Monday, October 11th

playing with my food :)

Last night after dinner my senora called me to make sure everything was going well. I absolutely love my Spanish family! They are so sweet and totally treat me like I’m a blood relative! My Spanish Mommy just wanted to make sure I was safe and that me and Katy were having fun. Teresa, my Spanish Sister, informed me that they had a party for me this weekend and ate my favorite foods: my Abuela’s tortilla, tinto de verano from 100 Montaditos, and Illini Bars that my dad sent! I told her that I was buying a her a puppy tomorrow (she’s terrified of all dogs! Mwahahaha!)

Reading Dona - as always!

top of the castle

Today Katy and I got up early to go to Córdoba. We checked out of our hostel around 9 am, which meant we couldn’t eat the free breakfast. Not that it really mattered, since my senora had packed me PLENTY of food! I found some chocolate milk at the train station and drank that with my cookies and banana. J

We got to Córdoba a little before 11 am. Since the train station is a pretty decent walk from the historical portion of the city, we took a city bus down to the river.

in one of the towers

First we went to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (The Christian King Castle). Although it looked massive from the outside, the part that we could tour through was actually pretty small. There were some really sweet mosaics on the walls in one room. It’s amazing to think of how much work went into those!

Arab Baths

After touring the inside, Katy and I decided we had to go up in the “torre” (tower) to see the view of Córdoba. AWFUL IDEA! Although the view was awesome, the staircase was not! Between Katy’s lack of depth perception and my fear of heights – we almost died! Plus the place was super crowded so we were trying to go down the spiral staircase with people coming up and it was terrifying! We were SO happy to be back on the ground level!

garden :)

After our little near death experience, we went on a mission to find the Arab Baths. They were pretty sweet, although there really wasn’t much to see. Just a little underground cave-ish place.

The sweet part about the castle though was the garden! Oh my goodness! Seriously I think this was my favorite garden so far! There were so many fountains and flowers blooming! They had lots of roses, which are naturally my favorite (Katie ROSE). J

Katy and I in the Garden

Katy and I walked around the garden for a really long time. It was seriously like 10 times the size of the castle itself! After we left the castle, we went on a mission to find some grub.

We ended up at this little restaurant close to the castle and la mezquita. It was okay I guess. We each got tortillas (omlets). Katy ordered a Spanish tortilla (omelet with potatoes) and I just ordered one with ham. They were okay. Worst part of the meal was I ordered a Coke and they brought me a Pepsi…. That is so not okay! It was one of the first Pepsis I’ve seen in Spain, so I thought that was kind of interesting. Still not enjoyable!

Doesn't look like a Coke to me!!

After lunch we went to La Mezquita. La Mezquita is a Cathedral inside a Mosque. I was so excited to see the arches in real life! It was interesting to compare the darkness of the Arabic architecture with that of the Catholic section. I really, really, really enjoyed La Mezquita! J

<3 Cordoba! :)

After we finished touring La Mezquita, Katy and I just walked around the old Jewish section of the city. We saw some Roman pillars and an old bridge (that has been restored quite a bit). We wanted to go to this market that sells products created by local artists, but it was closed until 5 pm. We tried to find the synagogue, but it was totally hiding from us. We seriously couldn’t find it with our map; it was not where the map said it would be.

La Mezquita

At this point dark clouds were beginning to roll in. We only had a little over an hour until our train left, so we set off to find a bus that would take us back to the station. It rained a little on us, but we’re tough girls!! J

more Mezquita

Back in the station I finally got a real Coke! Shesh! I blame my father for this Coke obsession!! J Love you dad!

On the train ride home I worked on a bunch of homework. I had to read more out of Doña Perfecta, a Spanish novel for my literature class, and write an essay about a world issue (in Spanish of course). I decided to write about world hunger and poverty, focusing on how the conditions affect children. The whole time I just kept thinking how much I wanted to get home to my comfy bed, my Spanish family, and Skype (so I could talk to my real family too!) Adventures are fun, but I miss home!!

YEAH COKE!!!

When I finally got home to my family in Madrid I was soooo sleepy! It was great to catch up with my Spanish fam, and talk to a few friends/my dad on Facebook! For dinner we had rice with hot dogs, tortilla (omelet with potatoes), ham and bread. SO yummy! I think the rice and hot dogs are one of my favorite dishes, even though I know it's sounds kind of gross! Now time to sleep.. In my own bed.. with a real pillow... finally. :)