Andale, Andale! Mami, Sevilla y Barcelona~~ oh oh~

I've been to Sevilla a few times. (My relatives live about an hour away by bus, so it's an easy ride there.) I was like "ok, Plaza de Espana, it's nice, I know". But I never checked out the Alcazar. And it was really beautiful! I absolutely LOVE Islamic architecture, and Moorish style art. (Like the Alhambra Palace in Granada... pure gorgeous!) Anyway, The Alcazar was exactly that! Makes me wanna say, "Thank you ancient Romans for pushing them away to the South of Spain, cuz, now, Andalucia is as beautiful as ever!"

So here we are, in Sevilla: The Cathedral, and Plaza de Espana.


Then we headed to Alcazar. My first time in there. From the outside, you think it's tiny inside, but NOOO~~~~. It's HUGE! The buildings are amazing, the inner patios are beautiful (like the patio of the doll, where a face is hiding somewhere) and the garden is SO LUSH!



See all this Moorish architecture? I absolutely LOVE these fine carvings... Reminded me of the Alhambra Palace :) (Which is one of my favorite places in the world.) I can't believe someone actually MADE THIS by hand! People are incredible.

These are some fountains of the Garden:

I remember when I went to Granada, I was told that they built the Palace keeping "water" in mind. That no matter where you were- you could hear water trickling... I think they had that same concept here too. If I were a gajillionaire, this is how I would want my garden to look. I don't care too much for grand fountains (those are nice too) but I just can't get enough of these small fountains with water trickling down the center of the path. I can't get enough!



And Sevilla had some of the CUTEST CATS EVER!


Aren't they ADORABLE? They were in two totally different parts of Sevilla, but they were sleeping the same way <3 so coochie coochie coo! It must be in the water? hehe

And I found this black cat at the Plaza de Espana. Mini-photo shoot session with this one. I think it was even posing for me! I love how this picture turned out :) hehe.

Hotel Alfonso:

No, we didn't stay here :( We live only an hour away, no need for hotels! But we decided to take a break here cuz my Dad wanted to show us the interior of this Hotel. Absolutely gorgeous. Makes me so proud to be Spanish! and especially ANDALUCIAN! andale andale~!


We also checked out Barcelona. It was everyone's second visit except Marina. That's why we wanted to go. To show her the BEAUTY, that is Barcelona.
But first, we got on a train to go se Montserrat and the Monestary there.


Se're standing on architecture built on CLIFFS like the ones you see behind us! I guess monks, fathers, brothers and religious folk just wanted to stay away! To think that before they had trains, they had to WALK or take a carriage... WOW!


I think these rocks (above) are called "The Three Sisters". To me, they looked like praying hands.


There was a cross in the distance (I have a pretty awesome zoom lens!) and you can see into the distance. boo-tee-ful.




So this is the Church there. The Church of our Lady of Monserrat. It's even a place people come on pilgrimages, so you KNOW it's gotta be good. My mom kept saying "I wish Abuela (my Dad's mom- so my grandma from my Spanish side) was here to see it." And I wished the same thing :)


Now, I've been to many MANY churches, Cathedrals, and even the Vatican... so I was like "ok, I've seen enough gold, you ain't gon' surprise me!" but I was so wrong, again. (I need to stop thinking I won't be surprised.) You walk through narrow hallways to get to this little room where they have the "The Black Maria". Then, ALL OF A SUDDEN, you're in a tiny room SPARKLING GOLD! And behind you, you can see the church. No WONDER ppl would cross mountains, and climb those hills on pilgrimage to get here. I would! I wanted to just sit there forever, but people were coming behind me too, and I had to share this wonderful moment with them too... but geez! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Really makes you realize how much money and power the Christian Church had! (and still does...)


So outside, there were tons and tons of candles. My mom bought one for our Abuela, and to pray for the happiness and health of our family... awww~ makes me teary just thinking about it...


Last day, we went around the city of Barcelona~~~


The Sagrada Familia.


This was taken from the Sagrada Familia tower. I freakin' LOVE Barcelona.

Guel Park:

The famous mosaic lizard and the stone woman. Gaudi is pure genius.
There are a lot of Spanish GENIUS' don't you think? (ehem, me? ehem)


We take awesome family photos! ;)



I love the tile mosaic patio/terrace. I just love the whole freakin' park. I can't believe Gaudi was making this for people to LIVE IN! Gets my imagination going.... if I were a millionaire... I would SO live here.


And I'd like to end this blog with an awesome picture of my brother! Can he say Cheese ball?