1/4/25

Landed in Spain bright and early at 8 am having not slept in like 20 hours. Hard to sleep on planes. Not a lot going on today, since we're just waiting for everyone to arrive. The director recommended we not take too long of a nap for the sake of our sleep later but I was exhaused and slept through the entire early afternoon, including the part I planned to get lunch during.
After that we had a quick orientation and then we headed out and walked around the area we're staying in. We're in the heart of Madrid, and only a quick walk from Plaza del Sol. We're also quite near the Plaza Central. All of these were completely lit up with colorful lights- apparently Spain is really big on colorful Christmas lights. Their Christmas is essentially tomorrow, called Three Kings Day. There's supposed to be a parade, if it doesn't rain.
We had dinner at La Casa del Abuelo. It was a tapas style meal, and it was really good! Their specialty was shrimp with peppers brought out in boiling olive oil.
Jet lag is hitting me quite hard but I think it's gonna be really fun regardless. Hopefully I don't spend tomorrow absolutely out of it.

1/5/25

Interestingly easy to wake up this morning considering the amount of sleep I got yesterday.
We spent the first half of the day doing a walking tour in the area. For a while we walked around Madrid and talked about the city and the famous people from here. To quote our tour guide, Javier- Don't die in Spain. We'll probably lose you. Apparently Spain has lost the bodies of a lot of their famous people. The streets here are sooo pretty and I'm sure the locals don't think they're all that special, but I do honestly. They're all brick and stone, very very narrow, and surrounded by super tall buildings. In the closer metro area the streets are just for taxis, motorcycles, and locals, so there's a lot of pedestrian action. Walkable cities my beloved.
We also took a short walking tour through the Museo de Prado, Spain's biggest and most famous art museum. We didn't take the time to look at everything, and even though we were in there for an hour or more, it felt like a lot less. We discussed a few very important paintings and artists, like Velasquez, Goya, and El Greco. Our guide had some interesting insights into the details of these select paintings, like how the Virgin Mary is usually depicted in blue because it was the most expensive color to paint with, or to make fabrics out of.
We got a traditional two-plate style lunch at La Catedral. The building was stunning to me. It's all natural wood and warm light.
Tomorrow is Three Kings Day! It's the day that the three wise men delivered their gifts to baby Jesus. Kids in Spain get their Christmas presents tomorrow morning. There's going to be a parade in the evening.
The evening was pretty exhausting, actually. Walked a ways to find that a restaurant the internet claimed was open was in fact closed, and had to walk back. We get a lot of independent meals, which is a little scary. Ended up going to a random burger joint near the hostel.

1/6/25

Today we journey to Sevilla! It's a 6 hour bus ride. It's less complicated than getting everybody on the train, but damn do I wish we could take the train. I love high speed rail.
Ended up sleeping for most of the bus ride. It was a pretty long one, and I didn't feel like using my cell data and can't read in buses anyway. We finally arrived in Sevilla around 6 pm. We're staying in the Barrio Santa Cruz, which is an old Jewish neighborhood. The streets are super super narrow and labyrinthine in nature. This was a defensive technique used to keep invaders from being able to navigate the city. It's much warmer here than it was in Madrid.
Sevilla is known for their oranges, and the trees are currently fruiting. They're gorgeous, but they're bitter oranges used for making marmalade, so they're not very appetizing.

This part of Sevilla has fallen victim to tourism, of course, and is a rather idealized and romanticized picture of Spain, but damn is it pretty. We had dinner at the hotel's restaurant because a lot of things are closed for Three King's Day. It was another two-plate meal, although the portions were very large. We had eggs and vegetable stew, pig's cheek, and a dessert of flan.
Tomorrow we're going to do a walking tour of Sevilla more in-depth, and also explore and learn about the stunning cathedral in our area. It used to be a mosque!

1/7/25

Our first full day in Sevilla.

We started the day with a full panoramic tour of the area we're staying in, with a particular focus on the beautiful cathedral a mere stone's throw from our hotel.

This is the Cathedral de Sevilla, the largest cathedral in the world. Not largest as in tallest! Largest as in longest. This cathedral is built on an old mosque that was built by the Muslims that lived here before the Spanish Inquisition. (Part of) Christopher Columbus is buried here. I was particularly enamoured by the mahogany double organ, which is a spectacular work of art.

Then we took a bus tour around and looked at the Plazas and old consulates. We stopped for a bit in Plaza España, where there was some absolutely gorgeous tile work.

We had our very first flamenco performance viewing tonight! It was super super cool. One of the dancers had a super long train and a shawl that she was using to perform and it was really impressive. Also endlessly impressed by the guitar playing.

