Plus, Mom and I found this restaurant that served pasta with saffron and shrimp in it. It was incredible. We went back two nights in a row to order the same thing. Mom usually never allows us to do that because she always wants to try new things, however, she made an exception with this place because that pasta was just so amazing.
After Sevilla we moved onto Granada. Both Mom and I felt that Granada was kind of ugly in comparison. The photo is of me and my mom in the Alhambra, in front of the cool lion fountain. The Alhambra is spectacular, of course. The detail work is incredible. The amount of time it must have taken to chisel out the decorations on all the columns and walls. Not a single wall was left bare it seemed like. And lots of fountains and running water. We walked so much, my feet were killing me. At the end of that day we had dinner in a bar where they were playing the Real Madrid vs. Barca game. The bar was almost evenly divided between Madrid and Barca fans, and the game ended up being an exhibition for the stars of the two teams (Ronaldo for Madrid, Messi for Barca) with both the players scoring all the goals for their team, with the game ending in a 2-2 draw.
We then spent 3 nights in my home, Cordoba, where Mom did all the touristy things while I was in class, which was nice. We got back Monday, and my host mother took us that afternoon to a town called Priego, which is this gorgeous, historic little pueblo about an hour outside of Cordoba. The photo is of me, my host mom Araceli, my host sister Mery, and Mery's study abroad student Kasumi from Japan. All the buildings in the town are stark white, and it just was so cute. My host family has told me that of the students they've had that have no background in Spanish, I speak the best Spanish. These kind of things make me happy. Also, while my mom was here, as long as I spoke, nobody asked me if I wanted an English menu or anything. However, as soon as my mom spoke they would start speaking in English. I'm making my way up in the world of speaking Spanish.
Then this weekend we headed off to Madrid, with a day trip to Toledo on Friday. I have to say, Toledo is probably my favorite city in Spain. It is just so medieval, and they are known for their swords. Any city that is known for swords is my kind of place. I got a shield with two swords crossed behind it that I can hang on my wall. I love it. The shield is the shield of Spain. Something to have with me always. I have no pictures of it, but it is awesome.
Since my mom can bring home things in her suitcase, I have gotten 80% of my Christmas shopping done. I'm so stoked about that. The week I have home before Christmas can be spent relaxing instead of rushing around trying to buy everyone's gifts.
Madrid to me, is the city of desserts. And I have successfully hit all of my favorite dessert places here. Crepes two nights in a row, churros con chocolate this morning, and a napolitana this afternoon. Unfortunately, when my mom leaves I will have to go back to my dessert once a week rule. And I should start running more regularly. I'm going to die when I get back on campus and have to start playing squash for hours every day. The first week isn't going to be pretty. Lots of dry heaving on court I'm sure. Mom did drag me to El Prado, the art museum here. There were two paintings of men riding horses that I loved, one of St. George slaying the dragon, and the other of a Duke of Lerma. However, my dislike of art museums has not faded at all since I was 6 going to art museums on our first Europe trip. So many religious paintings. All of Jesus either on the cross or bleeding from the crown of thorns. I wish there was more variety amongst old paintings. But anything is better than the current trend of modern "art" we have nowadays. Ick.
Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything important. Monstrous sized post I know, but I had a lot of stuff happen this past week.
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