The high speed train is the only way to go.  It only took me 45 minutes to get from Sevilla to Cordoba which was great because I had not booked a room there and needed to go searching.  A security guard pointed me in the direction of the old part of town, the Juderia, and I started walking.  I only got about halfway when I had to break fo lunch, and give my back a break from my bags.  I chilled in a park creating my two sandwiches with the help of my pocket knife.  I continued walking and eventually asked some lady directions to the cathedral and she told me about a cheap place to stay.  Turns out that I had seen it online but didn?t book there.  So by chance he had one room left, and for 24 euro I got a double bed and a full bathroom all to myself? I wasn?t going to lug my bags any further.  So I settled in then took a walk.  After I saw the cathedral or Mezquita as it?s more commonly known, I tried walking around the Juderia.  I was basically lost for a good two hours but I didn?t have a specific direction in mind anyway.  I hit up a grocery store and bought the next day?s breakfast and lunch and found some cool fountains.  The one that is all misty in the pictures is where a few kids were riding their bikes through.  It?s fun to people watch now and then.             I headed back to my room, caught up on my journal, had a snack while I watched some tv, then passed out around 10:30.  The hostel owner had told me that there was going to be free entrance to most of the tourist sites the next day so I was going to get my rest.  Friday morning I got up at 8:30 and had my canned fruit cocktail for breakfast then headed to the Mezquita.  It was pretty wild inside, as far as the architecture goes.  It was nice because there were very few people so I got some pretty good pics. Complete Journal

Well, on Sunday night I bit the bullet and planned out all of what you?re about to read.  Tuesday afternoon I hopped on a plane headed for Seville in Andalusia (southern Spain).  The flight went well and I caught a bus to the center of the city where I immediately heard two girls speaking English, go figure, and asked them for directions.  I had a little trouble finding the hostel as it was down its own alley, but once I got there I was impressed.  I arrived just before 9 pm and checked into my 3 bed room, with a bathroom.  I looked like a hotel as you can see in the pics.  The building was like a series of layered courtyard that was open to the outdoors on the top floor.  Right after I unpacked a little bit, I headed up to the rooftop terrace where I met about five other kids; one from Westchester, NY, two from Toronto, and two from England.  We sat there until just after midnight, then a few of us decided to go out.  I wanted to get up early and do the tourist thing, but you only live once.  So we asked the guy at the desk and headed out to a few streets where people were just mulling around having some beers and chatting.  Scoot, Roxy, and Shaadi (from UCLA) and Bruno (Westchester) and I found this tiny bar where you literally had to order and walk out cuz there was no room.  After, we hit up another and met with some other people staying at our hostel.  We headed home at around 3:30. Somehow, I got up at 8, trying not to wake the other two kids in my room, and then I headed out to see the city.  My first stop was the Roman Aqueducts which the map graphic made out to be much cooler than it really was.  I wondered around the old neighborhood for a while then met up with the UCLA crew and we headed to the Cathedral.  It?s the third largest in the world.  We climbed the Giralda bell tower, the only part of the original Moorish mosque left.  You climb ramps instead of stairs and I read that it was built this way to that two horsemen could pass abreast no problem.  After the Cathedral we headed to the other side of the square to the Alcazar, or Royal Palace.  It is actually the home of the current king and queen of Spain when the visit Sevilla.  We explored the 12th century part, checking out the Arab map tapestries and saw a bunch of mudejar architecture before chilling out in the gardens for about an hour.  We left in search of food, which took almost an hour, and most of us had a Fritura Sevillana, or plate of fried fish.  Not bad, other than the fact that it took more than an hour to get once we ordered! After lunch the others took a siesta and I went off on my own, looking for a park on the map.  I ended up going in the wrong direction and wandered around asking directions now and then, finally finding in about an hour, only to see that it was completely torn up for the construction of Sevilla?s first metro line.  Slightly disappointed, I walked toward the Roman city wall.  About two blocks away, I became a victim of a pigeon taking target practice.  Right on my shoulder!  I did what I could with my water bottle and a newspaper then found a Pizza Hut and spent about 15 mins in the bathroom scrubbing my white shirt.  Oh well.  The Roman wall was like most of the others I?ve seen, impressive none the less, so I walked along the river checking out the crazy suspension bridge they have over the Darro River.  We had tentative plans to go to a flamenco show around 8 so I headed back to the hostel for a shower.  We ended up sharing a few bottles of wine then at 10:30 we went out for tapas, an Andalucian specialty.