1/8/25

Today we visited the Museum of Flamenco Dance. Our tour guide talked about the origins of flamenco, the different dance types, and the famous flamenco artists. She showed up this really cool mechanical machine that can be operated with a hand crank which uses a wooden pair of shoes to tap out the basic rhythms of 7 different flamenco palos. Then a flamenco artist gave us a masterclass on the cajón, the box percussion that is sat upon and drummed in modern or fusion flamenco. It was a ton of fun!!

We toured the Alcázar de Sevilla, or the royal palace. It was absolutely stunning. It looks very similar to the Alhambra, but that's because this is what inspired the Alhambra! I absolutely love the tile work. The gardens were full of ducks and peacocks, and there were orange trees and fountains everywhere.

After that, some of us wandered around before dinner. They have a store in Sevilla that deals entirely in things related to Sevilla oranges, which of course I was absolutely enamored with and spent way too much time in.

For dinner we had a tapas tour. Our guide, Ana, took us to three different places around her favorite parts of Sevilla. At the first place we had tortilla (potato and egg!! not just flour!) and chickpeas with spinach. We drank Aquarius, a Spanish soft drink that's basically like Gatorade. At the second place we had sheep's cheese and chicharron, plus a very nice vermouth. Finally, we had montaditos and black rice, which is rice with squid ink and garlic mayo. Here we had Fanta Limon, which is not available in the U.S. It was all absolutely delicious!!

1/9/25

Started the morning with free time instead of class. Nice! A classmate and I walked down to a flea market and a comic book store in a different part of Sevilla. I didn't get anything, but it was fun to look. I'm looking for Holy Cards, which are essentially. Religious trading cards. I think the concept is hilarious and they're quite cheap. It looks like I'll have to go to a tobacco store to get any.

This afternoon we had a flamenco workshop, teaching us about the history and technique of flamenco guitar. Javi explained to us that the flamenco guitar is different from classical in the way the tailpiece of the strings is set up, which keeps the strings lower to the fingerboard. It's also made of different wood than the classical guitar, to get a much shorter sound. We watched his performance that evening at Casa de la Guitarra, which is full of historical flamenco guitars. The owner of the home has been operating out of Sevilla for many years and his guitars are well-renowned.

Other than that, the day was mostly free! We got lunch at a rather fancy fish place that was... fine. Lol. We had tuna steaks and several small plates that I think suffered a little bit from trying to be too fancy. I did end up finding some Holy Cards in a tobacco store with the help of our trip organizer. I walked around and chatted and went back to the Orange Store because some of the things were weighing on my mind. I just love orange!!! It's my absolute favorite color and also I just downright adore the aesthetic of the fruit and whatnot.

1/10/25

Today we went back to the Museum of Flamenco Dance for a workshop on dance! We learned a short choreography of a tango as a group. It was super fun!!! Our teacher was very insistent about our attitude, because flamenco is not soft and demure, it's sassy and bold. I like dancing quite a bit so this was probably one of the things I was looking forward to the most.

Then we got lunch! It was at a Venezuelan restaurant and I enjoyed it a lot. We had a few mini arepas, some croquettes, fried dogfish, and I had pan-fried noodles. (We got a choice of three entrees here.)
The afternoon was completely free, so I just rested for most of the early afternoon. I agonized about where and when I was going to get dinner on my own, but thankfully a group formed and I was saved. We walked to get empanadas, and then rode the metro train a little bit just for fun since it's basically a few cents. After that we went to a bar called Garlochi. It's well known for being full of religious iconography, and it was actually pretty cool. The heavy smell of incense kinda hurt my eyes though. I am of legal drinking age here so I got a cocktail called Sangre de Jesus, or Blood of Jesus. It was basically just wine and grenadine on ice with a sugar rim. I thought it was nice, but people in my group thought it was too sweet. I disagree. Tomorrow is free, but I'm gonna get up a little bit early just to get my laundry done before the laundromat gets busy.

1/11/25

Today is our free day!! I honestly have no idea what it is that I'll be doing.
I did start off my day by doing laundry. The tiny laundromat nearby is fully automated and honestly really nice. I sat there and read my book while I waited for my laundry and it didn't even take too long. While I was there I ended up helping some other tourists figure out the payment screen.

After that I decided I was going to walk to the Museum of Fine Arts. It's a bit of a walk, but the cities are so walkable in Spain that it didn't matter. I went because admission was supposedly cheap, but when I got there it turned out it was free today!! Yay!!! It was a very nice museum. Obviously a lot of religious art, but that's no surprise.

