Espana!

HOLAA!!! WOW is the only word I can actually think of to describe the last several days. It has been amazing time since we landed in port on Wednesday. We arrived in the actual port, I believe a little before or around 4 am because I woke up during the night around that time and we had stopped moving. Me and Jaclyn woke up at 730 and literally darted up the stairs. I don't think I have EVER been so happy to see land! We decided to get some breakfast and then take some pics on the ship of the port and us and everything.

Day 1:
Around 1030 or 1100ish, me, Dean, Craig, and Jaclyn got off the ship and explored Cadiz! It was all so amazing. The buildings were so beautiful, and all the roadways were cobblestone paths. Everyone drives motorbikes or small cars, and the alleys were crowded with people (mostly SASers, lol). When you're in Spain, you have to try their coffee! So we got a cup of coffee and sat by the catedral. Honestly, this building was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The square we were sitting in was so open and the weather was beautiful this day, I would say in the sun it was probably 70, maybe even 75. After we drank our coffee, we decided to climb the catedral and see the view from the top. It was quite a workout, but all worth it when we got up there. You could see EVERYTHING! From people's houses and their roofs, to the shoreline and beautiful beach, to the ancient architecture, it was honestly breathtaking. The weather started to heat up so we decided to run back to the ship and drop off our sweatshirts and stuff. Then we headed back out to get some lunch and try the local beer and wine. We ordered a pitcher of Sangria (only 8 euros!) and the local beer, called Cruzcampo, which was only (1.50Euros). In Spain, lunch is their biggest meal, and is served around 2 or 3, and it was only like noon when we were eating, so they give you things called "tapas", which are equivalent to our appetizers. So we ate some of those and enjoyed the beautiful sun! We wanted to do some shopping, but in Spain, during lunch time, they close all the shops for siesta time. So we met up with another group of people from SAS and sat and talked with them for a while. We enjoyed 1 Euro beers from the pub next door and talked a while until the stores began to open up again. We enjoyed some shopping for an hour or two and then headed back to the ship for dinner. At 2030, I met up with a bunch of friends, and we were going to go explore the nightlife in Cadiz and grab dinner. We ate outside at a little cafe and then went to some of the local pubs. It was a lot of fun!

Day 2: Sevilla & Cordoba
The next morning, I had a Semester at Sea trip planned to Sevilla and Cordoba. We met in the Union around 730 and took a bus to Sevilla. I met a girl named Brittany from Chicago who was really nice. We sat next to each other on the bus, and talked for the two hour bus ride. The weather in Sevilla was overcast and a little rainy and a little chilly, but not horrible. Our first stop in Sevilla was the Plaza de Espana. It was an enormous, beautiful building with several towers, a fountain and beautiful architecture. Once arriving here, we began our walking tour of the city. Our first stop was the Alcazar which is a famous Spanish building which had dozens of beautiful rooms and was built back in the 12th century. The architecture was the most beautiful thing and so detailed. I took a lot of pictures, like when I say alot, I mean a lot, which I will try to upload later.
The next stop was the Catedral, which is the third largest in the world. If words could explain its beauty, I would try, but not even the pictures could capture its vastness. We walked around the Catedral, and saw nearly every room, and the most exciting, Christopher Columbus' tomb! After taking a million pictures and learning a million different new things, we headed off to a little cafe for lunch. We got a bunch of tapas, including a pork dish, almond asparagus, mushrooms, calamari, and some sort of flan dessert that was REALLLLYY good. After lunch, we had about 2 hours of free time to explore the city. I went shopping with a few other girls and they had some really nice local shops, and they also had an H&M, and I got a purse and a tank top. Then we loaded the bus and headed to our hotel in Cordoba.
The ride to Cordoba was another 2 hours. The landscape of the country in Spain was one of the most freshest things I have ever seen. The grass is greener than anything I had ever seen, and there are just hilltops upon hilltops. It honestly looked like something out of a painting. The houses were all so different styles too. Some looked western style, while others looked very modern and others looked outdated, and small, but all brought a piece of flavor and character to them.
Once we arrived to Cordoba, they checked us into the hotel. After a long day, I dropped my things off in my room, and my room mate, Kelsey, Brittany and I went to check out Cordoba. We stumbled across a market that had a lot of nice souvenirs and things and I used some of my Spanish skills to barter with the people alittle. I was actually really surprised with myself throughout the Spain trip, I knew a lot more Spanish than I though. And I often found myself translating for other people, or talking to the locals about one thing or another. So as we walked around Cordoba, we found some local shops, and we even went in their department store called, La Cortes Ingles, or something like that. It's all over Spain and it's equivalent to our Macy's. After traveling the city for an hour or two, it was getting close to dinner time, so we headed back to the hotel. The hotel had prepared us for a nice buffet style dinner, and the food was similar to the food at lunch. We had pork, peas with bacon, fish, and other things that I can't remember. After dinner, I met up with a large group in the lobby, and we all went out to the local clubs and pubs. It was nice to get a feel for the local nightlife and get to know more people. We headed back to the hotel around 1 and went to bed.
Day 3: Cordoba
After breakfast at 800, we set out to the sites in Cordoba. We visited several Jewish and Muslim sites dated back all the way to the 11th century. There were several statues and the streets were small and had hundreds of local shops. We visited the Great Mosque of Cordoba and parts of the Mosque had been saved and dated back to the 8th century. It was so big and had arches all along the top. Unlike anything I had ever seen before. We then walked through the Alcazar of the Christian Kings which was constructed in the 14th century. However, some of it was being renovated and we only visited several rooms. The Alcazar is home to some of the most BEAUTIFUL gardens I had ever seen. With plants, and flowers, and fountains and large orange trees, it was more than a site to see. After the day of sight seeing we headed back to the hotel for lunch which once again was delicious. We said goodbye to the city and headed back for our 3 hour drive to Cadiz.

I can honestly say I am having an amazing time. This is all so new, and amazing. It's hard to take it all in at once. We start sailing tonight to Morocco at 2000. Morocco is extremely close to Cadiz and it is only taking us one day to arrive there. Tomorrow is the day we have off of classes, however, we'll have Morocco pre-departure meetings and everything, andddddd the SUPERBOWL. Our Executive Dean is a Steelers fan, so there have been rumors that they are going to broadcast it! Which would be awesome, but we'll have to wait and see what they say tonight or tomorrow.

I have a camel trek planned in Merrakech, Morocco for the next couple days. And we'll be sleeping in the desert which will be an amazing experience. Jaclyn is going too, and she has a video camera, so we'll try and take some video to document the camels and us. Hope everybody is enjoying the snow. I kind of miss not seeing any snow this year, but then again, I'm sure you guys would rather be here in 65 degree weather; the grass is always greener, I guess. Until Morocco, best of wishes and much love.