A través de Andalucía

These past couple weeks I have explored some local spots of extreme beauty. Some insane architecture and beautiful views -- the south of Spain is filled with hidden treasures.


This is the tower of the cathedral/mosque in Córdoba. Originally this was a Moorish mosque from the 8th century, built by a series of Muslim leaders who made their legacy by adding their own portion to the mosque. Once the Spanish Catholics conquered Córdoba, they put a cathedral inside of the mosque -- making this building the ultimate symbol of Andalucía, a combination of Muslim and Catholic influence. It is absolutely beautiful. See for yourselves...


I know it's a little blurry, but the arches are so pretty...


More arches...


This is the cathedral -- so different from the mosque.


The Alhambra! This is where a lot of upper-level military officials lived (right side) and also where they kept arms (left side).


All the walls are so pretty, so intricately made... this is the inside of one of the towers and, like all of them, it's so beautiful.


Close-up of the walls; look at all the calligraphy and detailing!


We went to the beach, but it wasn't quite as hot and sunny as we hoped. However, it was a beautiful view from the top of this huge rock.

Life outside of architecture: Mostly I've been eating ice cream, now that the heladerías have opened for the season and enjoying the sun which has finally peaked out of the rain clouds. Spring break starts this weekend! I leave on Wednesday after classes for Málaga and fly from there to Rome early Thursday morning. Lucky me, my class on Thursday was canceled and I never have class on Fridays! I'm spending a couple days in Rome, a few more in Venice, and the rest of the week in Ireland with my best friend from school. Once I get back, 8 more weeks left in the semester! Time has flown by... I have lots of travel plans left though: Morocco for 5 days with my program, Paris for a weekend, a couple beach trips and four of my friends are coming to visit me here in Granada. And at the end of the semester, my parents are coming to Granada and we're spending a week and a half in Barcelona. But back to the present: I have two midterms this week and then it's off to Italy!