Then I walked to Mercado de Triana. It's a closed-top market that's very traditional, with meat, fish, and fruit stalls all crammed into it along with a few restaurants. It was so crowded that I didn't stay long, and I just started walking back. I passed two different groups of my classmates on the way back. I stopped at a restaurant I passed on a whim, and while it's a little silly, I did feel rather proud of myself for having the bravery to eat at a restaurant alone in Spain lol. Then I went back to the hotel to rest for a bit and probably to do some homework. Sometimes it's easy to forget that I'm here for a class!

1/12/25

Today is very chill. We had class in the morning to discuss the ways flamenco is represented in popular culture, both bad and good. Then we walked back to Casa de la Guitarra for the third time to learn about the history and specifics of cante, the singing portion of flamenco. There was a lot of interesting history about how the styles of flamenco have evolved.
We then went out for lunch. I liked today's lunch a lot, but I'm learning that lunch is the largest meal of the day because of how much food they give us. There's almost always four small plates followed by an entree and a dessert.
We went to our third flamenco performance at Casa de la Memoria. It was really fun! The stage was much louder than at the other two places, and I think there was more stage space. It was long and there was even a balcony. There were two canteros, one guitar player, and three baileros. I liked the solo guitar item a lot.

For dinner I went to a Chinese restaurant with some friends and then got gelato again. It seems strange to be going to so many places that are not Spanish while I'm in Spain but I was kinda tired so it turned out fine. I'm excited for the boat trip we'll be taking tomorrow.

1/13/25

Today is our last full day in Sevilla. I haven't been to this part of Spain before and I really enjoyed it, so I'm a little disappointed to be leaving already, particularly since I've just gotten a sense of direction in the maze of streets. We'll be leaving for Córdoba tomorrow. We won't be there as long, just a couple days, and then we'll be heading right to Granada.

After class I finished up my second blog post for the class- this is a more informal blog, but I'm actually required to write some more formal posts as assignments! This one was a concert review for one of the performances we've seen so far.

We spent the afternoon walking around and we went to visit the bullring. We talked a lot about how the artform of bullfighting is meant to be quick and painless, and a toreador that cannot deliver this in a just and fair manner won't be rewarded. We also talked about how they raise and breed the bulls for maximum aggression. There were a few bloodstains on the sand. The amphitheater was lovely, though.

Afterwards we had a dinner cruise down the Guadalajara river. This was, by far, the most bizarre meal we've had here yet. It was five small dishes, and then dessert.
Dish one was a mild hard cheese and cured ham, which all felt normal.
Dish two was gazpacho. I didn't like it very much. Also, it was really cold out for once, and I wasn't big on the idea of cold soup at the time.
Dish three was this sort of potato salad stuff, but one of them had prawn in it and the other had paprika and octopus. It felt very strange and also we were eating it by itself, not on anything else.
This one is the real kicker: dish four was Andalusian baby eels. With shrimp in it. It looks like noodles, but it's literally cooked baby eels. I actually liked the taste of it the most, out of everything we ate.
Finally we had a sort of chicken spring roll thing?? It was like a chicken mash in a fried shell with a bechamel on top.
Dessert was some sort of fried bread pudding in cold sweet pudding. And also they served us champagne. It was all around completely bizarre and I think made up for the fact that the meals I've gotten on my own have not been adventerous.

Tomorrow we travel to Cordoba to spend one night there before heading to Granada.

1/14/25

We spent the first part of the day travelling to Cordoba. We don't get to spend much time here, which is sad, but I'm glad we get to see a little bit of it at least.

We travelled around with a local guide named Lola. She led us through the Cathedral-Mosque, which was originally a mosque, and then the center was broken down and a cathedral was built in the center. It's absolutely stunning, even with the complete clash in style that happens directly in the center. I'm including a million images because it was just so cool.

Then we wandered around a little bit and saw the Roman bridge, which used to allow traffic, but since has been restored and converted to a pedestrian only bridge. We saw a couple getting wedding photos taken there and it was super sweet. Also apparently there are a lot of stray cats in Cordoba.

For dinner some classmates and I went to and Indian restaurant a few blocks from the hostal we're in. It was the first time I've had actually spicy food in Spain. I don't know why I assumed they would have spicy food here, but it's genuinely hard to find something actually spicy. They have food with spices no doubt, just nothing with a kick.

1/15/25

Today we hustled to get it one last experience in Cordoba before we left. We went to the Sephartic House, a museum about the history of Sephardic Jews in Spain. The guide sang us several songs from the tradition, including one called Don Gato, which I actually learned as a child in music class! I think it's because my elementary school music teacher took a sabbatical to study children's songs in Central and South America. I can only remember some of the verses, but the story remains!

