[ad_1]
Alexandra Goodin, ’25, is a Psychology major and Spanish minor studying abroad at Nebrija University in Madrid this Fall 2023.
This past weekend was my second-to-last in Madrid, and my last weekend trip. We only had school Monday and Tuesday last week, and so had a nice long weekend to end the trips with a bang. My good friend Anna and I made the ambitious decision to go to three cities in Andalucía, the southern region of Spain, in basically five days. It involved a lot of moving from one air bnb to another, and walking with heavy duffel bags, but it was absolutely worth it! Here’s a summary of our time in each city.
First Stop: Granada
On Tuesday evening, we took a *lovely* five-hour bus ride from Madrid to Granada. (Yes, we’re budget travelers and will always choose the cheapest option.) We didn’t get into the city until 9:30pm, so by the time we got to our air bnb, all we wanted was a quick dinner and to go to bed!
Wednesday morning, we headed out to explore the city, with our main destination being La Alhambra. La Alhambra is a famous, ancient complex of palaces, fortresses, and gardens that is a great preservation of Islamic architecture. We spent hours walking around and taking in all of the gorgeous nature. Pictures below!
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-13.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-14.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-15.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-16.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-19.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-20.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
Below is the Palace of Carlos V, which began construction in 1527 and was not finished until over a hundred years later. Even though it’s called Carlos V’s palace, he nor any other monarch ever lived in it, and it was completely roofless until the 1960s (as you can see, it’s still mostly roofless!).
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-17.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-18.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-21.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
We spent the rest of the evening exploring the city and sampling tapas from lots of different places – Granada is famous for its tapas! We saw a beautiful sunset and night view of La Alhambra. The city also had a ton of beautiful Christmas lights, which definitely got us in the holiday spirit.
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-23.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-24.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-22.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
Thursday morning, after checking out of our air bnb, we went to Granada’s cathedral before heading off to Seville in the early afternoon. The cathedral was absolutely beautiful, but also pretty crowded. If you ever want to visit, I would definitely recommend buying tickets ahead of time; it saved us a lot of time waiting!
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-25.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-26.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
Stop #2: Seville
Thursday afternoon we got on a three-hour bus from Granada to Seville, our shortest stop of the trip (we were only in the city for about 24 hours). We checked into our airbnb before heading back into the center of the city to explore and have dinner. We got to see the beautiful Plaza de España at night, and were hoping to get paella for dinner, but learned the hard way that you have to call ahead to order paella in a lot of places. Nevertheless, dinner was still delicious, and night exploring was very fun, even though it started to rain!
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-27.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-28.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
The next morning, we made sure to get up early, since it was really our only day in Seville; our train to Córdoba was at 5:35pm. We made our way toward the Royal Alcázar (fortress) of Seville, stopping in shops on the way. Seville, and truthfully all of Andalucía, is pretty famous for its orange products, so we stopped in an orange-themed store, where we were able to sample different orange jams and spreads!
The Alcázar was absolutely beautiful, and if we hadn’t had any other places we wanted to go (or a train to catch!) I think we could’ve stayed there forever. Construction started on the Alcázar in the tenth century, so there’s a ton of amazing history there as well.
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-29.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-30.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-31.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-32.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-33.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
We also wanted to see the beautiful Plaza de España during the day time, so after grabbing an orange drink (it had to be done), we wandered over there. It was much more crowded during the day, full of people, music, and horse-drawn carriages. We spent some time there before heading to the train station for our final leg of the trip!
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-34.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-35.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-36.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
Last Stop: Córdoba
Last but not least on our Andalucía Extravaganza (as we affectionately dubbed it) was Córdoba. We made our way from the train station to our hotel, which was in a great location right by the river and tons of local restaurants and shops. After checking in, we had a nice dinner and then headed back to work on some homework! I’ve been lucky enough to not have to bring homework on any of my other trips (thank you, Nebrija!) but since this trip was right before finals, it was kind of inevitable.
Saturday morning we had tickets for Palacio de Viana, which was home to various lords and other nobility from 1425 to 1980. Since then, it has been a museum open to the public, famous for its various beautiful patios, which are very popular in Córdoba as a whole. We spent a while exploring and taking in all the gorgeous nature on each of the patios!
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-37.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-38.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-39.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-40.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
While walking, we stumbled upon the ruins of a temple from the days of ancient Roman Córdoba. From the late first century BC to the end of the second century AD, Córdoba was actually a huge center of the Roman Empire, and reminders such as these ruins still exist today!
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-41.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
Our next stop was the Mezquita-Catedral (Mosque-Cathedral) of Córdoba, which is probably one of the city’s biggest attractions. The building was first built as a mosque in the late 700s, and was converted to a cathedral after the Christian invasion in 1146. It was absolutely breathtaking inside, and was quite extensive as well! We spent a lot of time just wandering and admiring.
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-42.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-43.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-44.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
We then wandered across the bridge over the Guadalquivir River to get some lunch, before going into the Tower of La Calahorra. The Tower was built sometime in the twelfth century, and over the years has served a variety of functions, such as a prison, girls’ school, and now museum!
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-45.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-47.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-48.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-49.png?resize=925%2C694&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-46.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
We ended our busy day with another delicious dinner! The next morning was our last one in Córdoba, so we made sure to get out the door early for some final wanderings. We really did end up in a great location in Córdoba, so we stayed local to our hotel, grabbing some food and popping into shops for the last time.
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-50.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/studyabroadblog.drexel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-51.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
We checked out of our hotel at noon and headed to the bus station, which was a bit of a journey (we had to take two buses, which was actually easier than expected!). Our bus ride back was five long hours (it ended up being more with traffic), so we did a combination of sleeping, staring out the window, and homework until we arrived back in Madrid.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about my five days in the south of Spain! It’s been a lot of fun to visit so many new places from Madrid throughout this fall. Be sure to come back for my LAST blog post as I reflect on my study abroad experience and share my final thoughts!
[ad_2]