Just so you know...

The group set out on Tuesday for a nice little tour of Andalucia, and nice includes rain, long bus rides, and feet that feel like Vlad the Impaler has done a number on them.

We saw some windmills atop a hill at our first stop in Consuegra. That was neat. They were well placed too! If I weren't so aerodynamic I might have been blown away.




From there we headed over to Granada. On the bus ride there, the rain came down, and continued to come down for the rest of the afternoon. Some of us went out to explore the town after settling in our rooms. We walked along a river that was at the base of the hill which has the Alhambra on top.


The next day we actually got to go in....




The Alhambra is an awesome Moorish palace/fortress built in the 1400s. It has all these intricate and amazing carvings over all of the walls. Pretty much spectacular.


Here's the view over the town:


We departed from beautiful Granada the same day and made it to Cordoba several long hours later! The second we stepped off the bus it began to rain. Hard. The rain coupled with a 5ish minute walk to the hotel left everyone soaked but we took it in stride, being the classy people we are.
The first thing we did here was to see the Mezquita. I'd learned about it in Junior High and had always wanted to see it. I'm sure you've seen pictures of it, and if not... look downward!


Here are Tim, Heather, Jessie, Lara, Kim, and I rubbing the foot of Maimonidies. Apparently, if you can find this statue and rub his foot, then Maimonidies' infinite wisdom will pass on to you.

The next morning we woke up early to head out to Seville. Imagine my surprise when the water in my bathtub looked like this:

Blood? Orange Fanta? Who knows...

Here are some pictures from Seville

This blurry picture's claim to fame is that it is of the largest cathedral in the world! It also houses Christopher Columbus' body. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure we desecrated it because me, Jessie, and Lara had 'Business Time' stuck in our heads and were on a roll with "That's what she said" jokes.

Columbus' tomb.

Here's Jessie and I atop the minaret the next day.
And the view of Sevilla!

The bullfight ring in Seville.

This is the Plaza de Espana. It may be my favorite thing I've seen so far. Also, we think that part of one of the newer Star Wars was filmed here.

Also in Sevilla we went to a Flamenco concert. Wow. I have never been more amazed by dancing in my life. It's a little hard for me to describe how freaking crazy the dancers/guitarist/singer were. You just can't understand!!! The only option is for you to travel to Sevilla and watch it in person. I actually got a contraband video clip of the performance, but it was in the last few minutes of the concert when they told us we were only allowed to take pictures so their dancing was not as cool.

Basically, it was an AMAZING week.