Well, last Wednesday I went to Tossa de Mar on my day off.  I caught the 8:15 bus (the earliest I´ve gotten up here in BCN as I dont have class til 11:30) and arrived in Tossa at quarter of 10.  I waited for the tourist place to open and got my free map and I was on my way.  I knew the beach was gonna be great to I saved it for later and went right through town first.  The river was kind of disappointing as you can see in the pics, but then I walked along the outskirts of town making abig circle back to the bus stop.  Then I tried hiking up the hill to find the Moorish watchtower.  I had to go past these tourist apartments and stumbled upon the ancient Roman Villa ruins which were not all that much to see, but interesting none the less.  I couldn´t get in cuz it´s not tourist season yet, but as you can see I got a decent view from the hill.  I kept heading up then the road ended.  I was a little confused as there was only a hidden trail going into the woods and I couldn´t see the tower.  After checking the map, it was def there, I decided to go in and sure enough, I came out at the base of the tower.  Unfortunately, I couldn´t climb it but I got some cool pics from that altitude.  I went back down the way I came and made my way through some ramndom blocks of the city, roughly in the direction of the main church.  I followed the map to a "place of interest" that wasn´t that interesting then decided to explore.  I found a huge staircase leading to a road that looked pretty high up.  Sure enough I could see the whole city when I got up there.  I followed this girl walking her dog on a dirt path, hopping chain which made me a little worried, but I´m glad I did.  We came toa construction site but there was a short path right to the edge of the cliffs.  It was amazing.  There were jagged rock shears, cacti, crazy plants and beautiful green water.  I walked along the coast for a while taking a bunch of pics.  It was soo nice that day.  It just smelled like summer, flowers, and the ocean.  It was nice to be outside of the city and all the noise and get some fresh air.  Being on the water was a bonus.  So after a while I wandered down through an expensive neighborhood and was at the base of the midevil city.  I chose a direct root to the beach but once there, decided to turn toward the old city wall.  As I rounded the first corner on that hill, there was a staircase leading off onto the rocks right on the water.  Needless to say, I sat there taking pics and ate my lunch for about half an hour.  I caught some sun and took about a 40 min nap with the waves crashing just below my feet.  It was fantastic.  After I woke up I headup up into the old city and walked all over.  At the top there was a lighthouse, wich a museum I chose not to see, and it was really park-like.  I decended into the village where about 80 tiny houses were sitting inside the wall then went to a little secluded beach on the other side of the old city.  There I was able to walk out on the rocks again.  It was wierd.  There were random manmade steps here and there as if it was a frequently traveled path.  I hopped out as far as I could go and just watched the waves for a while.  After I had my fill, I found my way to the main Church which was gorgeous inside.  When I was leaving it was getting pretty cloudy so I took the Paseo del Mar past the main beach to a third small beach and took a few shots before the rain started.  I just got back to the center of town, around 5 when the skies opened up.  I popped into a store, got a danish and a bottle of red wine and found a huge awning infront of a chinese place that was being renovated.  I sat there for almost an hour writing the days event in my journal before I headed to the bus station.  I had to wait there for about 45 mins but it was raining so I didn´t care much.  Plus I was real tired from walking around all day.  I think I like this place better than Girona.  It was so nice to be right on the water.  If you ever get to Barcelona, check it out!