Palaces and Geese!

Sorry this post is so late in the day, I've been busy!

I started off the week with a visit to the Palacio de Lebrija right here in Sevilla. Regla Manjón was the Countess of Lebrija and a great lover of art. She collected many pieces from her various travels around Spain and the world and had them all displayed in her house. Her travels were particularly unusual, because women did not travel much in the early 1900s.

 Almost the entire first floor was covered in mosaics from Itálica. Our guide told us that workers had to bring the mosaics here piece by piece, which is incredible! I'm pretty sure there were more mosaics here than there were in Itálica! This particular mosaic has a picture of Medusa in the middle.

 This mosaic depicts the various amorous conquests of Zeus as well as the four seasons.

 In some parts you could actually walk on the tiles! You could WALK on 2,000+ year old tiles!

       

This was one of the many patios in the house.

And this is a picture of the woman herself. Below this is a bust on display in the house that depicts Mrs. Manjón later in life. Her name, Regla, actually means menstruation. If she was going to be stuck with a name like that, at least she got to be rich!

On Friday, my interest group was supposed to go to Cádiz, but our trip was cancelled at the last minute because of the weather. On Saturday though, I went to Córdoba! We started off the trip with a trek across this bridge, known as the Puente Romano (or Roman Bridge).

Before we even got across the bridge though, we found a very friendly goose! One of my friends, Jessie, really wanted to pet it, as did some other girls on the trip. I don't think the goose was very amused :P

 Crossing over the bridge, we passed by the Puerta del Puente and the Triunfo de San Rafael. The first is a beautiful archway that remains from the old city gates. The latter is a sculpture of the city's patron saint, San Rafael.

Next, we went to see the very impressive Catedral de Córdoba. It used to be a mosque, but was converted to a church upon the expulsion of the Moors.

 Some parts look much more like a mosque than a church, as is evidenced by the two above pictures.

 After we left the Catedral/Mezquita, we took a stroll around the older sections of Córdoba. It's a very pretty little city.

 Next we went to the Sinagoga. Originally it was a synagogue, but then it was converted to a mosque, and then a church, and now a museum! Virtually none of the once thriving Jewish population of Córdoba remains.

Next, we went to the Alcázar de los Reyes Católicos. It was from this palace that Ferdinand and Isabella plotted the conquest of Granada from the Moors. The inside of the palace isn't that exciting, but there are many beautiful gardens surrounding it.

On our way to the gardens, we walked by the fish pond. I'm pretty sure they must not feed the fish anything, because they were literally jumping out of the water at us when we walked by!

Next, we saw some of the gardens! We found a statue of Columbus presenting his proposal to go west to Ferdinand and Isabella.

 Mattie and Tra got separated from the group at one point. So we took this photo of them "looking" for us :P

We then went to have some lunch. We stopped at a local cafe and had salmorejo, a local delicacy! It's basically a thick, creamy tomato soup served cold and topped with bacon and eggs. It wasn't my favorite, but hey. When in Spain!

Also during our visit, we managed to find a stray cat that was incredibly sweet! Here he is in my friend Mandy's arms.

Everything else is going well! I'm a little sick, but I'm getting better. My classes are still going very well. This week in my cinema class we're watching "Clara Campoamor: La Mujer Olvidada" and "La Lengua de los Mariposas", both of which are very interesting in their own right. I'm gearing up for my mom and sister to come visit soon, but that also means it's almost time for midterms! This weekend, I'm going with Laura to Morocco! I'm super excited about that. Also, I wanted to wish my baby sister, Andie, a happy sweet sixteenth birthday! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you, Panda, but I'll see you very soon!

Until next week!

Carly <3