beautiful botanic gardens filled with horse-drawn carriages, a variety of flowers and hundreds of trees. The word I find that best describes Sevilla is romantic. As one of the oldest cities in Europe, it has a rich history with Roman ruins that date back as far as 207 B.C.
It was fascinating to see the Cathedral, which serves as the final resting place for Christopher Columbus, and holds the record for the largest Cathedral in Spain and is the third largest in the world behind the Saint Peter in Rome and Saint Paul’s in London. Mass is held every day. I wish my grandma Maryann could have been there with me, because she would have appreciated the Cathedral. There were famous
works of art and large stain class windows bordering the inner walls. At the end of the tour of the Cathedral, we hiked up 35 steep ramps to the top of the tallest tower, called la Giralda, where we could see the entire city.
The Reales Alcazares is a palace which dates back to 913 is an important historical location. Before entering the Alcazar, you walk through a breathtaking garden that surrounds the palace with peacocks, flowers, bushes, orange and lime trees, and fountains. It was so serene and magical. Inside the palace, we got to see the room where Christopher Columbus was received after he returned home from discovering the Americans. We also saw where Magellan had his pre-departure meetings. What was most fascinating about the palace was the mixture of Moorish and Arabic influence. Muslims, Jews and Christians are all represented in the aesthetics of this amazing building. It is a symbol of tolerance and the passing of time. I can’t even begin to describe the numerous details of the Alcazar. It also serves as a home for the royal family if they are visiting Sevilla, but they haven’t stayed there since 1995.
I had my
first “tapas” experience in Sevilla, since it is credited with inventing tapas. Tapas are really just a small portion of food, but you order a variety of tapas at one bar, and then you move on to another bar and do the same. Friends take turns paying at each bar and the experience can last for hours! I tried a tapa that consisted of Iberian Ham, which is a customary food in Spain. I loved it! We got home from Sevilla on Sunday evening.
A side note for the Star Wars fans out there, one of the newer movies (number 2) was filmed in la Plaza de Espana in Seville.
Today was my first day of class with the Spaniards. It was intimidating to say the least, which is partly credited to the fact that the class was Cervantes y la Novela (which doesn’t mean a thing to most of you). Tomorrow, I will go to a class called “Literature of Oral Tradition”, I hope it goes well!
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