Que bonita es Andalucía!

Warning: long post!!!

This past week, the entire program took a trip to Andalusia, the southern region of Spain.  We visited Granada, Seville and Cadiz.  There were too many tours in too little time for my liking, but we did get to see a lot of very important historical sites.  First, we went to The Royal Chapel, where the Catholic Monarchy (King Fernando II of Aragon, and Queen Isabel of Castilla) are buried.  It was beautiful and fairly small compared to everything else we saw, but it was full of rich history and wonderful stories.  Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures, but here's a picture I found online of the woodwork behind the altar:

Isn't it unreal???

While we were in Granada, we also visited La Alhambra, which is a palace and fortress with ezpansive gardens.  It was constructed before the end of the reconquest of Spain by the Catholic monarchs, during the reign of Arab kings.  Because of this, the architecture and decor is strongly influenced by Arab culture, which makes it fascinating to see.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

View from afar

GARDENS!

Part of the fort section

The view from the top of the fort

Can we talk about all the amazing detail??

After being in Granada for a very short day 24 hours, we headed to Seville to see even more beautiful buildings!  We visited the Royal Palace, where the Spanish king still stays when he visits Seville, and the Seville Cathedral.  The Royal Palace was by far my favorite site of the entire week.  The decor still had an Arab influence, but showed more of a Spanish influence, with more color and more variation between rooms.  I thought it was absolutely breathtaking.  By the time we got to the Cathedral, I was so exhausted, my knees hurt, and my brain decided that it could handle no more historical information in Spanish, so I remember very little of what was said.  BUT, I do remember how incredible and overwhelming the space was.  Here are a few pictures from both sites:

The Royal Palace:

They casually have peacocks living in the gardens...

AMAZING tile work!

wood inlay

Andddd finally, the Seville Cathedral!  Fun fact: (most of) Christopher Columbus' body is buried there.  The king and queen at one point also had a pet crocodile (they got it as a wedding gift) and it lived in the patio outside the cathedral.

just one of the organs

Talk about a crown

Oh, hello there.

In case you don't believe them, they have it posted: Largest cathedral in the world (of course, the basilicas are bigger...)

WHEW!!!!! It sure was an exhausting week, and I definitely would have preferred less of a history lesson and more time to wander in awe.  I guess I'll just have to go back some day!

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Spanish translation coming....