La Plaza de España

Today marked the last visit I will be taking with my class, and we sure did save one of the bests for last!
After talking about contemporary Spanish history, we walked to the Plaza de España. It was built for the "Expo of 1929" which was an international celebration hosted by Sevilla and attended by countries like Paraguay, Portugal, Brazil, the United States, Uruguay, Argentina, etc. It was more or less an event to reestablish relations between Spain and the Americas after the Spanish Civil War. The Plaza de España has a semicircular shape, which is meant to represent arms open for a hug (or abrazos). The faces the Guadalquivir river, and is a welcome to all who come to Spain. The details in and around the plaza were incredible, and there is a moat/canal where you can paddle boats and relax.

This is in the Parque de María Luisa which is located next to the Plaza. 

The park is full of palm trees and flowers---great for going for a run. 

The women represent the 3 phases of love:

1. On the right is a women admiring a muchacho that she has a crush on

2. In the middle is a women in love with her muchacho

3. On the left is a women who has lost her love

This figures appeared a lot in works by the author Becquer who has a statue behind them

The park has a lot of statues and monuments dedicated to important cultural figures

Here is the Plaza de España!

Notice the horse drawn carriages---they are all over Sevilla! 

Here is a detailed look of the main building

The architect included aspects that appear throughout Spanish history

The arcs are roman style, and the bricks and wood ceilings is muslim

Along the plaza building they have bancos or benches for each Spanish providence

This is for Madrid. You can see a map of the area

The painting represents when the Spanish regained their independence 

from France in Madrid

Here is my class sitting by the banco de Granada

My professor Ángel is sitting in the middle. 

It takes some serious skill to teach the entire history of Spain in 2 weeks!

Ángel was the best! 

I learned so much over the last 2 weeks and the time flew by so fast! I got my final schedule today, and I am ready to get into the feel of taking classes--especially since I get a "culture and civilization" credit for the food class I signed up for! Tonight I have a meeting for my interest group to discuss our trip to Mallorca! Just have to get through my final exam then I'm off to Granada!