After that we got right on the bus to go to Granada. It took a few hours, with a stop in the middle at Nikol's, a restaurant with a shop devoted to all things olive related.
When we arrived, it was off to our host families! Two of my classmates and I walked with our host mom Eliana and her daughter Sofi to their house. It's very nice. :] They speak very little English which we weren't aware of and this isn't technically a Spanish course, but one of my roommates and I speak enough Spanish that we make it work. I know I'm going to be a little awkward for a while, but it should be alright. We're not that far from where we have class, although supposedly Granada requires a lot more walking.

1/16/25

We're now getting settled in Granada. We have to walk to class as opposed to class being located within our hotel or hostal, but it's not far. We'll be having class this morning before a walking tour of Granada to get ourselves situated.

It's quite chilly here in Granada! I'm glad I brought a polar fleece to go under my lighter jacket. We walked around downtown and got a quick look at the cathedral, although no pictures were allowed inside. The altar had very graphic sculptural depictions of John the Baptist getting beheaded and John the Evangelist getting boiled. Fun! Also, Isabela and Ferdinand are buried there.

We got chocolate and churros after our walk from the place our manager deemed best in town. Tomorrow we're gonna walk to the Alhambra.

1/17/25

I totally forgot to make this post on the right day. Truth be told I felt rather awful all day. Something is totally going around the group.

That aside, we saw some super cool stuff. We climbed the enormous hill (which sucked so bad) and visited the house of Manuel de Falla, an influential composer that did a lot of notation for flamenco, so far as I can tell. It was kinda cramped, and I think we honestly could've skipped it just to get to the Alhambra faster.

Then was the Alhambra! The architecture is absolutely stunning, to be honest. I've seen it before, but I don't think it ever gets old. Even though I felt so terrible, it was still worth the visit. There are frankly more incredible things there than I have space to show, so I'm only putting in four photos.

Then we came home and I kinda just crashed.

1/18/25

Today was our first free day in Granada. I'm still not feeling awesome, so I tried to keep it kinda chill. I went out and looked at a couple shops in the market area. Granada feels much more like an actual city than Sevilla did sometimes, but that doesn't mean there aren't a million tourist shops.

I went to a teahouse and got some chai and a crepe, which was very nice. There are a lot of teahouses here. I also got shawarma for lunch. Honestly really price-efficient. Only 7 euro for a whole wrap, some fries, and a drink. I'm always thrown off by how much less food costs here. We then made our way home, and, after a brief fumble through a pharmacy interaction, I took some pain meds and took one hell of a nap lol.

1/19/25

Feeling a lot better today. I had a rather late start to the day, which was fine, and then I went out to get lunch by myself. I've really been wanting soup, so I went to a ramen place I saw while walking around yesterday. The door wasn' t working so I had to stand awkwardly outside until an employee let me in. The whole place was very anime-themed, with figurines, posters, and statues filling every inch of space. It was good ramen, though.

I was gonna try and get Turkish Delight on my walk home but I forgot that all the stores close for a few hours mid-afternoon. Maybe some other day. I really just rested for the rest of the day. Hoping that my minor illness dissipates as quickly as possibile.

1/20/25

I think the little bug that's going around is claiming more victims. Waiting for class to start sounds like quite the symphony of sniffles.
Today we actually didn't walk to the Albaicin like we were supposed to! It was predicted to rain, and our manager wanted us to actually be able to see the view. I was very grateful for this. We moved that walk to tomorrow instead. Today our afternoon was just pretty free. It did indeed rain, and it was a little bit damp walking to our next activity.

In the evening we went to a teahouse owned by a friend of our manager. We had Moroccan mint tea and Pakistani milk tea. I liked the milk tea best. They also gave us an assortment of sweets, including a delicious baklava. It was really good tea honestly. He also gave everyone these little handmade doll/figurine things, which was so so sweet. They're all dressed up fancy in tulle and beads.

Then we went to another flamenco performance! This one was called La Cueva and it was literally in a cave. The aisle down the center allowed the dancers to walk right through our group and it felt way more personal and interactive than the other performances we've been to where everyone is on a stage. I loved it, though at times it was so loud I felt like my entire head was ringing. Also they served us sangria, which was pretty good.

We took a bus to and from this performance, and dang was the driver impressive. The streets of Granada are quite slim in places, and the turns rather tight, but he took them like a champ and never even scraped the bus. I could've touched the walls through the window without even extending my arm all the way.