Granada y Cordoba

Hola. I've been so busy lately, it's been hard to find time to update. But here I am. ;o) Let's see, last week we started classes at the UVa program. I'm taking 5 classes: Grammar, Literary Analysis, Spanish Lit. I, Spanish Lit. II, and Spanish Culture & Civilization. So far things are going okay - I like my Culture & Civ. class because it's really interesting to learn about Spain while IN in Spain. I've never intensely studied the history of another country besides the United States, so I'm excited for this class. I think the one that will give me the most trouble is my Literature I class - it's medieval literature. So think Shakespeare in Spanish. I'm hoping it'll get easier with time, but right now it's proving to be very difficult.
Last weekend we had Thursday off because it was a city holiday. So, 4 day weekend in Europe, of course you travel! We went to Granada and Cordoba, which are both cities in the south of Spain. Granada is closer to the coast and Cordoba more inland. We left Wednesday at 1 AM on a train, which we rode for nearly 8 hours. It was uncomfortable and hard to sleep, but cheaper than booking a hostel for a night. When we got to Granada it was raining and cold. It made me appreciate the Valencia weather I was missing. I also know I'm spoiled right now because it's like single digits at home?? Anyways, we walked around the city and checked into our hostel. This was an interesting experience - I have never stayed in a hostel before and I've heard some negative things about them, but I can honestly say I had a pretty good experience. There were 7 of us girls and 8 beds in our room, so we met another girl who was moving to Granada and looking for apartments. The beds were bigger than the one I have in my room here & clean. The only downside was having to pay to use a towel when you showered.
We ate our lunches in the kitchen of the hostel before venturing out. All of our host moms packed us lunches before we left. They gave us "bocadillos" which are basically sandwiches on good fresh bread. That's one great thing about Spain - they always have tasty fresh bread with every meal.
Then we saw the sights of the city, which include: La Alhambra, the Cathedral, and the place where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel were buried. La Alhambra is the last Muslim stronghold in Spain and was built in the 800's. It was basically a huge mass of land made of gardens & palaces. The details on the walls were so intricate. It was amazing to see - no one makes it like that anymore. It was also neat to see where the King & Queen of Spain who sent Christopher Columbus to America, were buried. It made me realize that compared to Europe, the USA doesn't have much of a history. We're just a baby and can't walk around and point out monuments from the 800's. It was really cool to see.
Later the next day, we took a bus to Cordoba and checked into our hostel there. Now the first hostel was nice, but this hostel was even better - I was surprised to have my expectations exceeded. There was just something about the city (maybe the fact that it wasn't raining ;o)) but I liked it better than Granada. Here we saw the Mezquita - which is a mosque that was built back in the 800 - 900's by the Muslims when they occupied Spain. After the Christian Reconquistion they tore a big whole in the middle and built a Cathedral. Now I was surprised to see that you couldn't really tell that they had ripped out the middle of the building. It was very precisely done & it was amazing to see.
On the way home we took an overnight train again. This is a train that makes multiple stops, so after an hour past when we were supposed to get off, I got worried. I thought maybe we had been early to our stop and we missed it. It turned out we were an hour behind schedule, but no one really tells the passengers. I was glad to make it back at 6:30 AM on Sunday.
Overall, it was a fun & educational trip. It's nice to see other parts of Spain, but it really makes me appreciate Valencia because personally I still like it the best!

Adios. Kristin