It was a weekend full of more sightseeing, more ancient architecture, and more loca Labarca ramblings. No sooner had we boarded the bus early Thursday morning and just begun to drift off to sleep for the four-or-so hour bus ride, a shrill voice came over the speakers: “Dee dee dee DEEEE!” That was about when we knew it would be a long weekend. We commenced to sit through a lecture on the bus for the remaining time to Granada, our first stop… and to every stop thereafter.
We spent Thursday and Friday morning in Granada, where we saw the famous Alhambra. The Alhambra and surrounding gardens, Generalife, was beautiful. Apparently, it was slated to be considered for one of the Seven Wonders of the World, except some king had built something in the middle of it that did not match the original architecture, so it could no longer be considered. As the heat of the day approached, we reloaded our bus and drove a few more hours to Sevilla, where we remained until Sunday morning. In Seville, we saw the third largest cathedral in the world…which we were unaware of until we were leaving and overheard an English-speaking tour guide mention the fact to some visitors as they entered. Things like this would be nice to know. We spent Friday and Saturday wandering around the city, trying to find the cheapest helado available, and fervently seeking to feed ourselves on the minimum number of euros a day: everyone’s funds are fast depleting.
Potentially the most exciting part of our stay in Seville was my discovery of cheap paella. On our way to the cathedral, we had passed several signs for paella, the cheapest of which was just five euros. For lunch, however, in an effort to save money, we went to el Corte Inglés, which is like an extremely upscale Spanish version of Wal-Mart. Even the Wal-Marts here are fancy! Anyways, we bought an assortment of cookies and juice, and brought our bountiful harvest back to the hotel to divvy up. Naturally, by the time dinner rolled around, I was having serious seafood cravings, and thus we set out on our quest for seafood paella. We quickly discovered that paella is a lunch dish, and apparently no one is open for dinner until after 9. We marched around the city nevertheless, passing some places with $45 paella, which was obviously not going to happen. Just as we dragged ourselves back to the hotel, there it was! Across from the hotel and Spanish Wal-Mart, lo and behold, five euro paella! We were further pleasantly surprised to discover that the small restaurant we had scouted, La Cervecería y Cafetería de la Victoria, also had free bread and free water, hot commodities here in Spain.
Sunday morning, back on the bus, laden with stashed food from our included breakfast, and with the painfully screechy voice back on the loudspeaker, we set out for Córdoba, of which we only knew that it was supposed to be the hottest city yet. We arrived in Córdoba around 2:00, just in time for everyone to be closing up for their siestas, and all of the smart people to be getting off the streets. Not us: Labarca cast us into the city, instructing us to meet at a mosque in a few hours. We devoured our cheese sandwiches and jelly packets from the hotel, and began to navigate through the city. We eventually located the mosque, which was now a cathedral which had apparently changed hands between the Muslims and Christians multiple times over the last few centuries. Unfortunately, that is approximately the depth of my knowledge on the matter, as Labarca proceeded to go on a rant about a student of hers who was sent to Korea to find a wife because he liked Chile too much and his parents would not have it. The mosque visit finally ended, and we clambered back on the bus, ready to get back to Cádiz and away from the heat of the other Andalusian cities.
It’s funny, the more time I spend in Cádiz, the more it starts to feel like St. Augustine. Returning from our weekend excursions is starting to feel more and more like escaping Atlanta. Stepping off the bus this time, I was blasted with the familiar, salty air that I have only recently been able to smell. It’s so nice to escape the hot and dusty hustle and bustle of the larger and more touristy cities and come back to our own little beach town. Today was the first day of our last week here… after our three tests on Friday, it’s off to Madrid. It will be sad to be plucked away from the sea once again, but for now, I will be focusing on enjoying these last few days on the Andalusian coast.
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