Logasasanti Andujar

... we actually make it to our appointment! We could not find the street on the map and the guy showing it to us did not answer his phone so an hour later we said forget it and decided not to go. He later called us and came to pick us up to show us the apartment and we found out it was not on our map because the building is only a year or two old. We went to the other appointments but this was by far the best apartment for a great price. We signed a lease the next day through a family owned ...

DAY 4 - Jaen, Bedmar Still full from stuffing ourselves Spanish style the night before, we were out the door by 7:25 am to catch a ride with a coworker to Bedmar. I was taking Justin to work with me, and all my students, from grades first to sixth, were eagerly awaiting his arrival. Not just because they'd get to practice English with someone new, but because they'd finally get to meet ...

So the other day I decided to take a day trip to Jaén which is only about an hour from Granada . A lively university town with about 100,000 inhabitants, the province of Jaén is the #1 producer of olives (oil) in the world! Needless to say, from an elevated point in the city, you see endless fields of olive trees in every direction that you look. Not being a major tourist destination of Andalucia like Sevilla or Granada , there is a lot to see in ...

19 de octubre     Today I was super excited, albeit nervous, because Erik was coming to visit. I made sure I had all my stuff packed and ready so that I could go to Madrid, stay the night, and then pick him up at the airport in the morning. The last time I talked to him before his flight, I promised him that I would be there at the airport when he arrived. I would be the first thing he saw when he came out from getting his luggage. Unfortunately, I still had some minor details to work out ...

... who is pretty much like our grandma) for too long and missing it, so we just went to the fairgrounds instead. There were even more people there this time than last time. This was due in part to the holiday throughout the city. The most fascinating thing was the amount of people in traditional Andalucían dress. Everywhere we looked there were women wearing extravagant dresses and (the cutest thing) every little girl we saw was wearing ...

My insomnia came back in Granada. Walking around a twelfth-century Moorish town full of gypsies after not sleeping for two days is how I imagine dropping acid to be. Home stretch now. My body is tired, and my mind is racing and wandering too far for me to follow. Some of you have postcards coming your way.

... at all forgiving. Cordoba was founded by the muslims in the 8th century, and most of the original "design" of the city and even a lot of buildings are still in tact. The original city is like a maze that is impossible to get out of unless you catch a glimpse of a landmark (like the river) and head straight towards it. The reason all of the streets are so narrow and twisty and all the buildings are very irregular is actually a very good one: shade is created. Think about it; it ...

September 4-6 As soon as we pulled into the station I made a B-line for the ticket windows. I had already booked a ferry 4 days hence sailing from Barcelona to Civitavechia (the port just north of Rome), so I had to be back in Barcelona by Friday or let my 70-euro ticket go to waste. I was planning to reserve a seat on the overnight train, but was shattered when the man with the beedie eyes behind the glass informed me it was already fully booked. "Well, what are my options? I need ...

We did Cordoba in an afternoon, and it was really cool. We visited the Mesquita, an amazing Mosque which now has a cathedral in the middle. Yeah Spanish Inquisition, putting Cathedrals in the middle of amazing Mosques. But atleast they didnt tear the entire thing down. Other than that we saw the city and the jewish quarter and whatnot, but there really isnt a whole lot to do here. But we did see one of the only midevel Jewish ...

Cordoba is an amazing little place (not really little but tiny compared to its long and rich history!!) Cordoba has a unique place in history where (for a while at least) Muslims and Catholics and Jews lived in harmony together. All studies feverishly and gained great insights into astronomy, mathmatics and medicine. The influence of all these cultures is evident everywhere in the city (notice carefully the various translations on the sign ...