Ben in Spain

This post will be a little different because I am writing this one not steph. The I that I am refering to is Ben. Steph's asleep so I thought I would take advantage of her blog and tell you all what an incredible week I have had in Spain. The first part of that is not true...steph is on the couch next to me but the second part...the awesomeness in Spain is completely true. You didn't really think steph would let me post something on her blog without looking at it did you? This week has been amazing. Weather in the 80's and sunny and blue sky every day...perfect! We have spent the week traveling around sevilla looking at all kinds of amazing buildings and gardens. The Alcazar, an old royal palace, has an incredibly huge garden that steph, ashley and I got to walk through. The best part was a maze like structure made from a series of 5 foot high hedges. Steph and I were all by ourselves in it and running around like little kids. It was great. We went to the top of the tallest building in Sevilla and looked out on the city as well. It was beautiful to see all the places we had visited throughout the week. Today we went to Cadiz and sat on the beach all day. The waters were a deep blue-green and the sun felt amazing. This whole week has been awesome. From the food to the personal tour guide in steph, I have enjoyed every moment here in Spain. Sadly I leave tomorow morning very early and your prayers are much appreciated.

-Ben

2 field trips in one day? si, claro.

Despite being unseasonably chilly (the sevillanos don't know what to do with themselves and the cold weather), I had not one, but 2 FIELD TRIPS today. This morning, my art and architecture class went to the cathedral. It is the 3rd largest cathedral in europe and is actually the largest gothic style cathedral in europe. After that my friend, Deidre and I (shout-out to her parents who read my blog!) went to the cafe de indias (a coffee chain here but with better prices and yummier desserts than starbucks) to have coffee and chat. I love the relaxed way of life here. Then, I went to my afternoon class, religion. I generally don't like the class because I don't like having to go back to school and even though the teacher is a nice man, he's really scattered. No one knew it, but he surprised us with a field trip. We took a walking tour of El Barrio Santa Cruz, the old Jewish Quarter. Its characterized by extremely tiny, narrow streets that are really cool to explore. I've been there before with friends and also with my art class, but the class voted and obviously we could not pass up a way to get out of class. It spit rain a little bit, but he did add a little bit more info than what I have already learned, so that was good. He showed us a restaurant that used to be the location of Islamic baths. It was really cool and i'm planning on taking my visitors there!





These pictures aren't mine, but I just wanted to let you see them! The cathedral.

Cathedral again.

A street in El Barrio Santa Cruz.

Germany Pics cont

Part of the city of Frankfurt with a giant euro statue.

View from the castle.

In the courtyard of the castle.

With the wine barrel.

Across the river with the bridge, town, and castle in the background.

The castle.

Erica and I with our lunch!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Frankfurters in Frankfurt!

Germany

This past weekend I went to Germany with Ashley and one of our other roommates, Erica. We were able to find cheap tickets to Frankfurt, so that's where our adventure began. When we arrived Friday afternoon, we were starving. Our hostel was great with really nice staff who directed us across the river to a very traditional German restaurant. We all tried apfelwein which is the drink of Frankfurt. As the name suggests, its an apple wine. However, it was more "beer-y" tasting and kind of sour. We ordered schnitzel Frankfurt style which meant there was a 7 herb green sauce and also a fried fish filet.

We toured a Jewish museum, napped, and explored the old town that night.

On Saturday, we took a day trip to Heidelberg, which was about a 1.5 hour train ride away from Frankfurt. Heidelberg was definitely the highlight of my trip to Germany. While I'm happy I got to see a big city like Frankfurt, Heidelberg is a quaint town. Its what I would picture in my head as a typical, older German town. We toured the Heidelberg castle. It was beautiful and once again I find myself at a loss for words to accurately describe things. I know I won't do it any justice, hopefully the pictures will help. The castle is tucked into the mountains and overlooks the town. The view was breath-taking even though it was a little hazy. It was chilly, but not cold, and there were still a few patches of snow on the ground. The castle is beautiful even though some of it is in ruins due to cannons in the 1600s. There were walls covered with ivy surrounding it, long paths of grass going in every direction, and what used to be the old moat. During our tour, we were able to go inside and to different patios that were not accessible with the general ticket. Our tour ended in the wine cellar where they have the largest wine barrle thing in europe. The castle was the perfect place to imagine being a princess! I can only imagine what it would look like in the spring with the gardens in full bloom.

