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Cuando primero alistamos en el viaje, no tuvimos ni idea de qué esperar. Lo que sí sabíamos fue que fuimos muy emocionados para explorar un área de España que no hemos visto antes y poder compartirla con nuestros amigos. Cuando primero reunimos como un grupo, todos eran emocionados para empezar el viaje.

Fast forward to our first morning, we woke up early to have breakfast and travel an hour by train to a nearby town, Seville. While in Seville we explored the city, before getting to learn a little about the Spanish culture. We got the opportunity to learn about the origins of the flamenco dress and tour one of the most historic flamenco dress shops.

‘The biggest activity of this day was going to La Feria de Abril. This is a festival held once a year for a week only, in this time, it manages to attract about 5,000,000 people. When we first got told that we were going to a festival, we thought that it was going to be a small market type event for people in the local area. We were rather shocked when we could hear the music from a kilometre away and when we began to see giant tents, amusement park rides and food carts. Surprisingly for us, this festival is actually one of the biggest events of the year for not just the local area, but suburbs around. The group split off into smaller groups and got the opportunity to enjoy the festival by walking around and visiting all different corners of the festival ground. After a hectic time at the festival we got back on the train and back to Córdoba.

For the second day, we explored the city of Córdoba by foot. The first stop we made was for a guided tour of the La Mezquita de Córdoba, where we were taught the history and importance of Muslim culture. After the guided tour, we were given time to explore the Cathedral.

We then made our way to a traditional Spanish restaurant for a paella workshop. We had been looking forwards to learning the ins and outs of the art of making paella, the size of the paella pan was almost as big as our appetites! Throughout the workshop, we were taught every component that leads to a great paella, from the amount and selection of the ingredients chosen to the correct cooking technique. We were able to view a chef in action as he created this intricate dish and then all sat down to enjoy his dish.

After a very filling and delicious meal, we made our way to Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. This palace boasts beautiful gardens that are open to the public. It was also a primary residence for both Isabella I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon. We were given time to walk around the gardens and learn about this part of Spanish culture.

To finish our day we went to a horse show and got to experience Ecuestre en Andalucía. There is a huge equestrian culture in Spain and Andalucía prides itself on its rich history of equestrian show and competition.

The third day we were able to explore the forgotten history of Jewish culture in Spain. This is because of the Inquisition which drove most of the Jewish population. We were lucky enough to visit La Casa de Sefarad, an old house in the Jewish neighborhood which has been converted to a museum to educate the public on the history of Jews in Spain.

During the afternoon we roamed around the stunning Jewish neighborhood. The houses are built tall and skinny to create more shade on the streets and nearly every house is adorned with delicate flower pots. Later in the evening we ate at a restaurant that served traditional Jewish food, ¡mmm delicioso!

After dinner we visited the hammam, an Arabic spa. This was unquestionably a highlight of our trip and it was a nice, relaxing way to finish.

During the trip, we had fun exploring different areas, experiencing the culture and learning about the history. We got the opportunity to speak to locals and practise our Spanish, allowing us to exercise what were were learning in class and apply our skills real life situations. Overall, this was a great trip and fun in every aspect.