Last but not least.....The Wind Mills

After walking around a little Saturday morning in Granada, we headed home, but not without a stop to see the windmills "Las Molinas”of Consuegra, of Don Quixote fame.

On the way up Professor Shumway read us the passage in Don Quixote where he attempts to joust the windmills against the realistic advisement of Sancho Panza, ending up with his sword demolished to pieces.

We climbed inside one of the windmills....


So the hill that the windmills are on is....windy! We could barely keep our scarves on for this picture:









And as for the juxtaposition- At the top, I noticed some modern day windmills across the valley. Renewable energy in action!

But alas, we were excited to get home- what an exhilaratingly exhausting week!

4th stop: Granada

In Granada, we saw the Alhambra with its magnificent Moorish (Islamic) architecture. It was HUGE!!! It was so incredible, and took us over two hours to go through. It seemed like its only little private City. Def. My favorite fortress so far.



















Then we walked down to the city that night to have delicious kebabs! We talked with the kebab maker as he was making them for us. He told us he prefers Granada to Madrid, because the weasly Madrilenos will only stay up until 5 or 6am as opposed to 8am in Granada. Awesome.



The next morning we walked around the city. The path we had to walk to get into the city is beautiful!


The Muslim market we went to in the city.




After our walk around the city, we were off to the Don Quixote windmills!

3rd stop: Cordoba

On Thursday we walked around Seville, then left for Cordoba that afternoon.



The Great Mosque of Cordoba is such an interesting place. It was very tranquil, and the arches all over reminded me of candy canes. There were light red strips along the arches that gave it that "candyland" feel. It was an incredible place, but of course freezing inside!!




Because Spain has been taken over by the Moors, the Visigoths, the Romans (etc), the mosque has Muslim architecture (with the famous pink/purple candy striped pillars) and then the next section would be a full on Gothic cathedral. It was juxtaposition in its purest form.



After that we walked around Cordoba, and went ouside the city to see the bridge, then stopped at an outdoor market.


After our long stroll around Cordoba, we went to this great restaurant where the food was actually good, and so was the service! It is not very often we eat at a good restaurant and the service was absolutely woderful!


Then we all came back to the hotel where about a dozen of us watched “The Office” in our pajamas, on about four beds pushed together, until about 1 am.

The next morning, we walked around Cordoba, visiting the Alcazar with its beautiful gardens.



Then off to Granada!

2nd stop: Seville!!!

We got into Seville late that evening, after our bus driver took MANY wrong turns. We walked around forever (in these adorably quaint little streets lined with, what else but orange trees!...too bad they are just for decoration!) before finding a place that was open and would serve us tapas. As we were walking home we ran into some super friendly Americans who got our number and we met up with them at the discoteca the next night.

The next day, we got up and went to the Cathedral de Seville which was simply stunning (second largest in the world). Tons of art, the tomb of Cristobal Colon, the Giralda tower with magnificent views at the top, and a garden courtyard with, what else: orange trees.



Pictures really just don't do justice!!!


The worlds largest pearl



The tomb of Christopher Columbus!...sry it was dark, and of course no flash allowed!:(


The top of the Giralda Tower. Such a good view of the Cathedral, and the city




After the Cathedral we walked across the street to the Alcazar, which is where Columbus was greeted by Ferdinand and Isabella upon his return to Spain from the Americas. It is also where the current King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia stay when they come to Seville. There were gorgeous gardens!





...Don't worry I am always prepared with my secret money belt!!hahah It works like a charm.;)



After that, we were tired so we went back to the hotel to take a siesta. Later, we walked around and saw the Plaza de Espana, got some dinner, and went back to the hotel to head to the flamenco show.



...However, we left about 5 minutes after the group did, and Andrew started leading us in the complete opposite way. So when he made a futile attempt at asking someone for directions, and failed miserably. Alex ended up grabbing the map and took charge. It was hilarious because she was panicked/on an adrenaline high and after asking someone for directions she would TAKE OFF running in the maze-y streets! She definitely wasted no time at all and somehow got us to the theatre. Anyways, it was quite the adventure and we arrived to the flamenco show drenched in sweat. It was pretty funny.

As you can tell, Alex was pretty proud of herself for getting us to the Flamenco show.


The angry/tired faces from running around Seville trying to find the theatre





 We got back at the hotel at around 11 and left for the discoteca “BOSS” a little after 12. And I can honestly say you haven’t lived until you’ve gone clubbing in southern Spain. It was so much fun! 

Although it was probably 2/3 Americans, it felt really diverse. The most memorable characters were these group of African guys who were, all wearing these silver chains with Africa pendants on them. One in particular had a total 70s throwback outfit: color blocked mustard and grey colored sweater vest, dark wash jeans, black jacket and bright silver aviator sunglasses (and of course, the Africa bling). Seriously, Kanye West had nothing on him.
 Then they all got up and started dancing in synch on the stage. I loved every minute of it! 

The music was cool, but overly remixed. They’d play 30 seconds of a song we loved (or 4 minutes repeating the same 10 seconds of a song over and over again), then change it over to something else. So it got random at some times: they played “Sweet Home Alabama” out of the BLUE, which of course all the drunk Americans loved at that point.

 The next morning we arose and walked around for a little bit, then headed onto Cordoba.

1st stop: Merida

In Merida, we went to the Roman museum with tons of sculpture and an outdoor Roman theater museum with two coliseums. Also, just walking down a regular street we stumbled on other ruins, just laying there in between the rows of shops, seamlessly incorporating their tangible evidences of history in the presence of a commercial street.

Some of the random Roman Ruins around the city


The coliseums in the Roman theatre:




Things we observed at the Roman Museum:



I don't know what it is with me and half-naked men.....haha




While we were wondering the streets we ran into a fiestival going on in the center of town. All the store owners were dressed up in Mid-evil costumes and there were cool little shops everywhere. There was a man that had a pottery stand and was giving away little plates with our names on them. After he made mine I asked him for a pictures and he said for a kiss!haha After the picture he tried to kiss me...but failed.haha It was so fun to walk around all the stands of food and little trinkets. A tent was set up with a huge stage by the fair for shows and concerts. Me and a few other got up on the stage and started dancing to the music that was playing. It was so funny, bc eventually we had a crowd and everyone started clapping/making fun of us!haha oh, good memories!

The Festival:



The pottery man who attempted yo kiss me...


The stage where we let it all go....you can only imagine!haha


After a few hours in Merida, we re-boarded the bus and trekked onto Seville!