¡Cordóba!

Today the entire group from Tech loaded up the buses at 8:30am and headed off to Cordóba, a city about an hour and half away from Sevilla. 

Just a warning...I took FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO pictures.  I know, it was absolutely ridiculous.  It took me an hour to narrow it down to 320, then 95, then 70, then what you finally see here.  What can I say, excessive is my middle name, just ask my shoe closet.

Upon unloading the bus (which was quite fancy by the way), our group proceeded to completely bombard a teeny cafe with about 65 orders of café con leche, the most delicious coffee drink EVER.  After the necessary caffeine boost, we crossed this bridge:

The bridge was built by the Romans in the early 1st century AD  The tower on the right was built by the moors when they took it over in about 700ish A.D.  It was then reconquered by the Christians in about 900AD and used as a toll tower to charge people who wanted to cross.  Do I get a gold star for paying attention in history class?

This is one of four mill houses that the Romans used to grind wheat into flour.

The main reason for our trip was to visit La Mesquita, a mosque that dates back to the first century.  In the 12th century, King Ferdinand decided that everything Muslim must be destroyed, but this particular mosque was too beautiful to ruin.  To please Ferdi, a cathedral was built in the middle of the inside of the mosque.  It is bizarre to see the mixture of 1st century and medieval architecture combined in one giant building.

Gargoyle!!

Keep in mind that everything is a billion times bigger, brighter, and more impressive in real life.

There are about 990 pillars in the mosque part of the building.  It literally feels like you are standing in a forest.

It is SO much more beautiful in real life!!  Definitely the most amazing place I have ever been.

These wooden carvings are all unique.  They show, in chronological order, almost every story/occurance/parable in the Bible beginning with Adam and Eve.  This was mainly because everyone was illiterate at the time and they needed a way to remember the stories.

HUGE organ.

The insides of a gigantic clock.

After exploring the mesquita for about an hour, we wondered around the city...and I found The Secret Garden!!  I want to have a tea party here:

These made me think of Aladdin:

Come on down, stop on by, hop a carpet to fly to another Arabian niiiight!

Arco is what my host family calls Arch :)

The ladies hanging out by the fountain...

Cordóba was a blast, but so exhausting!  I am feeling a little under the weather tonight (as are about 90% of my classmates) so I'm off to bed!

Hasta,

julia