So I've fallen into the trap of almost every study abroad student who decided to keep a blog of the semester and promised themselves that they'd write a post or two weekly…..and then weeks go by with nothing. So sorry, world! I know how much my posts have been missed. (Do you want a tissue to stop crying?)
A few weeks ago the 40 BC in Madrid kids packed up our bags and boarded the bus for a 5 hour trip to Córdoba in the Spanish region Andalucía. (aka the South of Spain aka warm and sunny weather all weekend aka adding on to my extra few months of summer that I've gotten in Spain can I get a hell yeah?) Unfortunately, while the trip was sure to be buckets of fun, we all went because of the art history class we're taking together with our program director, Ana……which meant not only was it buckets of fun, but it was buckets of note taking as well…..goody.
We spent half the day in Córdoba looking at mosques, cathedrals, architecture, blah blah blah. I'll spare you the gory details because truth be told, I don't really know the gory details… but here's some nice pictures for you to look at while I distract you from the fact that I know no information…
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| View of the city |
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| La Quibla in the Mezquita de Córdoba |
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| outsidethe city |
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| PALM TREES!!! |
Then we hopped back on the bus and drove the 3 hours to Granada, another city in Andalucía where we'd be staying for 2 nights. Highlight of the bus, you ask? Well, I have to give a big shout out to Matt Consalvo for suggesting a sing-off between the front and back of the bus. (reminiscent of the pitch perfect riff-off.)
Note to self: never underestimate the competitiveness of 40 Boston College students competing (for literally no prize. THERE WAS NO PRIZE PEOPLE) in a small space. Yikes.
Interestingly enough, Granada has a lot of Arab influences (The muslims ruled there for quite some time way back when and their Palace, La Alhambra which was a big part of our trip, is still there now), therefore it was hummus, kous kous, and falafel for everyone! They also had a ton of restaurants where you order a drink and get a plate of free tapas with it! We spent the few days exploring La Alhambra and Generalife, the garden right now to La Alhambra that was created by the muslims to give the sultan a "summer home." It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. So many flowers, fountains, and beautiful views.
Saturday night, all the BC kids headed out to Arab baths. BC had rented out the place for us that night (so mom & dad that's where your tuition money is going to!) and we were given the option of getting a massage while we were there. It's a little hard to explain, but basically it's a large room with 7 different temperature "baths." They were more like mini-pools and over-sized hot tubs but the purpose was to change between the temperatures. The point was also to be silent and relax, but with our group, that was def not going to happen. I ended up getting a massage and lemme tell ya, I was a pretty happy girl after that. I felt so incredibly relaxed and was absolutely loving life. That night was the holiday la Noche en Blanco (White Night), a fiesta started in Paris in 2002 where all the shops stay open until very early morning and there are concerts and parties, etc. We got to see the concerts and be a part of the celebration, which was super super cool.
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