Episode 14, 5/30/2009 – La Isla Magica and one big holy dead guy.

Another one of those epic days. To start out with, we heard a couple weeks before about San Fernando (the patron saint of Sevilla) who was going on traveling display and stopping at the Catedral de Sevilla. What makes him important? He was crucial in taking back Spain from the Muslims and for being a perfectly preserved “immaculate” corpse for 800 years without embalming.

Naturally, us history/religion nerds HAD to see this one. We woke up really early and got to the Cathedral to see him. There was a short 30 minute mass that we sat in on that detailed the life and sanctity of San Fernando. It was quite cool because I believe it was given by the Cardinal, who, in his homily, compared San Fernando as a model to all Christians. The Catholic mass was also quite interesting, as it’s the exact same structure as English masses, only of course, the responses are in Spanish.

After the mass, we got a chance to see Fernando in his coffin up close. Indeed, he IS well-preserved. Not perfectly preserved, but definitely well-preserved for never having been embalmed. I can compare him to a really well-preserved Egyptian mummy. Leathery skin, plastered hair, sunken teeth, but with very intact body and facial features. It was creepy and really cool. Just being in the presence of a corpse that was 800 years old was mind blowing enough. But add that to the fact that he is one of the most revered saints of all time and it turned into a memory I will never forget. To top that off, next on our list for the day was a trip to La Isla Magica.

La Isla Magica is a Spanish theme park, and is also the best time of your life. I’m thoroughly convinced. Sarah G. came up with the excellent idea of going there on Saturday and I can say it didn’t disappoint. What makes Isla Magica interesting from a study abroad perspective is that it is about as Spanish as you can get. No, really. It was incredibly interesting. The “gimmick” of the theme park is that it’s all themed around Spanish history and culture. You had different “worlds” like Fuedal Spain, “American conquest” Spain, Pirate Spain, “Future” Spain (ala Epcott in Disneyworld), etc. the park itself is not very big and doesn’t have a very good selection of rides (probably only 3 actual rollercoasters), but it was quite fun, especially the water park aspect of it.

We got there and paid a reasonable 25 euros for an all day pass. We had our senoras pack us some “los sandwitches” so we wouldn’t get hungry and have to shell out lots of euros for food. Although, ironically, halfway through we all got thirsty and got granizadas (lemonade icee things).

There were some pretty cool/funny rides that I should share with you. I’m not too much for big/scary rides, but the first one I went on certainly fit the bill. It was shaped like a long curved plank and we rode on a platform which spun along the curved plank. It was truly terrifying lol and I regretted going on it during the initial ascent. Overall, it relieved me of my rollercoaster fears and allowed me to participate in all the other ones quite well.

Easily the most “Spanish” of all the rides was a humorous little attraction called “La Furia de los Dioses” (aka the Fury of the Gods). It was like a haunted house ride, only the monsters were all angry/disenfranchised Mayan gods. The ride was very jerky and did have some legitimate frights, and I was genuinely surprised by its awesomeness. Other than that, the majority of the park consisted of water rides, which was great by me. No gigantic wave pools or slides ala Carowinds, but it certainly had its share of log rides and whitewater rafting type rides. Going with friends was the best part. Everybody likes to get we together. The only disappointing thing was that we waited 30 minutes in line for this 3d movie that we THOUGHT was going to be about aliens on Mars. Nope. Turns out it was a haunted house ride from the vantage point of a cat. It was AWFUL, especially for people (like myself) who don’t like snakes, spiders, and possessed toys too much. And the ending (okay, I’ll spoil it), the cat was a ghost all along. It was incredibly bizarre and left us all wondering why we wasted our time.

Isla Magica is one of those places that is automatically better with friends, and thankfully we had plenty of that. It was terrific, because during the long waiting lines we amused ourselves by looking at goofy t-shirts and reminiscing/planning about our times in Spain. Isla Magica was totally worth it, and despite the blazing heat, we managed to stay cool and have a great time.