Spain: North and South

Hello Everyone!

I’ve spent the past few weeks on the road. I went to Andalucía in the South of Spain through Uni Leon’s AEGEE program and then to Galicia in the North of Spain to visit fellow Holy Cross Crusaders.

Seeing these two distinct areas of Spain back to back was a great experience. The South was under caliphate rule until the 15th century when the Catholic Kings reconquered the south. Therefore, southern cities have a unique mixture of architectural styles. For instance, the Mezquita de Córdoba was used as a Mosque until the Reconquest when it was converted into a Catholic Church. In the picture below, for example, the arches of the bottom half were part of the Mosque and the upper half was added by the Christians.

On the AEGEE trip we visited Granada and saw the Alhambra. Then, in Sevilla, we went to the Giralda, the Cathedral with the tomb of Christopher Columbus, the Real Maestranza, and the Plaza de España (For any Star Wars fans out there: the Plaza de España is where Anakin and Padmé are when they arrive in Naboo in Episode II.) After Sevilla we went to Cádiz, the oldest city of Spain, and then Córdoba to see La Mezquita.

La Mezquita de Córdoba

View of Sevilla from the top of the Giralda

As you may know, Holy Cross offers three program sites in Spain: A Coruña, León, and Palma de Mallorca. Each location has distinct cultures and even differences in language. Since many Coruña Holy Cross students will be headed back to Mt. St. James next semester, the Holy Cross Leoneses decided to go to Galicia for our last weekend in Spain. The north of Spain has a lot of similarities with Ireland. It has a similar climate with dark green grass and deep blue ocean views. Galicia was also settled by the Celts and therefore has cultural similarities as well, including the bagpipe, superstitions, and legends of witches.

Since we had been traveling the week before and will be traveling again this week, we had a relaxing time in Coruña. We walked along the ocean, visited the Tower of Hercules (built in the 2nd century, the Tower of Hercules is the oldest functioning lighthouse in the world), and did a little bit of hiking to see some gorgeous views of the city, landscape, and seascape. Mostly though, we spent the weekend eating. Since it’s right on the ocean, A Coruña has wonderful seafood (especially octopus) and some great pastry shops. It was great to see everyone again, reminisce about our time in Pamplona, talk about our respective host sites, and simply enjoy being with good friends and good food.

Holy Cross with the famous Coruña octopus

When the sun comes out Coruña has beautiful views of the ocean

On Friday I leave for yet another trip so I won’t be able to post for awhile. Over the next few weeks I’ll be in Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Madrid, Segovia, León, Sevilla, Córdoba, and Málaga.

Happy Holidays!

Ali

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2015 at 7:09 pm and is filed under Spain, Spanish, Spanish Major, Study Abroad. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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