Andalucía (30/3-3/4)

A much needed update!

Firstly, Andalucía!

Four days, four cities! Not a lot of time in the end but was worth it for the 185€ (300NZD) that I paid, which included transport, accommodation, some meals and entry into some places.

The trip started on the evening of Friday March 30th with a 12 hour bus ride to Granada. The Saturday was spent exploring and visiting the cathedral. Two highlights of the wander around the city were; the tapas, and the tea. When you order a drink here you get free tapas to go with it. It wasn't your ordinary tapa or "pincho" you might get in Asturias though. It was big enough to be counted as a meal! Continuing our wander we came across the tea stalls and shops. The tea made the streets smell divine and every flavour imaginable was there! Think cinnamon with licorice, or cherry and apple. That Sunday we visited the Alhambra, which was amazing. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the Palacio Real because we missed out on tickets! That would be the only real let down of the trip I think.

That afternoon we moved on to Málaga! Here I got to see my first Semana Santa procession! You hear about them or see pictures, but it is nothing like being there! Men (possibly women too, I am unsure) wear long robes with a pointed head piece. They lead a big group of men (again possibly women, unsure) carrying a giant religious throne. Some of these ornate thrones are so big that some have to be stored outside of the churches they belong to as they are too big to fit through the church doors! Later on that night a group of us decided we would have dinner on the waterfront. We ordered the paella and 25 minutes later the waiter brings out a massive dish and serves it out to us. The paella combined with some tasty drinks, great company, and warm weather, made it a perfect night!

Málaga

Paella, Málaga

The next day we headed off to Sevilla! As it was Semana Santa and one of the busiest times of the year for the city, we couldn't stay there. This meant we only had about four hours to wander around. Seeing as there was so much to do and so little time we split off from the ESN group and did our own tour. The streets actually smelled like jasmine and orange blossom! The colours of the buildings and the flowers (which were everywhere) were so vivid! It was such a pity when we had to leave, but on to Córdoba we went!

Plaza de España, Sevilla

We arrived in Córdoba in the evening. I was so dead by this time I opted out of doing anything, had a nice long shower, and hopped into bed! The next day we started with a visit to the Cathedral/Mosque. Inside, the architecture and design were mind-blowing. At one point I was looking at an arch with Christian ornaments and then I could look through to the next one, which was one of the original Islamic arches. When we came out the rain had started. This made our city tour a bit of a miserable one as we were all getting soaked. According to Spaniards, it always rains in Andalucía in the Holy Week!

That night, a ten hour bus ride back to Oviedo and that was the end of my trip to Andalucía! At that point I was just craving to get back down there and to experience it some more. Even though it is a part of Spain, it felt like a different country. Cannot wait to get back there!