Sevilla and Ronda... I wish I was a Spanish princess!!

Hello everyone!!!

This past weekend was the absolute best weekend I have had yet! Our program took us to the cities Ronda and Sevilla, it was incredible! We first arrived to Ronda and took a walking tour of the town that included a history of Arab settlement and a visit to some Arabian baths. The city rested on exquisite cliffs that overlooked miles of farm land. The view was breathtaking! We learned a lot about how the Muslims came into the city and transformed the architecture and all-around style of the area. The baths were super interesting to see, I had no idea that they were so intricately made and so spiritual! It was also crazy to see how the Christians came into Spain and totally changed everything-- they destroyed the beautiful mosques and changed the style of architecture, crazy! 

Our time in Ronda was a mere three hours, we then took a bus to Sevilla. Sevilla was absolutely gorgeous! We stayed right in the center of the city, next to the river and by a huge park that housed a giant fake palace that was constructed for the World Fair in the 1930s. Right when we got there we were able to take our first non-military style shower since I've been here! It felt so wonderful to not have to turn off the water every thirty seconds. We then went out to dinner and ate in the beautiful Plaza de España. That night we went to a private flamenco show and it was the most incredible, beautiful, passionate, thrilling experience of my whole life! I have never seen something that moved me so much! The show started with two men, one playing beautiful Spanish guitar and the other singing and doing palmas (rhythmic hand clapping). I cried out of happiness twice because it was so wonderful (I'm not even embarrassed about it because I was so happy!). A lady flamenco dancer came onto the stage after a few minutes, I have never seen someone dance with so much power and passion, she was absolutely stunning! I'm pretty sure that I looked totally stupid the whole time because my mouth was wide open in a silly shocked smile, but whatever! She danced for about a half hour and then a man came and changed places with her. His feet moved so quickly and he exhibited so much power... all I can say is wow! I have decided that I absolutely NEED to have a Spanish guitar player and flamenco dancer at my wedding! I wish I could live inside of the theater and listen to the music and dance every single day! Ahhhh I can't even explain how perfect of an experience this was!!!

After the show ended, Riana and I were so awestricken that we decided not to go out (listening to top 40 music just sounded so lame after listening to such beauty). We went back to our lovely hotel and watched some Spanish-dubbed Step Brothers and had a super long talk about people (so typical!). The next morning we went on a tour of the Alcazar, a Spanish palace, and the Cathedral, the third largest one in the whole world! The Alcazar was absolutely beautiful! The architecture was a mix of Arabic and Christian styles and proved to be unbelievably intricate and gorgeous. The palace consisted of multiple rooms and courtyards that served as both the living areas of the royal family and meeting places for the government. The rooms were adorned with decoration from floor to ceiling and each door was a beautiful arch. There were also gardens everywhere and reflecting pools that accentuated the beauty of everything. Basically, I fell in love with it! I would do anything to be a princess in those times! 

We then walked to the Cathedral and found out that it is the third largest cathedral in the whole world. It was gigantic and gorgeous. We climbed all seventeen stories of the bell tower and got to see all of Sevilla. It was so beautiful to see all of the white buildings and plazas. After all of the touring, we were set free to wander the city. Maria, Riana, and I bee-lined for the Plaza de España because we wanted to see what it looked like in the daylight. It was, of course, phenomenal. Even though it wasn't from the 15th century, we still loved the old feel of the plaza and had a lot of fun sitting out in the sunshine. This is the first time that we have honestly felt warm our whole time being here, it was like a drug. We had to force ourselves to leave, and man, it was hard to return to below freezing Granada. I'm just so excited for it to get warm here, I know it's only a few more weeks, but I just want it to be now! I can't wait to be able to walk around the city for hours in sun dresses, it will be divine! 

I guess it all comes down to this: every city in Spain I visit I fall in love with, I literally couldn't love this country more! Like I said before, I feel like a Spanish Infomercial... if only I could get paid for this haha!

Until next time! Sending all my love from Spain!