Home away from home

This is the quatrefoil fountain at the Alcazar. As part of the monuments in Seville course, we visited the Alcazar. This was my second time here, but I still found many things I did not see the first time, like this fountain! 

Tina, Sarah, and I went shopping one day after school and we found this little guy in one of the stores! He was super adorable and friendly. The woman who works in the store leaves a leash on him, so he can walk outside to say hi to people, but he can't run away. He was super cute! 

This past weekend was very relaxing. I am so fortunate to be able to spend this semester in such a beautiful and amazing place. The weather was perfect on Sunday, so Tina and I bought sandwiches and ate them by the river. The sun was out and it was awesome, especially after the many days of rain and dreariness we had been dealing with. We did some people watching and studying, while enjoying the great weather. This week we have our first exams for every class, then on Friday, we are headed to PORTUGAL for the weekend!! I am so excited!

Over the weekend, Tina and I ate lunch at The Room, which is a restaurant right across from school. We had great tapas. I had a tuna burger, which was delicious and Tina ordered hummus.

We ate dinner at the falafel place we love! We have already been there 3 times since we have been in Seville. I love falafel!

My Tuna burger with the best potato chips- they weren't greasy or too salty, they were perfect! 

Day Trip to Ronda!

This was taken from the bus- it was so beautiful & really was as green as it appears in the photo. 

The mountains were so beautiful

This is the "New Bridge" Puente Nuevo

Sarah, Tina, and I with the bridge & mountains in the background

Statue of a bull outside the bull fighting ring

The bull fighting ring in Ronda

Where the royal family sat to watch the bull fight- as the tour guide indicated- even the pillars are different in this section. They are more decorated compared to the others around the ring, which are much more simple in appearance. 

The stairs to walk up to the second floor of the bull ring

The quatrefoil is my sorority symbol & this was taken from the second floor of the bull ring

Statues outside the entrance to the bull ring

This past Friday we took a day trip to Ronda. We left around 9:30 and it took less than 2 hours to get there. We had our own tour guide who showed us the bull ring in the new part of Ronda and then, she took us to the old part of Ronda where we saw some churches and cool buildings. To get from the new part to the old part we crossed what is refereed to as the "New Bridge" or "Puente Nuevo" which was beautiful! We took lots of pictures and we could also see the mountains, which were also amazing!

Study abroad In Sevilla!

Sarah and I with the Alhambra in the background and the mountains in the distance. 

La Alhambra from the view point

One of the many entrances to the cathedral in Granada

We saw the coolest thing. This guy was playing these instruments which appear to be hand made. It sounded awesome and it was really cool to watch something so creative and different. 

Day 2 in Granada- Some people went skiing/snowboarding for the day. Everyone else walked around the city and we saw the cathedral. We walked up across from the Alhambra and had an amazing view!

Stained glass window on the ceiling in the Alhambra

I took this photo when we toured the Generalife- summer house, which is part of the Alhambra in Granada. It is so pretty because you can see the mountains through the arches. And although there were a few storm clouds it did not rain until the next day, which was nice.

A little blurry- on the way back to the center of the city after our tour of the Alhambra, we stopped to take a picture in front of this beautiful fountain!

It was sunny and beautiful when we arrived at the Alhambra! 

Arrived in Granada today!!!! We went up to the Alhambra and it was even more beautiful for te second time! It was a cold and windy day, but way worth it! Also, for dinner we went to Kabob King, which is a little restaurant my boyfriend and I went to here a few weeks ago when we were traveling together. So glad I got to go back I had been craving that falafel pita sandwhich for weeks! I absolutely love the food here in Spain!

Flashback to Granada about 3 weeks ago! Super excited to go back!

Today in Spanish Civilizations class we toured a food market. My favorite part was all the fruits and vegetables because they looked so fresh and colorful! My senora always has the best fruits and vegetables. I especially love the oranges! 

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In our artistic monuments class we toured a palace this past week and were able to see many of the structures and elements we learned about in class. 

Tina, Sarah, and I sitting by the fountain outside the Cathedral in Seville. 

Photos I took inside a beautiful church we saw yesterday!

Infront of the fountain at Plaza de Espana- one of my favorite places in Seville!

Pictures taken on the Sevilla bus tour we took through the program! 

We had amazing weather this past weekend, so we walked to Plaza de Espana and explored the gardens and walked around. It was so peaceful just to sit in the garden and watch the birds and ducks. We also bought fans from the kiosks set up on the plaza, which are so colorful and will be a great gift to bring back home with me! 

So... this week during monuments class, we were walking down the street from school to look at some buildings and a pigeon pooped on my head! It was awful!! Ewwww I told my teacher and he said that apparently is good luck haha! So I guess I will have good luck now, but I am really hoping once is enough for the 3 months I'm here! 

Fish tank at our new favorite Chinese restaurant right across from our building! The food is delicious and not very expensive! 

The best mojito I have ever had

Torre del Oro- the river here is beautiful and only about a 20 minute walk from where I live and even closer to our school!

A small section of Plaza de Espana

 A window outside of someone's home in Barrio Santa Cruz- so pretty!

Beautiful orange trees- we learned the oranges belong to the royal family, so you are not allowed to take them. But Sam also said you wouldn't really want to since they are really bitter and they use them to make marmalade not to eat. They are really pretty and you can find them almost anywhere around the city! 

A parade we saw on Saturday 

Fans I bought at Plaza de Espana

Torre del Oro

Wine <3

One of the many views of the cathedral tower (a little blurry)

We finally went to the international cerveceria Tina found online! 

Tapas for dinner- zucchini stuffed with cheese and Tortilla Espanola (soooo good!)

This is the oldest bar in Sevilla. We had to find it and take a picture during our scavenger hunt this week! The scavenger hunt was really fun because we got to run around the city looking for different things and we were able to talk to people to figure out where we needed to go to find what we were looking for. The people here are so friendly and always willing to help!

Met the girls from the winter term at the welcome party!

Kelsey and me with our sangria! :)

Bridge at night

so pretty! The view from the other side of the river

We found a rainbow on the way to school for orientation

Cafe con leche y un croissant

Plaza de Espana

Fountain in front of Plaza de Espana

More of the plaza

Even though it was a rainy day it was still so pretty

HPU in Sevilla!

We saw a flamenco show one of the first nights here

 Our building!

I finally arrived at my home for the next 3 months and met my Señora, who could not have been more welcoming! When I got there it was a big relief to know Tina, from HPU was my roommate! We are only about a 20 minute walk from the school, which will be nice. Later today we are meeting someone who will show us how to get to the school. 

Here is a picture of our cute little beds!