From October 26 to October 31, 2006 I travelled together with a whole bus of exchange students to Andalusia, which is an autonomous region in the South of Spain.
We left Barcelona on Thursday at night from Plaza Catalunya and arrived in Sevilla on Friday at 12:00 am. In the afternoon we strolled through the historic part of the city and went to enjoy some "tapas".
Quite surprising for me that I met 3 very sympathetic girls at the journey who also come from AUSTRIA and study at UAB in Barcelona!
Of course we had to go for a coffee! Unfortunately I cannot recommend Spanish coffee as it cannot be compared with Viennese coffee CULTURE.
(from left to right: Lea, Iris, Kathi)
At night, Spanish Party Culture: In Spain you don't need to enter a discothec or bar before at the earliest at midnight. So we spent the hours before in a park and mixed our own cocktails. That was great fun. In Spanish you say "hacer botellón" what can be translated like "drinking from the bottle".
I found a German translation that explaines "ir al botellón" with "eine Flasche machen".
Just to get an idea about the quantities: 2 huge bowls filled with special Spanish cocktails each. In total 100 l of alcohol for 60 people!
We drank "Agua de Valencia" which is typical for Catalunya and consists of vodca, cava, sugar and orange juice and "Rebujito" which is typical for Sevilla and consists of wine and lemonade "Sprite".
Lateron we went to "Salon Sevilla" to enjoy a Flamenco performance and Erasmus party.
On the next day we visited the interior of the Cathedral of Sevilla ...
... enjoyed the marvellous view over the city ...
(from left to right: Erica (South Corea / Great Britain), me, Sabine (Germany) and Vera (Switzerland)
... the "Patio de los naranjos" ...
... and visited "Placa de España".
At night we saw another performance of Flamenco which was really breathtaking. The bar was crowded, the temperature hot, the atmosphere tense to see the spectacle. And it was really worth a visit - if you ever have the chance to see Flamenco in Andalusia - don't hesitate because you will never forget it!
On Sunday we headed to Córdoba to visit "La Catedral de Cordoba" which was originally built as an islamic mosque and transformed to a christian cathedral in 1236. Our guide was very motivated and professional. I have never had such a funny and at the same time informative and interesting guided tour of a cathedral before!
After visiting Córdoba we moved on to visit Granada where we celebrated our last party of the journey. First again "botellón", to be continued in a nice little bar that was within easy walking distance from the residence.
On Monday we visited "Palacios Nazaries" and "Alcazaba" of "La Alhambra".
