Ronda was a very beautiful but tiny city. The city is strategically placed to avoid invaders. It is placed on a plateau I think. When we arrived we split into groups based off what language you preferred. I choose to join the tour in english because I feel like I will learn more that way. We walked through the city as the tour guide pointed out different things to us. We saw many mosques turned Cathedrals. Not many people know this but Spain used to be a Muslim country. When the Christians arrived they built cathedrals on top of the mosques and built other Christian traits that can be seen in the city. But you can still see a trace of the Islamic culture in these cities, especially South Spain. We went to the ruins of an Banos Arabes (Arab Bath) which was pretty cool. Muslims really stressed the importance of cleanliness. In the bath are three different rooms, one with cold water, one with hot water, and one with normal water. We also went to a bull fighting arena. Then we hopped on the bus and went to Sevilla.
In Seville we checked into our rooms, went out to eat dinner (tapas aren't free in Seville), explore the city, and went to a Flamenco show. I loved it! The dancers had so much emotion in their face. Flamenco dancing is very popular especially in the South of Spain. I wanted to take a course on it but the class was full. I love the way they play the guitar during the flamenco show. The guitarist had such flexible fingers! Afterwards, we decided to go out for a night of fun. We went to Plaza Alfalfa where there were a whole bunch of bars and people standing in the street talking and drinking. It was pretty chill. I met a few locals and had fun. We were going to go to a discoteca but I decided not to go
because my feet had swollen from all the walking we did.
The next day we went on tours of the Cathedrals, gardens, museums and such. It was interesting, a lot of fun and a lot walking! The first thing we saw was the Cathedral. The Cathedral was built from 1401-1519 after the Reconquista on the former city's mosque. It is one of the largest of all medieval and Gothic Cathedrals. When it was being built, it reused some columns and elements from the mosque and most famously the Giralda which was originally a minaret which was converted into a bell tower. The tower's interior was built with ramps rather than stairs, to allow the Muezzin and others to ride on horseback to the top. A Muezzin is a person who is chosen to lead the call of prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer. We walked to the top of the 30 foot tower in a Cathedral which surprising was not hard because it was just a long ramp. Inside the Cathedral, we saw what people in Seville believe is the grave of Christopher Columbus. The truth is nobody really knows what happened to Christopher Columbus. He and the King had issues over money after he founded the Americas and there was this whole big trial about it. Some say his bones are in Puerto Rico (I think) or some island in South America and others think they are in Spain.
We also toured the Alcazar which a royal palace from the Moorish era. It took hundreds of years to build and now its a blend of Moorish, Renaissance, and English heritage and traditions.
The trip was supposed to end on Friday but I decided to stay an extra day in Seville although I was moneyless, phone-less, camera-less, and other-less. The next day I walked around Seville some more and went to the Plaza de Espana where they host the World Fair. It was gorgeous. While I was taking pictures in front of the Plaza de Espana my shirt flew up! How many people do you know that can say they flashed the world in front of the Plaza de Espana!?
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