Andalucia part 1: Sevilla and Cordoba

We arrived in Seville in the late evening and immediately went out and got tapas and saw flamenco. Spain hits you in the face real fast.

BEFORE..

AFTER!

Through our tapas journeys, I finally convinced Dylan that anchovies are amazing, and now they have become a staple in our grocery trips, along with tinned sardines and mussels.

Anchovy sandwich with fresh cheese.

The game changer: Boquerones (fresh anchovies in vinegar)

Galician octopus

Dylan giving himself the meat sweats with some stewed beef and meatballs

Polishing it all off with some churros! Diet starts never!

Seville is a beautiful city full of orange trees(spoiler alert: all of Andalucia is like this this time of year) and has one of the largest churches I've ever seen. Maybe the largest gothic cathedral in the world. (Spoiler alert: all the cities we visit in Spain has incredible churches and/or castles)

Seville Cathedral is in fact the largest gothic cathedral in the world, and the third largest church. Thanks WIkipedia.

Cool old people with cool dogs

In addition to delicious food, beautiful streets and buildings, rich culture and history (you know, the standard European goodness) Dylan had learned from his research that Seville also has a unique, urban climbing spot under a bridge (designed by a famous architect, of course). Naturally we took an excursion to confirm that this is true and make sure it was cool.

Walking on the bridge by Santiago Calatrava

Walking past the bridge, to the extension, to the end of the end of the bridge...

Dios mio, it exists

Showing the wall some lovin, spinning holds and all.

Our friend the crispy rat

A good sunset to end a good day

After a short stint(two days) in Seville we headed over to Córdoba, where we met Pedro, a friend of a friend who has now become our friend. Pedro is a badass climber and was generous enough to take us climbing around Jaén and Granada(next post). But when we weren't climbing, we explored around Córdoba. At Pedro's suggestion we visited the Arabic Mosque at 8:30 AM one day; Not only is it free at that time, it also has beautiful morning light in the building. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Needless to say we have happily adapted to the Spanish lifestyle of being 'tranquillo' - meaning we've been doing some extreme chilling. Meaning not taking a ton of photos, not seeing a ton of sights, but just wandering around, drinking wine when we want to and eating food when we want to. Meaning, life is good. Below are some snapshots from our stay in Córdoba .

On to the next one!