Trip to Andalucía
This past weekend I went on my final field trip. We visited Andalucía in Southern Spain. It's a good seven hours away from León. We left at two in the morning, and everyone slept on the bus. Even I slept soundly through the entire trip. It's definitely not the same as sleeping in a nice bed, but I'm really thankful I was able to sleep at least. I was also really thankful for my nice power assist and wheelchair luggage. It made this trip so much less stressful to have the tools I needed for the journey. Being able to zip around with my luggage all on my own really made me feel whole and independent.
We visited the cities of Sevilla and Grenada. I enjoyed Sevilla a lot, but Grenada had too many hills. I was also worn out from the two previous days of excitement, so my body wasn't exactly cooperating either. Another contributing factor was the fact that I forgot one of my medications and had to go to the emergency room because I was so dizzy I couldn't see straight. I'm counting it as a win that I was able to navigate a hospital alone in Spanish and get the prescription I needed to feel better.
We saw so many different churches and cathedrals in Andalucía that they've all run together in my mind. I thought it was pretty cool to see the tomb of Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colón as he's called in Spain) at the Catedral de Sevilla. His bones have travelled almost as much dead as they did alive. He has been exhumed and reburied a number of times in three different countries, oceans away from each other, but this is supposedly his final resting place.
The churches and cathedrals in Andalucía are much more decorated than those I've visited in Northern Spain. I love stained glass, and there were plenty to be seen in pretty much all of them, but the decorations could be a bit overwhelming for me. I did love seeing the huge organs everywhere with so many pipes and adornments. I wish I could have heard one of them playing. I'm sure it would have been absolutely magnificent.
All of the churches have statues of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, of course, and the ones in Andalucía were decorated extensively. I thought the pretty dresses where all so beautiful. I'm not a Catholic, so I don't claim to understand all the symbolism of everything, but I can appreciate beauty wherever I find it, and there are few things as beautifully decorated, in my opinion, as are images of the Virgin Mary in a Catholic church.
Speaking of pretty dresses, Flamenco dancers are common in Andalucía, and you could see them performing in the streets at various places. In fact, I actually ran into a poor tourist because I was distracted watching a dancer. I don't embarrass easily, but I was definitely embarrassed! Anyway, I love the dresses they wear for the dance, though I'm actually not all that into the dance itself (says the girl who ran over someone because she was distracted by a dance). It's not as beautiful as I thought it would be. The dresses are more beautiful than the dance to me.
The Catedral de Granada had a much different style than most I've seen. They usually have more of a yellow and bronze color scheme, but this one had a more white and gold style. It was refreshing to see, and I got in for free because I'm in a wheelchair. I never complain about the few perks I manage to get along the way considering all the barriers I usually encounter. They also had an audio guide you could download onto your phone to hear about all the different things and what they were about. I was again fascinated by the organs. This had organs on both sides of the mass hall and another besides. It was just beautiful!
This cathedral was also more open and spacious, I thought. The picture doesn't do justice to the size of these pillars. They're about as big around as my bedroom, and so tall they look like white, stone, sequoia trees. I'm fascinated by how they must have built this building. Cathedrals are obviously built to last, and many of them do last for centuries and centuries.
I tend to prefer the ambiance of the smaller churches to the huge cathedrals. They seem to have a quiet, calming feeling to them that's less boastful and more centered around finding God rather than advertising and appealing to humans. Not to say I don't enjoy visiting the cathedrals, but unless it was a private mass or something, even if I were a Catholic, I'd opt for a smaller, warmer church over a huge cathedral. I believe God can find us wherever we are if we reach out to Him though, so at the end of the day, I'm sure it's the prayer in the heart of the seeking person more than the building they're praying in.
We wrapped up the four-day trip late in the afternoon on Monday and travelled back to León overnight. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep quite as well that time, so I didn't make it to school the next morning. Overall, it was a nice trip and a wonderful chance to visit an area of Spain I probably would otherwise never have the chance to visit. With only a week of school left now, I'm already making plans for my return trip to the States. It's amazing how fast time has flown!
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