As part of our program with CIEE, we have several weekend excursions to different cities in Spain. Two weeks ago we got to Cadiz, the oldest city in Spain and this morning, we had a small trip to Osuna, a small town in the province of Sevilla, and also where my host mom is from. One of the things that I love about Spain is that every single city, town has its typical characteristic that makes it surprisingly different from anywhere else. I thought Spaniards eat bread with every meal during the day and that is true to almost all the cities in Spain. I told my host mom that I love rice; she said that I should go to Valencia because that is the only place in Spain that people eat rice all day instead of bread. And yet Cadiz and Osuna has its very own characteristics.
Cadiz is a coastal city about an hour and a half away from Sevilla. Like I have said, it is the most ancient city the Iberian Peninsula and is a port of the Spanish Navy. Cadiz is similar to Sevilla in the sense that it has an old Cadiz part and a new Cadiz part. The old Cadiz area is in the center of the city with all the small buildings and ancient landmarks on narrow streets. The newer part is in the outside with more modern houses on large avenues. One of the most considerable landmarks in Cadiz is the cathedral, which we had a chance to climb up all the way to its bell tower, from which we could see everywhere. The cathedral was burn down once and with reconstruction, it was built in more than a hundred years.
Here are some pictures of Cadiz
Cathedral of Cadiz
Me in Cadiz
Another view from the top
Cadiz's view from the top of the cathedral
The exciting part of visiting Cadiz that all of us were waiting for is going to the beach! I did not stay on the beach the whole three hours of free time and walked around with some friends. What I interested me most, which is commonly found in a coastal city is the fish. We found some small restaurants by the beach that we can smell the fish long before we walk in. Fish here is served really simple: grilled. I could not taste any seasoning at all. The fish is salty itself and the subtle sweetness from the meat is enough to make it delicious. Nonetheless, dried tuna is sold everywhere in Cadiz as a snack. It was salty and smelt fishy and we could not stop eating them.
Paintings on tiles from the 17th century in the monastery in Osuna
Since I came to Spain, I have been to many different places but they are all crowded touristy. Even though I love all the cities I have been, I still feel a little bit unreal, as if they were built to serve the travellers, until today when I visited Osuna. It is small town, an hour drive from Sevilla but still in the province of Sevilla. As what I imagine from a small village, Osuna is more quiet and peaceful than other cities in Spain. We visited a monastery and a church in Osuna to learn a little bit about history, which I could not completely comprehend due to its complexity. The nun at the monastery greeted us graciously; she admitted to us that she is happy to talk to us today because usually she is not allowed to talk to other nuns unless it is necessary. But she does love to be in the monastery and she would not be there if she did not love it.
What I enjoy doing most in Spain is getting lost! On the one hand, it is easy to get lost here so I do not usually bother finding where I am at on the map because I will soon get lost again. On the other hand, every street, every corner here is so beautiful and different that whenever I am exploring a place, I will just go wherever my feet lead me and find the way back when I am ready to go back. Osuna is small but it is a perfect town to get lost, because every street has its own beauty. This one street can be ancient and empty but the one next to it can be elegant and glorious. We were walking on a street called “San Pedro” and as my guide told me, it is considered the most beautiful street in the world, and from what I have seen, I trust him. Before the trip, I was told to use comfortable shoes because it is hard to walk in Osuna. All the streets are cobblestoned. Many cities in Europe replaced cobblestones with setts but Osuna keeps them all.
A building on the street of San Pedro
Street of San Pedro
Cobblestoned streets in Osuna
An ancient little street in Osuna