University of Seville Orientation and Visit to Alcazar!

Hola!

Today is the day today is the day! School is finally approaching for the University of Sevilla! We don't start until September 24th, talk about a late start, right? But, anywhos - we had our orientation today bright and early! We got to see where all our classrooms are, the cafe, and offices. FUN STUFF RIGHT? Haha.. and then we had our standard welcome speech, of course all in Spanish!

I'm excited for the University I think the classes will be a challenge, but definitely worth it, and a learning experience to have classes only be taught in spanish with native spanish professors! There's only about 6 of us from ICS program taking classes at the University, but it's cool because we'll get to meet new people :)

ICS Students at US Orientation!

My beautiful University! 

Did I mention it used to be the Old Tobacco Factory of Sevilla?

After orientation we went to Sevilla's Alcazar, better known as the "Royal Fortress" or palace! The word Alcazar is derived from the arabic word "Al Qsar" which meant "fortress." Cool, right?  It is also o1 of the 3 buildings in the Occidental World that has been in constant use for more than 1,000 years! (The other two are the "Mosque of the Rock" in Jerusalem, and the "Mosque-Cathedral" in Cordoba, Spain.) 

The Alcazar was built in the 10th century and still stands today and one of the most visited sites in Sevilla! I fell in love with the Alcazar, a lot of it is original, although some rooms have been restored or added on as history occurred. This Alcazar is the best example of "mudejar" or "hispano-arabic" art, which I know sounds boring - but I swear, it was sooo interesting and honestly amazing to see in person! There are bunch of different rooms and palaces all throughout the Alcazar.. just take a look at all the pictures below :)

Me and Hayley inside the Alcazar!

 Just hanging outside the gardens! 

Main "Mudejar" Palace - of Pedro I

This painting is called "Virgin of the Fair Winds" (La Virgen de los Buenos Aires") painted by Alejo Fernandez!

This painting was inside the "Isabelline" wing of the Alcazar - this exact room known as (Admiral's Room) is where Isabella and Ferdinand met with Columbus before he set out to discover the NEW WORLD!!!! Now, tell me that isn't cool! 

It was a wonderful, beautiful, sunny day! I couldn't of asked for a more perfect day with a great group of people, and of course our lovely guide - Judy! 

Hasta pronto!

-Ayla