SAIIE Included Day Trip to Cordoba

 Hello y'all,

Welcome back to my study abroad blog! This past Friday I got the opportunity to go on an day trip with the SAIIE program that included going to Cordoba with all seven students and our guide Samantha Chipres. Throughout this trip I got to see a bunch of beautiful sights, travel on my first train in Spain, and enjoy some wonderful tapas. 

On Friday, we woke up at the crack of dawn in order to catch our first train. This was a very interesting experience because it my was first time riding on a train in Seville. My roommate and I arrived at the train station around 8:10am meeting up with the group. When I first walked into the train station I was surprised because it basically just looked like a mini airport, which was pretty cool to see. After everyone arrived we checked the big billboard to make sure we headed to the correct train. We headed down to the platform to load the train, but when our train arrived we realized we the billboard was wrong and we were waiting for a train to Cadiz instead of Cordoba. Next thing you know our whole group was running around the train station trying to figure out what train we needed to hop on to get to Cordoba (I felt like the family that is sprinting through the airport trying not to miss their flight). Luckily, we found our train in time and were able to board. The train was sweet as the seating basically looked like a small plane. The process was very simple, and I plan on use the train as my main way of traveling during my time in Seville. I think the U.S. should look into creating a public transportation system like the one they currently have in Europe as it is very useful and such a simple process. 

We arrived in Cordoba around 10:00am and began our day of exploring the city. We first began by touring the Mezquita (Mosque - Cathedral of Cordoba). This was absolutely beautiful!!


After touring the Mosque and Samantha giving us a history lesson on its history. We then walked to the Roman Bridge of Cordoba. This was another beautiful sight that produce wonderful views a bridge!

After walking across the bridge we then got some free time to walk around the city of Cordoba. Us students did some shopping for souvenirs, and took some pictures by some flowers in on walls. Cordoba is known their annual flower festival, where flowers are placed in windows, patios, and courtyards to show the beautiful colors of their city.

After a little shopping we meant up back up as a group and got some local tapas. Cordoba is known for a couple tapas and I got to try them. There most famous tapa is Salmorejo, which is similar to a cold tomato soup but unfortunately I do not like tomatoes so I did not try this soup. Another famous tapa their know for is Flamenquin, which was a deep-fried pork roll and this was very delicious! Lastly, Cordoba is known for having giant tortilla de patatas as you can see in the picture below! These were also very good! 

Finally, we hoped back on our train an headed back to Seville. What a wonderful day it was and I am so thankful for SAIIE for taking us on this included trip to Cordoba. You could tell it was a successful day as a majority of the students took a short siesta on the way home from Cordoba. 

Adios, see you next time where I plan to talk about famous Spanish cuisine!!



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