Thursday Hannah and I decided to take the Ave, Spain's bullet train, down to Sevilla to check out everything the city has to offer. And first and foremost, let me just say that Sevilla has a reputation for being the hottest city in Spain, and it definitely lives up to it.
But Hannah and I had a nice long list of things we wanted to see in the city. And we only had about 9 hours to do it in, so as soon as we got there, we hit the ground running. And when we got there, we got a little view from back home (or at least fairly close to it).
Right as we step off the train we see an exit for Kansas City. I guess we took a wrong turn somewhere along the way, but that sure was a fast trip from Madrid to Kansas.
The first place we went to see was this giant, ancient mansion with all kinds of Roman, Muslim, and Catholic influences in it. Even though it had a ton of renovations going on in it, it still was pretty cool to walk through.
And then Hannah got arrested. It was really sad, but I had to keep going because there was still way too much to see. haha
One of the main things we wanted to do was see the Sevilla Cathedral and the giant tower that stands over it. Supposedly (according to our guidebook, of course) the Segovia Cathedral is the third largest cathedral in the world, after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and Westminster Abbey in London. So we expected great things.
And I've gotta say, the cathedral delivered. It was absolutely massive from the inside and outside and it was pretty jaw-dropping. I couldn't use a flash inside, so the pictures didn't turn out too incredibly well, but you can kind of tell how high up the ceiling is here.
And you can definitely tell how massive the pillars were when you see Hannah standing next to them. I mean, Hannah is a tall girl and all, so when she looks like an ant standing next to them, you know it's big. haha
We definitely wanted to climb the tower, which was around 30 stories tall (I think) so it wasn't an easy climb. What was cool about it was that it was built without any stairs at all. It's just a big circular ramp that goes all the way up to the top. This is a picture of Hannah in one of the windows on the way to the top.
Of course once we got to the top the view was totally worth the climb. Sevilla is a really pretty, almost Mediterranean looking city with all of its white-washed houses. And it was great to get to see it all from so high up.
Here is a picture of the great view from the top of the tower.
And, as always, Spain has a never-ending supply of weird/crazy people. So as Hannah and I settled down for lunch in one of the parks in Sevilla (there were several) we got to see this handsome fella strip down to his boxers and proceed to bathe off in one of the fountains. Hey, I guess if you need to wash off, a fountain is just as good as any shower. :)
While Hannah and I walked around, we stumbled onto several different landmarks that we didn't plan on. So we had several impromptu photo shoots, which usually ended in some interesting pictures. This is Hannah in front of a Colombus monument. Which it was actually kinda tough to get Hannah to point in the right direction. Pointing behind you is surprisingly difficult.
Another really cool thing we saw in Sevilla was the huge palace that, like most Spanish palaces, used to house the royal family but now is just kind of a museum for the masses to come see. This is a picture of the beautiful gardens that were outside of the palace.
The next day (Friday) I went to Segovia with the school. Because you just can't beat a free trip no matter how hard you try. Sadly Hannah, my travel buddy, had already been there and didn't go on this trip. But luckily I had some other Okies to tag along with. This is a picture of Julie, Kayla, and me in front of the gardens of another palace on the way to Segovia.
One cool thing that Segovia has is this huge ancient Roman aqueduct. Segovia has a TON of history with the Romans and there are little reminders of it everywhere, but none as prevalent as these. It really is amazing to think about how these aqueducts have been standing for literally centuries. They've been there since around the time of Christ. Just crazy.
Pretty much the main attraction in Segovia is this castle right here. Look familiar? It should if you like the movie Cinderella! Walt Disney modeled the castle in the cartoon after this exact castle, so they are almost exactly the same.
However, one of my favorite parts of the castle was this incredibly beautiful view. The castle is situated up on a hill, so you get a great vista of the outskirts of Segovia and the rural area around it. The view was just so incredibly spanish. And the view from the castle windows looked really cool.
And here is a clear shot of the view. I don't know about you, but when I think of a Spanish pueblo, this is exactly what comes to mind.
And a castle just wouldn't be a castle without some suits of armor. Or at least in Europe. I can't really say for all those American castles we have. But these guys were also very Spanish looking, mainly just because of their conquistador helmets. No matter what, I've never seen a suit of armor that actually looked comfortable.
The Spanish version is particularly vicious, mainly because of their shoes, pictured here. The reason they have these sharp little points is for when the guy is riding his horse. That way when he rides by other guys on foot or other guys riding on horses, he can kick them and do some serious damage.
Here is a picture of the entire Segovia group. This was such a fun bunch! And it's even more incredible, because we are such a diverse group. Some of these kids are from Loyola in Chicago, some from Tennessee, some from James Madison in D.C., some from Pittsburgh, and of course, the Okies. So the experience here moves past just learning about Spain, but also about learning about other areas of our own country.
And then here is a picture of the 4 Oklahomans. We stick together. haha But from left to right you have Julie, Molly, me, and Kayla.
And we're always ready to rep our University and throw up an OU. You better believe we have Oklahoma pride.
So all in all it was a great time. For the rest of the weekend I'll just be hanging around Alcala and Madrid trying to soak it all in and enjoy things. It's almost impossible to believe that this is my last full week in Spain. I just hope I'm able to finish out strong!
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