This post comes to us from student blogger in Seville, Leah Sharaby. Leah is a linguistics major from Western Washington University
This past weekend I went on my last and also one of my favorite API excursions. 219 days into my program, it’s safe to say I have absolutely no regrets about my academic year in Seville, and I’m so grateful to API for showing me so many cool places in Spain!
The weekend started out with a three and a half hour drive to Merida, a city that is now a World Heritage Site due to its Roman ruins, which are over 2,000 years old. We walked through the ruins of the amphitheater, and then through the impressively well-preserved theater.
After free time for lunch in Merida, we headed out to Trujillo, a medieval town also in the region of Extremadura. The tiny town was one of the hilliest I’ve been to, with ruins of a fortress overlooking the beautiful surrounding countryside.
As if we weren’t having a great time already, the next morning we headed off for the main event of the excursion — a ten mile hike through fields of flowers, past a water reservoir, and through the town of Guadalupe. Some of my fellow API students were a little intimidated by the length of trek, but if one thing’s for certain – everyone loved it! And who wouldn’t? What a perfect way to spend Earth Day!
We finished our hike at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, which is where we spent the night and ate dinner — in the lodge of the monastery. The Monastery itself we visited on the last day of the excursion. It is also a World Heritage Site, and was definitely cool to see. It’s the largest pilgrimage sight in Spain after El Camino de Santiago. We even encountered some monks during our tour!
They certainly saved (one of) the best for last!
