¡Mas Picturas!

In Córdoba we visited three places. A palace, a synagogue, and a mosque. These first two pictures are from the palace gardens.

A beautiful courtyard in front of the Mosque in Córdoba.

At an amazing Mosque in Córdoba.

In an ancient Roman Bath. But not bathing.

These were sky lights in the ceiling of the bath house. Our teacher told us that the bath houses were closed later in their history because the Catholic church thought that they were sinful. And so, something was build over the skylights, and now light bulbs light the way.

In the palace patio gardens of Córdoba. Our teacher said that the walkway was raised about 2 feet higher than the trees so that people were able to pick fruit straight from the tree. The Arabs believed that God wanted us to enjoy nature and the beautiful things in the world that He gave us. I like this idea, and so I think I might one day have an orchard with a board walk.

At the palace gardens in Córdoba.

I went with the school on a day trip to Córdoba, and the drive was lovely. I finally got to see the country side. There are olive groves everywhere, and not much else besides scrubby plants and dirt. The olive trees are in these amazing rows and they are all so old and twisted and gnarled and bent over like little old men lined up in rows.

Observation... there are clouds in Europe as well as the US.

More countryside.

Okay, Daddy Bear. This one is for you. Remember how you printed out that big huge list of tapas restuarants in Sevilla? Well, Friday, Sept. 19 was day one of Septembertapafest. Or perhaps falltapafest... why does it only need to last one month? I even tried the noodles like the website recommended, and they were splendidly oiley and garlicy! And then some slow roasted ham, or jamón as they say here.

This is what the restaurant looked like. I don´t know what everyone does here when it rains, butI guess that´s the beauty of living somewhere it only rains about 20 or so inches a year.

The street names are posted on the sides of buildings here. This one `Puerta de la Carne´ literally translated, means `meat door´. Needless to say, I laugh almost every time I pass it.

Touring the Real Alcázar, a palace in Sevilla. A mix of architecture, beginnings with the Moors which as you can see had an Islamic influence, and later other parts were added on to the palace with more Christian gothic design. Like the tiles below (I think).

Probably not the coolest things about this palace, but hey, I love all the tiles!!!

The Gardens in the back of the Real Alcazar, the palace in Sevilla.

There are Orange Trees Planted all over the city, and they are all green right now. I imagine that when they get ripe my nose will go to pieces because it will be so happy. When we first arrived, we foreigners debated about whether they were limes, and about whether we could just pick and eat them. I guess I will just wait and see what everyone else does. (if no one else picks any, I will probably wait till no one is looking)

This is Calle Harinas, where my school is located. It is on the right, a few doors down.

This is a gigantic lady. I am picking her nose.

One of my most favorite things about Spain is the amazing tiles everywhere. They wonderfully detailed and in many rooms tiles cover the entire wall and the floor with outrageously decadent patterns. Sometimes they are more simple. This is a sign that hangs outside of my school, the Center for Cross Cultural Studies.

I forgot to put this picture up with my last post. It was taken in Portugal, where I swam out to this gigantic coquina rock, which is made of up the calcite shells of little sea creatures compacted over time fused into amazing sedimentary rocks. It makes for a mean surface to fall on! Thank goodness I didn´t fall. This is me jumping.

This is a really low quality picture taken from inside my school building on the second floor. In front of you is the banister looking down to the first floor patio, and the door on the very left is where my Clasé de Gramatica is every day.