After the castle we had a German lunch at a small restaurant in the center. I had bratwurst and sauerkraut. yum! We strolled around, did some tourist shopping, and ventured to the other side of the river. The view from across the river looking across to the town and up at the castle was awesome.

Saturday night we went on a hunt for frankfurters because we desperately wanted to have frankfurters in frankfurt! But, we failed. We asked the staff at the hostel and they suggested a place for sunday afternoon. On Sunday, the place was closed, but 10 minutes later, it opened! It was a gift from God! The frankfurters were great, and even better since we were in frankfurt. The trip back to Spain on Sunday was of course a long one, but completely worth it.

Our German feast for lunch. The green sauce is the Frankfurt sauce.

Architecture at the Alcazar

Today for my art class, we met early at 10:30 and walked about 5 min to the alcazar palace. Its an important example of mudejar architecture. It was really interesting to see the Islamic techniques and characteristics and then the differences in architecture as later kings added on. For example, on the main walls there was arabic and it looked very muslim. Then, we went upstairs to a gothic cathedral portion. My favorite part was the main garden. We didn't spend much time there because our teacher had to get back for her next class, but I'm planning on going back because I get in free with my student id. We had been in the darker rooms and touring the inside and we finally stepped out onto a large patio with a waterfall falling right in front of us. After being inside, the sun was so bright! It was beautiful. There were palm trees everywhere, potted plants along all the walls, ivy, plants that I don't know the name of, and fountains. It was breath-taking. I love that this has been college for the past month. I can't wait for the next 3 months and more field trips.

Bible study

Today was another really sunny day! I love it. I went to lunch with 2 of my apartment mates and another friend. I also booked an overnight trip to Barcelona at the end of March. Tonight we had Bible study. Its really cool to meet up with a bunch of believers from all different programs and attending different universities here. We met at a cafe and had prayer time and a small message/devotional. Ashley and I offered our roof for next week. There's some really good galletas (cookies) that are more cracker-like that we love. We can buy a big 4 pack for 90 eurocents. Being the fabulous hostesses that we are, we're going to make a big investment and buy a pack to serve on the roof. I'm really looking forward to next week. God is good!

my day today

Since I don't feel like doing the TONS of homework I have in Spain (not really), I thought I'd share my day today. It wasn't anything special, but it was beautiful. My art and architecture class was the usual. On wednesday, instead of class, we are taking a tour of the Alcazar. Its a palace in Sevilla. Once again, I'm really looking forward to going somewhere that we've discussed in class. And, the weather is so beautiful that its nice to walk around for "class" and not sit in a class. For my break between classes, Ashley and I came home for lunch and to hang out. After lunch, we went up on the roof and read. It was so warm up there! Everyone, BE JEALOUS. I think today was about 70 degrees, but definitely hot in the sun, especially up on the roof. I'll be honest, I don't really like my religion class on mon and wed afternoons because the teacher is not that great and all the information is jumbled. I hope to actually learn something, but as of now, its not looking too bright. The class usually drags on, but today it went quickly. Ash and I stopped at home and then we decided to explore the other side of the river. All along the river there were groups of people hanging out and getting some sun. It was so great. We walked a while on our side and then took one of the main bridges over. The side we live on is the more historic center, the other side is called Triana and there are more apartments. We stopped for some delicious Dulce de Leche ice cream with brownies. yum! It ended up being over a 2 hour walk! It was really fun and relaxing. This evening I skyped with a bunch of people. If you have skype, friend me. My name is stephsteph.randolph

Bed time! love,
stephanie