Jumping The Gap: Week 4: Sevilla and Cordova -- 2/12 to 2/15/16

This past weekend I went on an excursion with my ISA group to Sevilla and Cordova! It was a jam-packed weekend with amazing sights and -- my favorite part -- A cathedral and a Mosque--Cathedral.

I have a lot of pictures, so I will just write a quick blurb about the weekend and then show you what we saw!

In Seville we got a tour of the Real Alcazar Palace (for those Game of Thrones fans is the palace that was used to film all the scenes in Dorne in season 5) and then went to the cathedral. Both were beautiful in totally different ways. The highlight of the palace had to be the intricate artwork and woodwork (somewhat like the Alhambra in Granada) and the lush gardens. I want to go back so I can take the time to explore the gardens more, as they were huge. For the Cathedral it had to be the gold and silver plated altars and sheer size of the church itself. It was intensely humbling to walk inside a building and immediately feel small and unimportant. I ended up going to mass the next morning there before we took off, and I was one of a few people who went to the early service so I was able to walk around without huge crowds, and it was quite amazing.

In Sevilla too a couple of us found a cool "hole in the wall" Flamenco bar where we had some sangria and watched some flamenco to move the night on. It was a little far away but worth the walk!

We then headed to Cordova which was much different (smaller, more intimate) than Sevilla. We had time to walk around before doing a tour, and my friend Cameron and I headed to explore the small city. We ended up finding a cool artisan market, within the labyrinth-like streets, where there were woodworkers, leather makers, and other artisans working on pieces to sell. We then got a tour of the Mosque which was converted into a Church. This was so cool because there was a mix of architecture which signified the mixing of cultures between the Moors and the Christians. The most iconic part was the brick and stone mixed arches lining the entire center portion of the Mosque. The building seemed to sprawl out and it was easy to get lost, I had to keep close to our group!

Anyway, to really show the true magnificence of all that I have told you guys about, here are some pictures! Hope you enjoy!

Sevilla:

One of the ceilings at the Real Alcazar

A fountain in the garden of the Alcazar

A couple fountain areas in the Real Alcazar...or should I say Palace at Dorne

A few pictures of the Cathedral in Seville

Horse drawn carriages were common throughout the streets

A couple more pictures of the outside of the Cathedral. We also were able to go up to the tower to get a better look of Seville as a whole.

Massive organ, I wish I could have heard it been played

Christopher Columbus' tomb

Some magnificent ceilings in the Cathedral

One of my favorite altars with the gold plated wall behind it. The gold seemed to shine even with out a light. Truly beautiful.

Here was where I went to mass Sunday morning inside the Cathedral

A cool view from the tower of the cathedral and Seville

The Andalusia Government building

A bunch of pictures of the Plaza de España

Cordova:

A picture of the bridge and the gate in Cordova

The Artisan Market Plaza that we found

This man was making wood carvings--as you can see that bust on the right is what he was working on.

It is extremely common in Cordova for people to hang pots with flowers outside their doors. In the Spring the town has a festival of flowers and it draws crowds of people to see the beautiful colors of the flowers and pots.